Giving Tuesday: A Day of Generosity Making a Difference Across the Eastern Townships

Every year on the Tuesday following Black Friday, people come together for Giving Tuesday, a global movement dedicated to generosity. Since 2012, it has grown into a powerful tradition that encourages individuals, businesses, and communities to support the causes that matter most to them.

This year, organizations throughout the Townships are inviting Quebecers to embrace that spirit of giving. Among them is Phelps Helps, a community-based nonprofit in Stanstead that provides free educational, career and well-being support to youth from elementary school through young adulthood.

 Why your support matters

At Phelps, every program is offered entirely free of charge, ensuring that no young person is held back by financial barriers. This commitment is especially important in Stanstead and other rural communities across the Eastern Townships, where families often face a complex mix of economic and academic challenges. The need for accessible support in Stanstead is clear. The high school graduation rate remains below the provincial average, and many families experience financial insecurity, higher unemployment, and limited access to post-secondary education. Language barriers also affect a significant portion of residents, making it more difficult to secure stable work in a region where bilingualism is often essential. With household incomes lower than the Quebec average, additional academic help or paid enrichment programs are simply out of reach for many.

In this landscape, Phelps fills a crucial gap. By offering free tutoring, mentoring, life-skills workshops, and leadership opportunities, the organization provides youth with the tools they need to stay in school, set goals, and build confidence.

What a Donation Can Do on Giving Tuesday

To show exactly how far a gift can go, Phelps is sharing several tangible ways donations support its programs:

$15 – Basics Giver - Provides essential school supplies for one student.

$20 – Snack Supporter - Covers fresh, healthy snacks for a program session.

$50 – Homework Helper - Funds a full week of tutoring for one student with trained staff and volunteers.

$125 – Workshop Funder - Supports a hands-on learning workshop such as budgeting, stress management, or study skills.

$250 – Guidance Giver - Provides one month of individualized academic or career mentoring.

$350 – Skills Sponsor - Funds life-skills or job-readiness workshops that help youth prepare for school, work, and adulthood.

Beyond continuously seeking donations towards the operation of our six programs, many of you may have read or heard that Phelps is also in the process of raising funds toward the purchase and renovation of a new building, which will give the organization a permanent home and allow it to continue supporting local youth for years to come.

Supporting the Wider Region

Phelps Helps is one of several organizations in Stanstead making a real difference in the lives of local residents. This Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to support the broader community alongside youth programming.

• CAB Rediker relies on donations to their food bank to continue providing food boxes to a growing number of families in need. The surge in generosity during the holiday season plays a crucial role in keeping their shelves stocked and their services running throughout the entire year. In addition to food donations, the CAB benefits from contributions to its Comptoir familial, support for PACE children’s programming, and volunteers for Meals on Wheels delivery.

• Le Tandem, Stanstead’s community social pediatrics center, offers integrated care for children from birth to 17 years old. Donations to Le Tandem go directly to ensuring children, especially those from vulnerable backgrounds, can reach their full potential.

• Other local initiatives, from free programs at the Haskell Library and Colby-Curtis Museum, to changing animal lives at Frontier Animal Society, and recreation programming by Loisirs Stanstead, also rely on community generosity to continue their work. Giving Tuesday can also serve as a reminder that support doesn’t always have to come in the form of money - donating your time, skills, or energy as a volunteer can be just as impactful, helping organizations reach more people and strengthen the community as a whole.

Whether you live in Stanstead, Sherbrooke, Lennoxville, Coaticook, Sutton, or elsewhere in Quebec, Giving Tuesday is a chance to invest in the well-being of our youth, our families, and our neighbours.

Every contribution, whether it’s $5, $15, or $350, helps ensure that organizations like Phelps Helps can continue offering free, life-changing programs that support student success and strengthen communities. And even if you can’t donate financially, volunteering your time, skills, or simply helping spread the word is a meaningful way to contribute.

This Giving Tuesday, consider supporting Phelps Helps or another organization close to your heart.

DONATE NOW!

Together, we can make generosity ripple far beyond one town, building a stronger future for the entire region.