In the first few days after Thanksgiving, the sequence goes like this:Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, a break on Sunday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday was founded in 2012 by New York community center 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation as a means to support organizations through charitable means and kick off the spirit of giving, which is a centerpiece of the holiday season. More than 2,000 charities participated in the first event, both at the local and national level. That number blossomed to more than 6,700 by 2016, where $168 million was raised, according to Blackbaud.

As always, Benicia organizations will be taking part. The Giving Tuesday website identified at least four organizations taking part: the Benicia Education Foundation, the Benicia Library Foundation, Sustainable Solano and Arts Benicia.

“We are grateful for the support of so many individuals and organizations in our community during this past year,” Arts Benicia Executive Director Celeste Smeland said in a statement. “They recognize the important role that art plays in all our lives, inspiring hope, creativity, and purpose. Through their generosity they embody the spirit of #GivingTuesday.”

However, there are organizations participating that are not listed on the site. One of them is the Benicia Historical Museum, which made its participation known through an email and Twitter post.

“Reflecting on a year that has seen a variety of manmade and natural disasters, it is a comfort to take stock of our accomplishments and to acknowledge and emphasize those things which unite us,” museum staff wrote in a letter. “The Museum continues to provide a place where residents can come to learn why we can say, with pride, ‘The history of California is written in the story of Benicia.’”

Many of the organizations will be accepting donations through their websites, but others will accept checks. The websites for the participating organizations are as follows: artsbenicia.org, beniciaeducationfoundation.org, beniciahistoricalmuseum.org, benicialibrary.org/foundation and sustainablesolano.org. For more information about Giving Tuesday, go to givingtuesday.org.

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