For more than 35 years, the East Bay Times has hosted its annual Share the Spirit holiday fund drive to help some of the most vulnerable people in the East Bay. The drive brings attention to the needs of these people and raises funds for the organizations that help them. The 2024 campaign has so far raised more than $500,000.
Share the Spirit is one of the most meaningful projects we do each year. We’re grateful that our stories have encouraged you to support so many individuals, families and groups coping with significant challenges. With your help, our community will become an even better place.
Share the Spirit is a non-profit that is managed by the East Bay Times. All donations to it are tax deductible and accepted throughout the entire year.
Sincerely,
Sharon Ryan
Publisher of the East Bay Times
Dear Friends,
We’re reaching out to you on behalf of the 2025 Share the Spirit season, our 36th year of sharing stories that uplift and transform lives in the East Bay.
Your past generosity has made Share the Spirit a powerful community tradition of making life-changing differences. Each year, we introduce you to neighbors facing challenges, and together, we grant wishes to the organizations that provide hope and support.
As we launch this year’s campaign, we invite you to help us meet urgent needs, such as housing, food security, education, and healthcare, for local individuals and families.
Every story in this year’s Share the Spirit, published on Thanksgiving Day along with continued features through December, reflects real need and real possibility. And every donation, no matter the amount, makes a lasting impact. Whether you give online or by mail, your contribution goes directly to helping local residents — the East Bay Times covers nearly all administrative costs.
Sincerely,
Sharon Ryan
Publisher of East Bay Times
Our mission is to spotlight Bay Area non-profits that assist seniors, alleviate homelessness, provide food and many other laudable causes to people like you.
Every September, Share the Spirit selects about 20 local non-profit groups in need of assistance. Those selected would have their stories and needs published in print and online in the East Bay times from Thanksgiving until early January. Readers would then be encouraged to help fulfill these wishes by donating here.
If your non-profit organization would like to receive aid from Share the Spirit, please go to the Grants page for more information and to submit an application. Openings for grants begin in July.
2025 Donations will help the Bay Area Rescue Mission provide 75,000 hours of case management, life skills classes, trauma-informed counseling and vocational training to women living at its Muriel E. Mayes Center for Women and Children and going through its one-year wrap-around program to recover from homelessness, whether due to addiction, domestic violence, poverty or human trafficking.
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