CLEVELAND — The first Tuesday after Thanksgiving every year is known as Giving Tuesday, a day for people to do good in their communities.

What You Need To Know

  • The Cleveland Youth Compassion Tour engages children in charity work

  • Founder Dameyonna Willis says she wanted to show kids that they don't need much to give back

  • 20 girls participated in this year's event

Dameyonna Willis wanted to find a way to help kids join in on the action. She founded the Cleveland Youth Compassion Tour after receiving a grant to be used toward engaging children in charity work. 

Willis said the goal behind the Cleveland Youth Compassion Tour is to expose groups of children to the different types of work that Cleveland’s nonprofits provide. In a tour-style event, kids visit multiple organizations to see where their individual talents and services could be best used in the future.

This year’s event took place on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021. A group of 20 girls volunteered at organizations like Neighborhood Pets, Lake Erie Ink, and the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland.

Willis says she chose children to be the volunteers of her tour because she wanted kids to see the value of giving back from a young age.

“You don’t have give money, you can simply give your time, and show up, and give your talent, and that is more valuable than anything sometimes when you’re working with nonprofits,” Willis said.

This is the second tour Willis has run to mark Giving Tuesday. 

If you’re interested in donating towards next year’s tour, please visit the link.

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