The Kitsap Great Give, a 24-hour nonprofit fundraising event staged by the Kitsap Community Foundation, raised more than $1.4 million from 3,622 donors on April 24. In 2017 they raised $1.63 million dollars with nearly 4,000 donors.

The Kitsap Great Give allowed donors to go online from midnight to 11:59 p.m. on April 24 and donate to as many nonprofit organizations as they desired in one transaction.

As the event closed in on 6 p.m., Kol Medina, executive director for the Kitsap Community Foundation, sent out this message: “We’re still trending a bit higher than last year, which is great, although there were a couple of large gifts made in the later hours last year that probably won’t be repeated this year. It’s still a neck-and-neck race with last year’s total.”

One woman wrote a note with her donation that stated, “Thanks for doing this. I am retired and can’t afford to do much, so am staying anonymous (don’t want additional phone calls for donations) … now I can give to nonprofits that I care about easily, thanks.”

She donated $10 to eight nonprofits.

Earlier in the day, Medina messaged that, “Even if we don’t beat last year’s total, the day will still be a grand success, whether we end up raising $1.4 million or $1.8 million. We, including you, have raised a LOT of money for nonprofits.”

The top recipients were:

Kitsap Humane Society with 534 donations totaling $91,835; Children of the Nations with 61 donations totaling $58,136; Kitsap Rescue Mission, 154 donations, $35,413; Coffee Oasis, 177 donations, $31,275; Holly Ridge Center, 56 donations, $27,352; and Catholics United for Life, 35 donations, $25,674.

Other nonprofits that raised more than $10,000 were Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center; Island Time Activities; Morrow Manor – the Campaign to Build Brighter Tomorrows; Kitsap Regional Library Foundation; North Kitsap Fishline Food Bank and Supportive Services; Kids In Concert; Holy Trinity Parish; Bremerton Symphony Association; West Sound Wildlife Shelter; Kitsap Community Resources; Kitsap Animal Rescue and Education; Maasai Women’s Education & Empowerment Program; Bainbridge Schools Foundation; Olympic College; The Salvation Army; PAWS of Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap; Bainbridge Ometepe Sister Islands Association; Silver Ridge Elementary PTA; Pony Up Rescue for Equines; Stillwaters Environmental Center; CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) of Kitsap County, and Girls on the Run of WestSound.