Thanksgiving marks the start of the unofficial giving season. In these heightened times of social media, hacking and hoaxes, take the time to ensure your generosity is benefiting those you intend to help. Be smart and do your homework.

Consider investing your charitable donations locally, where you can see the impact on your neighbors, nonprofits and businesses.

Consider the Boys and Girls Club of West Georgia and Chambers County, the Bread Basket Club, the Christian Service Center, the Circle of Care Center for Families, the Domestic Violence Intervention Center, the East Alabama Mental Health Center, the Interfaith Food Closet, Sav-a-Life, the Tri-County Children’s Advocacy Center and Valley Haven School.  There is one organization here in Chambers County that has been a funding vehicle to those 10 Valleywide organizations. For more than 40 years, the Valley United Fund has been collecting donations and dispersing funds across ten of the area’s most prominent charitable organizations.

Valley United Fund President Adrian Carpenter said when a person donates to the Valley United Fund, that one donation is supporting all 10 organizations.

“We’re grateful for what we’ve been blessed with, and now we want to figure out how can we extend that generosity to others,” he said.

While most of these organizations rely on government grants and donations, they must also match the funds to receive these grants. The dollars provided through the United Fund can be used to offset organizational costs.

There are other causes in Chambers County too, but there are few ways to help a plethora of people with just one donation. Donating to the Valley United Fund does that, giving to people who truly need help.