SCRANTON, Pa. — NEPA Gives kicks off Thursday at 7 p.m.
The 24-hour online fundraising campaign is billed as the "best time" to give to your favorite causes because it makes your dollars stretch further, thanks to matching funds from business sponsors and prizes for the nonprofits.
The area's largest one-day fundraising campaign is coming at a good time for Friends of the Poor. A fire at one of the nonprofit's buildings in April destroyed items for men who need clothes for work.
"Normally, we would participate and put all of it towards food, and don't get me wrong, that's a gigantic need, but we didn't anticipate this fire; you can't," said Meghan Loftus, the head of the organization.
Friends of the Poor is one of the hundreds of nonprofits hoping to benefit in a big way from NEPA Gives, a 24-hour online giving marathon.
Another group, Animal Care Associates, say their needs are even greater this year due to rising costs.
"We're an all-volunteer organization, so every penny that we get goes directly to the care of the cats that are in our care, either medical expenses, food, litter," Katrina Sonnenberg said.
NEPA Gives organizers say this 24-hour period from 7 p.m. Thursday to 7 p.m. Friday is the best time to give to any of these causes because your dollars go further.
"Your $10 donation could help a nonprofit get $1,000, thanks to our generous sponsors," Brittany Pagnotti said.
"For example, the Robert H. Spitz Foundation has a prize where the first ten organizations to reach $1,000 on June 1 can unlock a $500 prize," Frank Caputo explained.
There are hundreds of nonprofits to choose from.
Maybe you want to help kids in need. You could give to Child Hunger Outreach Partners, which provides food to students.
"At this point, we have 22,000 children that we provide food access for on a weekly basis, and going into the fall, we're looking to have 60,000," Nick Montoro said.
United Neighborhood Centers is raising money for repairs to Camp Kelly.
"It's basically free for families to send their children to camp throughout the summer to get outside, and for some of them, it's the first time they've ever been outside Scranton city limits," Kelly Langan said.
A list of all of the prizes can be found here.
Find a cause to donate to here.
If you want to get involved, here's a kick-off event Thursday night from 5-9 p.m. at Rodano's On The Square in Wilkes-Barre and a closing celebration on Friday from 5-9 p.m. at the Hilton in Scranton.