The Hudson River Museum Takes Part in #GivingTuesday, Raising Funds for Award-Winning Junior Docent Program
YONKERS, NY, November 22, 2017 — The Hudson River Museum has joined #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving on November 28 that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities, and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide. This year, the Museum’s goal is to raise $2,000 to fund one student in our Junior Docent Program for one full year.
The Junior Docent Program trains students from high schools throughout Yonkers to provide hands-on workshops, demonstrations, and tours for Museum visitors. In rigorous weekly training sessions Junior Docents work with curators, artists, scientists, historians and other experts to further leadership and college readiness skills. This fall, the program accepted 29 exceptional students to join the program, making this our largest class ever at nearly 90 students. In one year, Junior Docents interact with an estimated 5,000+ visitors and have volunteered a combined 10,400 hours at the Museum. It is a great source of pride that 100% of the students that have completed this program have been accepted into college. Since 1995, the program has graduated over 400 young adults, who have gone on to colleges and universities including: Yale, Columbia, NYU, Brown, Cornell, Howard, Fordham, NY Institute of Technology, Marist, Pace, Mercy, Manhattan, City College, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Albany, and SUNY Stony Brook.
The Museum asks for help to ensure a vibrant future for these young people, who give so much to the Museum community. This year, Junior Docents are giving back to their peers by contributing to Teens for Jeans, a nationwide program that collects clothing for local homeless youth. All month long, Junior Docents have been rallying friends and family members to donate their jeans. On Giving Tuesday, the Junior Docent Advisory Board, the peer leadership team of the Program, will physically deliver and donate the Jeans to a local homeless shelter.
#GivingTuesday is a global giving movement held annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday. To transform how people think about, talk about, and participate in the holiday giving season, #GivingTuesday provides an opportunity for people to take collective action to improve their communities and give back in better, smarter ways to show that every act of generosity counts.
Those who are interested in joining Hudson River Museum’s #GivingTuesday initiative can visit hrm.org/donate. To learn more about #GivingTuesday participants and activities or to join the celebration of giving, please visit: www.givingtuesday.org or find them on Facebook: facebook.com/GivingTuesday; Twitter: twitter.com/GivingTues; and the #GivingTuesday hashtag on social media.
