For the next week-and-a-half, two local organizations will match up to $35,000 in donations made to Turning Point during an ongoing fundraising campaign.
Amber Scott, president/CEO of Turning Point, said this is the second year for the donation campaign run by the two groups, both of which stepped up last year to help raise more than $160,000. Scott said the campaigns were started to compensate for a more than $900,000 funding loss for Turning Point over recent years.
Scott said Women Giving Together is providing $25,000 in matched donations, while the Delaware County Foundation will match $10,000 for donations after the total reaches $50,000.
The donations, Scott added, will support Turning Point and will help “make sure we remain actively open in the community and to make sure that we have the funding to support our survivors.”
“Domestic violence has been heightened as the result of COVID,” Scott said. “Our main mission is to fight domestic violence and provide a better quality of life for victims and survivors. Whatever we can do as an organization to remind people, (or) advocate for our survivors and victims is why we are here and why we exist.”
Mary Howard, a member of Women Giving Together, said the organization is a group of 38 women in Delaware County who band together to do grants and fundraisers for causes in the county.
“We can do more as a group to impact our back yard,” Howard said. “Turning Point rips at my heart. There isn’t a single person in Women Giving Together who says ‘no’ to Turning Point. Every single person knows someone who has been somehow involved in domestic violence and they realize the impact. Turning Point is desperately needed, and we do whatever we can to help it.”
Howard said Women Giving Together is celebrating its 10th year and is excited for the opportunity to raise funds for Turning Point.
“We really want to make a splash on our 10 years,” she said.
Chris Baker, president/CEO of the Delaware County Foundation, said it’s the foundation’s goal to be “a magnifier in the community,” and the group saw an unmet need at Turning Point and wanted to connect people and resources to Turning Point.
“Turning Point provides such vital services that we believe are absolutely necessary to allow victims to recover from violence and take steps to regain an independent life,” Baker said.
The pandemic worsened the risks of domestic violence, he added, and said the foundation wanted to get involved in supporting Turning Point again this year.
“COVID-19 has increased the stressors and isolation that exacerbate domestic violence,” Baker said. “Programs that help to prevent and respond to domestic violence are critical and needed now more than ever. Despite the perfect storm created by the pandemic, funding cuts have placed these services in jeopardy. The Foundation’s Women Giving Together group has responded with a campaign to stabilize Turning Point’s critical work.”
Monetary donations can be made at delawarecf.org/donations/wgt, and for more information about in-kind donations or volunteer work for Turning Point, contact Volunteer Coordinator Jamie Beckett at [email protected].
The campaign runs through Oct. 8.
