Town of St. Marys declares Dec. 2 as Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday committee continues to recognize local businesses in leadup to annual event

By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Though Giving Tuesday is still a few months away, the St. Marys committee responsible for rallying residents, businesses, service clubs and others to give back to causes close to their hearts annually on or around the first Tuesday after American Thanksgiving is getting a head start recognizing locals who give back year-round.

At the Sept. 23 St. Marys council meeting, St. Marys Giving Tuesday committee chair Julie Docker-Johnson officially presented this year’s Giving Tuesday “Won’t You Be My Neighbour” campaign before council voted to officially proclaim Dec. 2, 2025, as Giving Tuesday in the Town of St. Marys. During her presentation, Docker-Johnson explained why she and her fellow committee members feel it is important to acknowledge and celebrate the efforts made by local individuals, businesses and organizations beyond what is done on or around Giving Tuesday each year.

“Something that we have learned over the years is that a lot of the different businesses and organizations during that time of year are very, very busy and giving a lot, and giving on different days,” Docker-Johnson said. “So, people have asked us if, somehow, we could do something that’s not specifically on Dec. 2, which is Giving Tuesday this year. Every year, we think about this and we’ve thought, ‘You don’t want to muddy the waters,’ and that day is the important day, and then this year, we thought more about it because, mostly, we were concerned about businesses.

“In light of our current economic challenges we are facing, we know that for small businesses, especially in this town, there are 52 Giving Tuesdays a year because businesses are asked constantly to donate or help or support or to sponsor. … The day itself is a phenomenal day and it needs to be that day because the rest of the world is doing it that day, but because we’re special, we wanted to know how we could do something so that everyone was included regardless of if they could actually do something on Dec. 2.”

With that in mind, the Giving Tuesday committee has begun asking locals to share events and initiatives they, their businesses, employers or organizations are working on that give back in one way or another, whether it’s raising money for a local charity or non-profit, volunteering time, or spreading awareness of a cause. The idea, Docker-Johnson explained, is to highlight those acts of good by having them published in this newspaper to help inspire others to give back in the lead-up to or on Giving Tuesday this year.

In addition to sharing these stories in the Independent each week, the official St. Marys Gives Giving Tuesday penguin will be appearing in different spots around town to highlight those businesses and organizations that have been caught in the act of giving back to the community and the causes they hold dear.

“For example, St. Marys Insurance Group said to their employees this summer, ‘We want to do some giving, but we want it to come from you guys.’ So, they asked their employees who they wanted to give to, and they named three different charities. On behalf of those employees, St. Marys Insurance gave to these charities,” Docker-Johnson said.

“They didn’t say anything to anybody, they didn’t tell anybody, they didn’t have a parade. They just did it, but we caught them giving so now we’re going to share their story because their story will then inspire others to do something.”

While Docker-Johnson said she and the committee hope locals will continue to plan giving activities and initiatives for Dec. 2, residents can help share the good work being done year-round in St. Marys by emailing their stories to jdockerjohnson@gmail.com.

For more information about Giving Tuesday in St. Marys and the “Won’t You Be My Neighbour” campaign, visit St. Marys Giving Tuesday on Facebook.

The Town of St. Marys will officially commence the season of giving by raising the Giving Tuesday flag at town hall on Nov. 17.

“I think everyone in this room knows there’s a lot of very compassionate and giving folks that live in this community, so I’m very excited to see how we catch them giving and what that will look like,” deputy mayor Brogan Aylward said prior to council making this year’s Giving Tuesday proclamation.