Giving Tuesday in Memphis: The initiatives keeping our community connected

Memphis has never been a city that waits for someone else to fix things.
Here, people show up for one another — in classrooms, in parks, in museums, at neighborhood festivals, and in every corner where creativity or care is needed.

This Giving Tuesday, we wanted to spotlight some of the Memphis organizations doing the everyday, unglamorous, quietly powerful work that keeps our city moving forward. And because Ting calls Memphis home too, we’re proud to support the people behind these efforts — not with fanfare, but by simply showing up where connection matters most.

Celebrating culture at the Brooks Museum’s Día de los Muertos Community Day

Every year, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art opens its doors wide for Día de los Muertos Community Day — a joyful tribute to Mexican and Latin heritage, filled with music, altars, food, and families celebrating together.

More than 4,000 Memphians came out this year. Kids painted sugar skulls. Mariachi music floated across the lawn. Community leaders shared words of remembrance and pride. And, importantly, it was all free — because Community Days are designed to give every Memphian access to art.

Supporting learning in Frayser at the STEAM Fall Festival

Frayser is one of the neighborhoods where Ting is building fiber, and it’s also a place full of students with big ideas. At the STEAM Fall Festival, kids were busy building, designing, experimenting, and discovering new ways to use technology.

There were hands-on activities, take-home learning kits, and an entire afternoon built around giving young Memphians tools to explore what’s possible.

Keeping Memphis’ music spirit alive at Overton Park Shell

Free concerts at the Overton Park Shell aren’t just entertainment — they’re a Memphis tradition. This fall, thousands of families came out with picnic blankets, lawn chairs, kids, cousins, neighbors, and whoever else they could squeeze into the car.

These concerts are joyful, open-to-everyone moments that remind us why community spaces matter. They’re where Memphis feels like Memphis.

Fueling innovation at the Innovate Memphis Hackathon

For 36 hours, developers, students, designers, and civic problem-solvers worked together on challenges that — if solved — truly make Memphis better. From blight analytics to improving access to 211 resources to strengthening local business partnerships, every project was rooted in one idea: Memphis gets stronger when people collaborate.

Showing up on Giving Tuesday and every other day

\We know there are easier ways to run a business than trying to build something local, honest, and reliable in a city full of big challenges and even bigger heart. But Memphis doesn’t take shortcuts — and we don’t want to either.

These organizations — artists, teachers, students, engineers, community leaders — are doing the real work. The connective work. The work that strengthens neighborhoods long before anyone notices.

If Giving Tuesday has a message, it’s this:
Keep pouring into the people and programs that make Memphis feel like home.