SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - Nonprofits from across the First State are racing to raise money during a 24 hour timeframe. Do More 24 is known as Delaware's largest day of giving.
From the food bank to the farmers market, there are nearly 500 causes to support in Sussex County. Ashlyn Horton is a college student majoring in accounting. She credits one specific nonprofit for her pathway to success.
"I had somebody to go to. I had somebody who was real with me, somebody who could lead me when I felt like I just didn't know what was going on," Horton told CoastTV.Â
Pathways to Success has programs to keep high school students on track to graduate and start a career or go to college. It wants to raise $10,000 for these programs during the fundraising campaign.
It's a similar sentiment at the Children's Beach House. The nonprofit serves children, families and whole communities across the state through a preschool program in Lewes, as well as through a youth development program for children from New Castle to Seaford. Weekend and summer camps help children learn social skills and build relationships.
"It's our job not to try to think about kids as vessels that should be filled with knowledge, but instead fires that can be lit, and if we light those individual fires, we're going to have kids becoming who they are and who they're meant to be," says Executive Director Richard Garrett.
This organization wants to raise $7,000 during Do More 24. That will help pay to take teens in the youth development program to Washington, D.C. to tour museums and colleges.
"I don't think there's anything more gratifying than seeing a child's eyes light up for the first time when they realize that something is possible that they haven't seen before," says director of external communications Jonathan Freeman-Coppadge.
The show must go on for the Southern Delaware Orchestra. SODELO's fundraiser keeps a steady rhythm by paying for sheet music and concert venues.
The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays is trading donations for passports. Donors have until March 31 to complete ten of 16 activities and submit their completed passports for a chance to win prizes.
The Historic Lewes Farmers Market wants to raise $10,000 for its programs to help small family farms grow and to increase access to fresh local food.
The Food Bank of Delaware is raising money for its Backpack Program, which provides food to children on weekends and holidays when school is not in session and therefore federal school meal programs are not available.
Southern Delaware Therapeutic Riding wants supporters to share posts on social media during the 24 hour fundraiser. SDTR says it will be using money raised to expand its program and services in the community and to keep its horse herd healthy and strong.
Capital Ringers is raising $5,000 to buy and refurbish a set of used Schulmerich handbells for its beginner and intermediate ensemble.
Fundraisers are fueling First State causes in 24 hours. Do More 24 runs Thursday, March 7 at 6 p.m. through Friday, March 8 at 6 p.m. Search for causes throughout the state online at domore24delaware.org.