GivingTuesday is just around the corner! After the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales end, the giving begins. GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Now is the time to start thinking about how you’re planning to give back on Dec. 3.

Over the past several years, GivingTuesday has become a global movement that inspires people to give, collaborate and celebrate generosity.

Ways to celebrate

Whether it’s going out of your way for someone, making a stranger smile, or giving to those who need help, everyone has something to give.

Give back.

Give to the Ochsner Excellence Fund. The Excellence Fund at Ochsner is supported entirely by the generosity of our donors. Annually, teams throughout Ochsner submit applications and a committee selects projects to receive support from the fund. These projects create opportunities for improvements and innovations in patient care that are changing and saving lives every day. Since 2013, donors have helped support 180 projects! Read moreabout all the projects that donors have made possible. In 2019 alone, donors have made 32 innovative projects possible! Donate to the Excellence Fund.

Register to be an organ donor. Did you know each registered organ donor can save up to nine lives! For many of our transplant patients, the gift of life is one they think about every day. To register to be an organ donor, click here. To purchase a meal, help with transportation or medication expenses of transplant patients, click here.

You can change and save lives as a committed member of the Ochsner family. When hosting your own event to raise funds for Ochsner, you are the driving force behind advances in patient care and treatment options for patients throughout the region! If you find an area of Ochsner that you are passionate about, choose an event that you can have fun with to help create positive change in the lives of patients and their families. To apply to host an event, fill out the Community Fundraising Event Application.

Volunteer blood donors provide all of the blood supply for transfusions throughout the United States. Every five seconds, donor blood is used to save the lives of babies, leukemia patients, burn victims, trauma patients and so many more. Your blood donation makes all the difference! Look for upcoming blood drives.

Give time.

Volunteer! Where would you like to help? At Ochsner, we take the time to match each volunteer’s interest and skills with departmental needs. Volunteers may choose from a varied choice of patient and non-patient care areas throughout the institution. Your time and talents are vital to the comfort and care of our patients and their families. Even the smallest service can have far reaching effects. If you would like to learn more about volunteering, or know someone that may be interested in providing help, hope and healing through their gift of caring, click here.

Join community events

Ochsner hosts several events throughout the year that raise money to support patient care. Attend A Red Tie Affair to help raise funds and awareness for heart health. Or get your running shoes on for the Crescent City Levee Run that benefits the Ochsner Hospital for Children. Join us at the inaugural Color of the Minds fundraising event to celebrate our brightest medical minds in neuroscience health. The funds raised will expand research efforts, improve patient experience and caregiver support for all patients and families being treated at the Ochsner Neuroscience Institute.

Share your giving on social

Share how you are giving back on GivingTuesday by posting on your social media and using #GivingTuesday