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'There's an opportunity to give back': Maritimers help ring-in Giving Tuesday

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HALIFAX -

To celebrate Giving Tuesday, Benny Locke dropped off a donation to Feed Nova Scotia on behalf of his co-workers at SNC-Lavalin.

"We collected non-perishable items and cash, and we donated it to the food bank," said Locke.

Inside the Feed Nova Scotia facility in Dartmouth, N.S., the warehouse is stocked with food.

"Ninety-thousand kilograms of food around me right now," said Feed Nova Scotia Executive Director Nick Jennery. "But that only represents about three weeks of inventory."

According to Jennery, donations were flowing into the building all morning on Tuesday.

"Giving Tuesday is like Santa's Village upstairs," said Jennery. "We have people on the phones and the donations started happening this morning and that was really terrific."

Major corporations are also stepping up.

"We are so fortunate to have a sponsor like Sobeys who is matching the first $25,000," said Jennery.

There are other examples of the corporate community helping non-profit organizations.

In this case, collaborating with the Message of Kindness campaign heading to the Christmas season.

"People can go to our website and make a donation and leave a message of kindness for Nova Scotians," said Laura Clark, from the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia. "It gets written on an ornament and gets put down here on the holiday trees on the lot on Salter Street."

Killam Properties and Southwest Properties - two real estate companies in Nova Scotia - are supporting the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.

"When you make a donation as an individual, it gets matched by both Southwest and Killam," said Clark.

Giving Tuesday comes days after the Festival of Trees in downtown Halifax.

"The last year or two, people paid attention to their own mental health," said Clark. "I think it's top of mind for most people, especially leading into the holiday season. There's an opportunity to give back to the community and take care of each other."

After many cancelled events last year because of COVID-19, Clark said fundraising mechanisms for charitable organizations are slowly returning to normal.

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