WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — The 16-hour day of giving for local nonprofits began at 6 a.m. Thursday morning.

COVID-19 really knocked some of these nonprofits out of the ring, but every dollar counts to go toward helping these organizations fulfill their mission.

For the fifth year, area nonprofits put their trust in Texoma to give with open hearts toward causes they care about so they can keep their mission going for years to come.

“We offer relapse prevention, for people in our community,” Scarlett Letter Ministries’ Misti Hall said.

“We’ve got hundreds of students that are suffering from food insecurities because of the COVID virus or other emergencies that have come up and they really rely on us to support them,” MSU Mustang Pantry’s Cindy Cummings said.

The president of the Wichita Falls Area Community Foundation Leslie Schaffner said she believes Texomans have seen the immense value of nonprofits.

Organizations have been strapped for cash during this pandemic but still continue to serve.

“We definitely need financial security to be able to pay for the hay, the food and the care of the horses,” Whisper of Hope’s Jeri Tillman said.

About 200 organizations hope the community believes in them enough to pay it forward to a cause that serves the community.

“I hope at the end of this day the organizations that participated look at their totals and go wow the community has supported us in a mighty way and we are thankful because as a community we are thankful to have these nonprofits,” Schaffner said.

Schaffner said of course they would like to surpass the $1.2 million last raised but they don’t have a monetary goal.