Giving to Receive

This year, ten friends and I are hoping to raise $37,500 by April 30 to support Lava Mae, an organization that provides hot showers and other services for the homeless in San Francisco. There are currently 7,500 homeless people in the city. Due to a shortage of temporary shelters and affordable housing, 58% of the homeless are living on the streets. For them, even the most basic human necessities, such as taking bowel movements, require extreme planning. Lava Mae’s mission is to bring these critical services to the streets, and to rekindle dignity and hope for people experiencing homeless through mobile hygiene services. $37,500 represents one shower for each of the 7,500 homeless, and we will match every dollar that we raise.

Every year, we try to raise money and awareness for non-profits working on causes that are important to us. We chose homelessness this year, partly because this has personally affected me. During the summer of my sophomore year of college, I found myself in the unfortunate situation of being without a place to live. For three months, I bounced around friends’ places, the locker room of the restaurant I worked at, Grand Central Station and Port Authority. Fortunately, I was never in any serious danger, and because I had a job, I always had money for food. The worst thing that happened was being stared at whenever I spent the night on a public bench. And ultimately, I was able to go back to college and never had to worry about living on the streets again. Not everyone is so fortunate.

I believe that people find themselves homeless for a multitude of reasons and I also believe that every person living on the streets has the right to feeling hope and dignity. I hope that you would consider supporting us and Lava Mae by donating here:

bit.ly/dignitychallenge

updated 4/15: changed goal date to April 30