Watch: Midlands Gives Raises Nearly $1.6 Million

Columbia , S.C. (WOLO) — Midlands Gives raised roughly $1.6 millon during Tuesday’s 24-hour day of giving.

“Overall, Midlands Gives went superbly,” said JoAnn Turnquist, The Central Carolina Community Foundation. “We had significantly more gifts so, congratulations to everyone in the midlands for keeping it together.”

This year officials say Midlands Gives surpassed the amount raised in the previous 2 years, citing a larger number of non-profits and greater awareness.

“I think the fact that we had a number of corporate philanthropy champions and all of our media stars really helped lift up the message and really helped us initiate more gifts because of the incentives,” said Turnquist.

However, the 24-hour donating challenge faced a minor setback when the national donation site crashed for several hours Tuesday due to the high volume of donations. The glitch forced major cities like Pittsburgh and Sacramento to shut down, yet here in the midlands the community persevered.

“We were able to regroup, we extended Midlands Gives until Wednesday at noon and we were able to build an alternate platform,” explained Turnquist.

Despite the setback, officials say the donations that continued to pour in speaks volumes about the midlands community.

“We really do believe that we are one community and we have proved it over and over again,” said Turnquist.

The $1.6 million is a preliminary number, officials say it will take several days to get an exact final total.