DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — For some, the holiday season is the best part of the year. But for others, it's a time of financial stress.
"We see a lot of people that are sadly going into debt to fund for the holiday season," said Gabriel Shahin of Falcon Crest Wealth Planning. "It literally starts about a week before Thanksgiving because they're sometimes paying for the festivities to be done at their house."
Hidden in between Thanksgiving and Christmas is Giving Tuesday, a day where people give what they can to those in need in their community.
"Decatur is such a great community. They really do collaborate," Jennifer Ballinger, the Director of ADM Cares said. "There's really a sense of making sure that we all work together to achieve the common goal, which is to help people."
During and immediately following COVID, donations came to a halt. However, with inflation higher than normal, more people need help to make ends meet.
Even people that have enough to celebrate with their families can't afford to make the same donations that they usually make during this time of year.
"The thing that we're seeing the most is the people that are in need and what that looks like as far as a lot of them are what we call 'ALICE' families, [which stands for] asset-limited, income-constrained, employed." Debbie Bogle, the President of United Way Decatur continued, "They are working people who have just come into a situation and they need a little extra help."
Even if you missed Giving Tuesday, there are still plenty of ways that you can help those in need during the holiday season.
"All the agencies are posting about things that they're doing in the community, the good works that they're doing, and how you can be a part of that in a very special way," said Bogle.
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