Brad Richardson stood alone in the middle of Propstra Square on Thursday morning wearing a blue bike helmet that had an iPhone on a selfie stick taped to it. He was talking — seemingly to himself — about the history of the Short family, the namesake of Esther Short Park.
Richardson, a curator at the Clark County Historical Museum, was recording himself giving 12 hours of historical walking tours, starting with the park.
“I’ve got some water in my bag, some snacks. If my iPad dies, I’ve got paper copies of everything,” he said.
Thursday was filled with similar, attention-grabbing events in conjunction with Give More 24!, a 24-hour day of promoting philanthropy in Southwest Washington.
The event received money from 4,421 donors who raised $915,539 for charities around the region, according to the event’s website. Camas Christian Academy received the most gifts and Options360° Pregnancy Clinic raised the most money. The goal was to raise $1 million in one day. In total, 128 organizations took part in Give More 24! — 18 more groups than last year, said Maury Harris with the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, the host and marketing power behind Give More 24!.
Richardson made an offhand joke that he should do a walkathon to raise money during Give More 24!, and his co-workers said it was a good idea.
“I thought, ‘Wow, that’s really going to destroy me over the day as I’m walking. I’m going to be really tired. So, I don’t know if it should be called a walkathon. Maybe I should call it Tourpacalypse.’ That’s where the name came from,” Richardson said.
Tourpacalypse videos were broadcast live on Facebook, as Richardson walked around historic places in west Vancouver. It was a chance to show people Southwest Washington’s heritage while raising money for the museum preserving that heritage. Richardson walked from Esther Short Park to Webber Machine Works to Smith Tower, all the while reading about each place’s history from his tablet. He hoped the stunt would make people realize that interpreting and preserving history does cost money.
“At the same time, it just gives people a great opportunity to see all the work we’ve done over the last several years developing history of different sites, and it’s just a fun way to do it,” Richardson said. “It’s also a way to engage with a broader audience because people internationally could watch this and give and support heritage and history in Southwest Washington.”
By midmorning, the museum already received a donation from Nevada.
For the first time since Give More 24! started three years ago, the main activity hub took place at Vancouver Mall.
“The mall is in the center of our community, at least in Clark County. And we really are still trying to connect more with our community and let people know about the day,” said Jennifer Rhoads, president of the Community Foundation. The foundation approached the mall about taking part in Give More 24!. “For a lot of people the mall is their living room. They come here not just to shop but they come here for entertainment, they come here to eat. So, it’s really just a great way to tell the story about Give More 24! and get some excitement behind it.”
While many sites around Clark County had laptops set up so people could give online, Rhoads chose not to set up laptops at the mall.
“Everyone has a smartphone now. So, you can use your smartphone to give,” she said.
The Community Foundation has focused on online giving, especially among younger people who haven’t yet made charitable giving a habit.
“With a $10 minimum, there’s no excuse not to give,” said Peter Johnsen, general manager at Boomerang.
The generosity store in downtown Vancouver, which supports multiple nonprofits, served lunch, had live music and a handful of booths for some of its partner charities, such as food pantry One Life and homeless shelter Open House Ministries.
“Really, today is no different than any other day,” Johnsen said.
Boomerang plans to use the money that’s raised to improve its children’s play area; it provided a large notepad where people could write suggestions for making the store more child-friendly.
Second Step Housing spent the morning giving out lattes at its offices off Main Street in Vancouver, encouraging people to donate $24, or about the equivalent of six lattes. The nonprofit, which provides transitional and permanent housing for low-income households, focused Thursday on supportive services for young adults. A $24 donation could pay for GED study guides, hygiene and household items, transportation to a new job, work boots, child care — small things that helped newly housed people with tight budgets get back on their feet.
Mary Hopkins, development and volunteer coordinator at Second Step, said the organization was aiming to educate people about how their donations can make an impact, even if it’s a small donation.
That’s one of the messages of Give More 24! If a lot of people donated the minimum amount, $10, it would make a big difference.
In Battle Ground, the Mill Creek Pub offered an afternoon-long celebrity dunk tank to raise money for various local groups.
Those who went through Esther Short Park would’ve seen adults swinging on the swingset, encouraging people to donate to the Parks Foundation of Clark County. While most of the time was spent at Esther Short in downtown Vancouver, people were also swinging at Crown Park in Camas, Davis Park in Ridgefield, Stockford Village Neighborhood Park in Hazel Dell and LeRoy Haagen Memorial Park in east Vancouver.
“The funds from Swing More 24 are going to our community grants program, which is the key way we support all the parks throughout Clark County,” said Temple Lentz, the foundation’s executive director. “Every year, we give our community grants for projects that the cities themselves have prioritized.”
Grants recently helped build new playground equipment at Stockford Village and helped develop a recreation scholarship program in Battle Ground.
The Columbian is the official media sponsor for Give More 24!
