#GivingTuesday is opportunity to support the troops during the holidays

Service members who are deployed away from family and friends during the holidays remember the comfort of receiving cards from the public. As one soldier remarked for the Army News, “For those guys to receive letters, it was the thing that made Christmas for them in a place where the environment is not covered in snow and cheer but with sand and fear.”

On, Tuesday, Dec. 1, members of the UNC Charlotte campus community will have the chance to write a note to North Carolina National Guard troops deployed to Bosnia; stop by the Student Union, Prospector Building or the lawn near Cato Hall between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

In addition, anyone can support an online effort for UNC Charlotte veteran students. A Crowdfund UNC Charlotte project will launch Dec. 1 to raise $2,000 to fund the purchase of 10 smart pens to aid in notetaking for use by veteran students on campus through the Office of Veteran Student Services.

This event is part of the University’s observance of #GivingTuesday, a national movement to foster philanthropy during the holidays. According to organizers, it is a counter narrative to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, because it reminds individuals that the spirit of the holiday giving season should be about community and not just consumerism.