ITHACA, N.Y.–– Cayuga Health announced #CayugaGivingDay, in partnership with Ithaca-based non-profit online fundraising platform, GiveGab on Tuesday.
Due to COVID-19, Cayuga Health had announced earlier this year that they would be canceling all in person galas and fundraising activities for 2020. The platform they are using, GiveGab, is designed for organizations to hold fundraisers online, including the Ithaca Voice. GiveGab previously hosted online Giving Days for different organizations, such as Giving is Gorges and Purdue Day of Giving and helped raised over $41 million in 2019.
“Since GiveGab is Ithaca born and based, I reached out to Cayuga Health to offer our services pro bono in support of their foundations during this pandemic,” said Charlie Mulligan, CEO, and co-founder of GiveGab. “They are our local health care resource and have been leading the COVID-19 response without delay, even while they had their own struggles due to the Coronavirus.”
Cayuga Health has two local hospitals, Cayuga Medical Center and Schuyler Hospital, in addition to a multi-specialist group, Cayuga Medical Associates. In total, they have over 2,200 employees and have had to make changes to battle with the pandemic and its consequences, noted Dr. Martin Stallone, CEO of Cayuga Health. Cayuga Health, like many local businesses, have grappled with a loss of revenue due to limitations placed on elective procedures early in the pandemic.
“We have all had to make significant changes during this pandemic. Not only did we take this fight head-on to make sure that our community was informed and prepared, we witnessed a significant decrease in patient volume and revenue across our health system,” added Dr. Stallone. “While we do expect our volumes to increase over time, we have set up response funds to aid with this burden.”
#CayugaGivingDay will take place for 24 hours on June 30 and will be online at www.cayugagivingday.org.
“Minutes can make the difference in helping us to raise funds to continue to provide the best care for our communities, Right Here,” noted Steve Savage, Executive Director, Cayuga Medical Center Foundation.