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'Give Miami Day' Offers You The Chance To Help Your Community

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Want to help your local community? Today is the day since it's "Give Miami Day!"

It's a 24-hour online giving event where nearly 700 local nonprofits are the beneficiaries.

On Thursday, the number of donations kept rising for the 6th annual Give Miami Day.

This year they're aiming high.

"Year one we raised just $1 million. There was only one of those moments. Last year, we had nine of those moments. This year, we're hoping for 10 of those moments. We're shooting for $10 million this year," said Javier Alberto Soto, CEO of The Miami Foundation which runs the event.

The staff was all in purple as they sat side by side for 24 hours in the war room located at Marlins Park where calls and questions came in but more importantly donations slowly added up.

"There's a lot of music and dancing. It's a long day for everybody so we try to keep it pretty lively throughout the day. Every million dollar mark is a celebration," said Soto.

Charities Services Centers was one of many organizations that supports the community year round. But on this day, they donated to dozens of nonprofits.

"Working here has been extremely gratifying," said Robert Carbajal.  "Especially on days like today where I can see what we do actually goes directly into the pockets and funding that organizations need every single day to do what they do from education to afterschool programs to sports programs health research and all of it."

In celebration of the 24-hour event, the Freedom Tower was lit purple.

Nonprofits like the ones housed at Center for Social Change are thankful.

"Who doesn't feel good about giving back? We're getting most of the holidays and we really like to see people get excited about giving back so that's what exciting for us at Center for Social Change," said Christina Pierce.

Gifts can be made on the website at givemiamiday.org.

Starting at midnight, they began accepting donations.

The minimum amount you can donate is $25.

You can choose where you want the donation to go.

The event ends at midnight.

"It's a great day to build Miami. It's a great day for everyone to come together for the community," said Soto.

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