Today is "Charity Tuesday", also known as "Giving Tuesday". As MPB's Mark Rigsby reports, it's a day for people to focus on holiday philanthropy.
Now that the spending frenzy of "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" are over, Mississippians are encouraged to use this day, Tuesday, to donate to charity.
"We're grateful for Giving Tuesday. Anytime we have a situation like that where we can get our name out there and contribute to the work that we do, we're grateful for it."
Charles Beady is CEO of the Mississippi Food Network. He says he hopes to see a spike in donations.
"So we're responsible to get food out the to the 600,000 people in the state of Mississippi who are hungry or food insecure. The only way we can do that is through the generocity of others."
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says his office keeps an eye on all charitable organizations in the state. He says more than one-hundred bogus charities were shut down this year.
"They sound like a really good thing. When you look there, almost none of their money goes to a charitable purpose."
Hosemann says people who want to donate should go to the Mississippi Secretary of State's web site to check out charities before giving.
"We characterize every single charity as to how much is spent on management and how much actually goes to the charitable purpose. I encourage everyone to take a look at that. If you see most of the money is going to management, then you should pick another charity."
According to wallethub.com, Mississippi has the second highest percentage of donated income in the nation, and the fifth highest population collecting and distributing food.
