Give Local MOV 2025 participants at a training session last year at the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation. Give Local MOV 2026 begins Tuesday. (File photo)

PARKERSBURG – More than 60 nonprofit organizations will benefit from Give Local MOV 2026, a 24-hour online fundraising campaign organized by the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation & Regional Affiliates and its local sponsors.

Give Local starts midnight Tuesday, the 13th year of the fundraising initiative.

Donations made during Give Local are matched and enhanced through prizes and other methods and can be specifically targeted to an organization. Prizes for additional funds, for example, include $500 to the group getting the first donation, another $500 for the most money raised during particular time frames in the 24-hour period, $500 for the most donors during the lunch hour and $500 golden ticket prizes awarded by random drawing.

The 24-hour fundraising program raised $518,000 in 2024. A record-breaking $531,385 was raised in 2025 when 1,351 donors gave to 67 nonprofit organizations.

“This is the 12th year we’ve been in Give Local,” said Brian Raitz, executive director of the Parkersburg & Wood County Public Library.

The Parkersburg Art Center is a recipient in the Give Local MOV fundraising program through the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation. Here, women participate in an activity at the Art Center. (File photo)

The library last year received $25,000 through Give Local for a new Bookmobile, Raitz said. The vehicle was popular amongst donors, he said.

“That was our greatest financial achievement during Give Local,” Raitz said.

While last year was a personal best for the library, this year the library is hoping to receive $15,000 for the summer children’s reading program and other adult, children’s and teen reading programs throughout the year at all the branches of the library and the Bookmobile, Raitz said.

“Each year we have a different goal,” he said.

Give Local is a benefit for the library and in return the community, according to Raitz.

Greg Cottrill, executive director of the Doddridge County Parks and Recreation Commission, holds a check from Give Local MOV 2024. (File photo)

“It’s a good opportunity for us to raise money and for us to give back to the community,” he said.

Another recipient of Give Local funds is the Museums of the Mid-Ohio Valley, the umbrella group that covers Henderson Hall, the Oil and Gas Museum and the Cook House, where the Give Local funds will be used for restoring the structure at 1301 Murdoch Ave., said Paul Hoblitzell, director of the organization.

“Every little bit helps,” he said.

The project this year is restoring the chimneys on the Cook House, built in 1825, and the faded red paint that is now purple.

The museums survive nearly totally through volunteers and public donations, Hobilitzell said. Volunteers are essential in keeping the facilities open and offering programs, he said.

Consumer Credit Counseling is one of the more than 60 recipients of funds in the annual Give Local campaign. Consumer Credit staffers pictured are, from left, back row, Tina Morris, Megan Workman, Patty Gump, Josh Johnson, Trinity Phillips, Allison Parsons and Lyndsay Haugh. Front row, Margie Riffle, Shelene Shrewsbury and Rachel Elliott. (File photo)

“It would make it hard for us to keep open without them,” Hoblitzell said.

Give Local funding is used by Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Mid-Ohio Valley for educational programs for kids and adults, Executive Director Shelene Shrewsbury said.

“Teaching kids how to use money the right way and understand the fundamentals of finances,” she said. “With adults we’re helping them create a financial system that works for them.”

Last year Consumer Credit Counseling received more than $9,000, Shrewsbury said. The hope is to exceed that this year, she said.

These are difficult times for people with rising prices, including the price of gasoline, Shrewsbury said.

“A lot of people are struggling,” she said. “We want to help with the proactive and reactive financial programs and services we provide.”

This year’s initiative for The Arc of the Mid-Ohio Valley is to replace old fluorescent lights that hum, flicker and drive up energy costs with modern, energy-efficient LED lighting. LEDs will last three to five times longer while saving The Arc $5,100 in electricity costs that will be put back into Summer Day Youth Programs.

“It is vital funding for us,” said Doug Hess of The Arc. “Without Give Local, we would not have been able to do a lot of things.”

The Arc of the Mid-Ohio Valley, which also operates Birth to 3, offers programs and services to help children and adults with developmental have satisfying and productive lives. Among the numbers for The Arc for 2025, 298 adults received training on disability-related topics, including digital literacy, a new grant provided by AT&T. More than 400 families were eligible to receive speech, developmental, physical or occupational therapy services at no cost and without income guidelines. Nearly 180 participants were in health and wellness programs, more than 220 in the Secret Christmas program and 850 participated in monthly programs.

Give Local funding can enable an agency to leverage additional funds and grants, kick start funds from sources that like to see their grants matched or fill in the gap between what will be received and what is needed to complete a project, Hess said.

Donors who make small donations can have their commitments matched with other funding and be multiplied, he said.

“It allows people to donate smaller amounts that are just as important as the big gifts,” Hess said.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com.