WyoGives funds state’s nonprofits

Wednesday marks the return of WyoGives, a statewide fundraising initiative for Wyoming charities.

Organized by the Wyoming Nonprofit Network, the program – now in its fifth year – marks the single largest day of charitable giving in the state each year and, since its inception in 2020, has raised over $14 million for more than 100 charities throughout our state. Last year, it was reported the one-day drive led to more than $4.5 million in charitable funding.

Here in Park County, a number of local organizations are participating, including the Park County Search and Rescue Foundation; local museums, including the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Homesteader Museum and Meeteetse Museums; Cody Pardners, a local charity supporting adults with disabilities; Wyo Hoofbeats, an equine therapy program; Friends of a Legacy, or FOAL, which advocates for the wild horses in the McCullough Peaks; and By Western Hands, an arts nonprofit. A full list of participating charities may be found by visiting www.wyogives.org/search.

At a state level, we feel both Wyoming PBS and Wyoming Public Radio are two organizations deserving of donations this year as well. While so many nonprofits are facing hardships as a consequence of government funding cuts, the administration is continuing to mount a campaign against our public media and radio services, characterizing them as ‘biased’ news outlets and threatening to slash their funding by more than $1.1 billion.

As members of the press ourselves, we find this rhetoric to be particularly alarming and out of line with our country’s core belief in the freedom of the press. Moreover, the proposed budget cuts would have a devastating impact on local news affiliates in rural communities like our own. According to the PEN America Foundation, public broadcasting reaches 94% of all American households, including 73% of rural households.

“Local public media stations are often the only sources of on-the-ground news reporting in their regions,” according to the foundation in a story published on May 7, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that called for federal funding of public media to cease. “Even if there is another credible local news outlet covering a given community, its work may not reach its intended audience, particularly during a crisis.”

However and wherever you choose to put your dollars this year during WyoGives – if you are in a position to donate at all – we are proud to know our community and our state are so big-hearted, and prouder still to know how much vital, charitable work is being done to meet the needs of our friends and neighbors.