The initiative, created by Ebonie Johnson Cooper, set a goal this year to have at least 500 organizations raise $250,000 for their causes.
"For me, as a woman of faith, it was God sent. It was a message of affirmation, like this is the day," Johnson Cooper said.
In 1955, it was the murder of Emmett Till, in 1963 it was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech, in 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and in 2008 Barack Obama became the first African American to accept the Democratic presidential nomination. Each one taking place on August 28.
"There are already these other American milestones, let's add to another one," Johnson Cooper said.
"Give 8/28" is an initiative under a nonprofit she founded called Young, Black and Giving Back, which promotes philanthropy among Millenials.
"With less than 2% of institutional foundational dollars going to black nonprofits, there's gotta be another way," Johnson Cooper said.
"Give 8/28" is a 15-hour fundraising campaign where nonprofits from around the country operated by African Americans, that also serve African American communities sign up to get listed on the donation registry for the one-day giving drive.
"It is literally is like Giving Tuesday, you'll see leaderboards, you'll see all of the people who are raising money," Johnson Cooper said.
"Last year we raised enough to provide scholarships for all of our three scholars, Rohan Levy Foundation founder Nadine Sylvester said. "$12,000... a big deal for us, a little organization."
A big deal and a big check from people who had never even heard of the Brooklyn-based, anti-gun violence foundation before "Give 8/28."
It's more than that for the founder of DIFFvelopmentin Montclair, New Jersey, a nonprofit that promotes financial empowerment for Black college graduates.
"It connects you to new people and that is priceless because people are your lifeblood," Esi Kagale Agyeman Gillo said.
To make a donation, head to the Give 8/28 website.
MORE ABC 7 UNITE
See more stories at abc7NY.com/unite
SEND STORY IDEAS TO EYEWITNESS NEWS
Watch Here & Now
Here & Now episode archive
RESOURCES
We are also publishing resources in a range of areas, which will grow and can be found below:
Ways to Help
Black Lives Matter
Black Voters Matter Fund
NAACP
National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform
No New Jails NYC
Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY)
Black LGBTQIA + Migrants Project
Teaching the Next Generation
Black Lives Matter at School
Creating Space To Talk About Racism At Your School
Teaching for Black Lives - Rethinking Schools
Black-Owned Bookstores in New York and New Jersey
Cafe con Libros (Brooklyn)
Grandma's Place (Harlem)
Sister's Uptown (Manhattan)
Source of Knowledge (Newark)
The Lit. Bar (Bronx)
The Little Boho Bookshop (Bayonne)
Books
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children In A Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
Podcasts
1619
Black Wall Street 1921
Jemele Hill is Unbothered
Still Processing:
Movies
American Son: Available on Netflix
If Beale Street Could Talk: Available on Hulu
Just Mercy: Available on Amazon Prime
Selma: Available on Amazon Prime
The Hate U Give: Available on Amazon Prime
When They See Us: Available on Netflix
Documentaries
13th: Available on Netflix
America Inside Out with Katie Couric: Available on National Geographic
Becoming: Available on Netflix
I am Not Your Negro: Available on YouTube