We’ve now made it through Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday but today has a purpose as well… it’s Giving Tuesday.

The Giving Tuesday effort began last year.  It focuses on philanthropy and helping causes meet their end of the year fundraising goals.

Katie McIntyre of HCI Care Services says they are again using Giving Tuesday to help raise funds for their Final Wish program.

“It is about final wishes for patients and their families.  So what does that mean?  For every patient it is going to be different, specifically thinking about their age so a patient who is in their 30s with kids, we can talk about some of their specific wishes we’ve done in the past, which is going to be different from a patient in their 80s.  Last year we were able to do 82 wishes and we just want to build upon that” says McIntyre.

HCI Care Services is utilizing the online site CrowdRise.com for the campaign, which is also having a contest that could mean extra money.

“If we are among one of the top fundraisers we could be eligible for $200,000 prize money, in addition to whatever funds are raised through the fundraiser itself” adds McIntyre.

HCI Care Services has set a fundraising goal of $10,000 this year, which would be for about 15 final wishes.  A link to their Crowd Rise site can be found HERE.