In the season of giving, charities and organizations in North Carolina are struggling with holiday donations.

With Christmas just one week away, many charities are feeling the pinch. 

Less than a week ago, the Triangle Nonprofit and Volunteer Leadership Center said it lost an important sponsor, which they said could affect more than 50 families that rely on the center.

Kim Shaw of the Triangle Nonprofit and Volunteer Leadership Center said the center has been in “crisis mode.”

It’s one of the issues many nonprofits are facing around the state.

According to the World Giving Index and WalletHub, the United States is the sixth-most giving nation in the world, but in the country, North Carolina ranks as the 29th most charitable state.

“That’s one of the things we’ve heard from nonprofits we support is that contributions are down,” she said.

The DJ Rowell Foundation did its part on Wednesday and donated bookbags with goodies to children at the Ronald McDonald Houses in Durham and Wake County.

“It’s an incredible impact,” founder David Rowell said. “We have to spark this new cultivation of giving. We all know what it’s like to receive, but we’ve got to start giving more.”

While the DJ Rowell Foundation is helping fill the gap, Shaw said she remains hopeful the community will rise to the occasion this holiday season with a financial donation to help the families that feel left behind.

Those interested in supporting the center can volunteer here.

The No. 1 Oregon Ducks are the only undefeated team left in college football. At 13-0 and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, Oregon earned a first-round bye. The Ducks are Big Ten Champions in their inaugural season in the conference. Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel was a Heisman Trophy finalist.

…. In short, the 2024-25 college football season has been Duck domination by coach Dan Lanning.

However, another coach is grabbing headlines while the Ducks prepare to face either theOhio State Buckeyes or Tennessee Volunteers in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

Legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick will coach at the collegiate level for the first time as he takes over the University of North Carolina football program. Belichick takes over for Mack Brown in a stunning move.

Lanning and Belichick are familiar with each other and Lanning complimented the new Tar Heels coach.

“I got an opportunity to go visit OTAs (NFL organized team activities) before and visit with him on the phone a few times,” Lanning said. “Obviously, a brilliant football coach and there’s a reason he’s had all the success he’s had. Extremely organized, deep thinker, and certainly he can coach football. So I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him have success there at UNC.”

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Belichick holds the NFL record for most Super Bowls with six as the New England Patriots head coach. Widely regarded as one of the best NFL coaches of all time, Belichick is 72-years-old and a descendant of the Bill Parcells coaching tree.

How Belichick transitions to college and the new transfer portal, Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) era will be under much scrutiny. In 2024, North Carolina finished 6-6 and in 10th place in the ACC conference.

 In his introductory press conference in Chapel Hill, Belichick said he “always wanted to coach in college football and it just never really worked out. I had some good years in the NFL, so that was OK. But this is really kind of a dream come true.”

His dad, Steve, served as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953 to 1955. Belichick doesn’t have vivid memories of his family’s time at UNC but said he was always told, “Billy’s first words were ‘Beat Duke.’ … So, full circle.”

Belichick and Lanning won’t meet in the regular season as members of difference conferences. The two could meet on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal, as many prospects are excited about the idea of playing with the legendary Belichick.

Also, with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12-team, the ACC could have a larger presence in the postseason, moving forward. Meaning, Oregon and UNC could meet in the playoffs.

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“We are actively communicating with federal and local agencies about residents’ reports of drones spotted in eastern North Carolina and are working to find answers,” said U.S. Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C.

The federal government, said national security spokesman John Kirby, hasn’t identified public safety or national security risks. Sightings started in the northeast last month, speculation has intensified, and there’s been little to no explanation.

Reaction has ranged from marvel and wonder to the paraphrase of a number of both Democratic and Republican politicians to “shoot first, ask questions later.”

“There are more than 1 million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration,” Kirby said. “And there are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day. That is the ecosystem that we are dealing with.”

That said, federal probes have been started. There have been more than 5,000 reports to the FBI, with roughly 100 drawing investigations, says a joint statement put out by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense.

Published reports of similar sightings exist to the west in California, the Midwest in Minnesota, and even across the Atlantic in England.