The Giving Project

Tonight I went to an event organized by Justin Rudd called the giving project. My friend Tricia and I attended a dinner and presentation in which ten people who had been given $750 just 13 days prior reported on how they dispersed the money. There were rules on how it could be dispersed. The money had to be given to help people, not other causes or animals. Up to $250 could be spent on one person, and up to $100 on five others. Or the money could be broken down to smaller increments for smaller gifts. Cash could not be handed out, rather it had to spent on something to help someone. So, the people who were chosen to pass the money forward told us how they did it.

Here is what they did:

>Julie Kim
Julie is an AP clerk for a construction company. She volunteers for different causes, like beling a lead at Justin's monthly 30 minute cleanups. She has a cat named Curious George. She likes a good book and baking.

With her money, she donated supplies to a woman who sells cut up fruit as a street vendor for a living. She bought prom tickets for an underprivileged student. Being a big supporter of Belmont Shore businesses on 2nd street, she helped a deli owner give out samples on the street to help promote the business.

>Lorraine D'Abate
Lorraine loves children and volunteers at a hospital in NICU as a "cuddler." She raised enough money to plant about 500 trees in the Heights area. She believes we're all in this together to make life less difficult for each other.

(1) She helped a child at Clark school who had pneumonia (2) and a homeless family. (3) She also helped a family who had a 9-year-old son who recently died of cancer. The family was making lots of sacrifices to afford his burial and services. (4) Lorraine paid to have flowers on his grave every week for four months. (5) She also found a mother with six kids, ages 5-14, and got each of them two pairs of shoes.

>Colin MacDiarmid
Colin commutes by bike and runs on the beach. He loves animals, has a cat and two snakes, and volunteered at the Aquarium of the Pacific for three years.

With his $750, Colin helped feed homeless people at the First Congregational Church, and provided a self-inflating pad for a homeless woman who was pregnant. He learned a lot about the river bed and the allotted spaces for the homeless there. He also helped a veteran. Colin was awarded an additional $500 to pass along.

>Eddie Gonzalez
Eddie is from Texas (like me) and works in the hotel industry. He also helps a friend with their catering business.

Eddie helped a woman named Dorothy who lives at a drug recovery home. Dorothy is a sort of house mom and cooks for the others. He helped her by buying her new cookware. He donated a bunch of books to a school and had them all marked inside stating they were donated by Justin Rudd and the giving project. He helped two kids whose mother was going to jail get some things they needed for their new living situation. He created Operation Smile by buying 99 toothbrush and toothpaste kits that he passed out to homeless people that he saw as he was going about his business. Eddie talked about being able to see these people more clearly by doing this project. He spent his $250 on special commemorative key rings for a group of 50 at-risk students that were graduating from Millikin High School. The key chains said I am the future on them.

>Kate Karp
Kate taught English and grammar for 30 years. She then got a journalism degree and copy edits for three publications. She is an animal lover, has two cats, helps other animals, and volunteers for Friends of the Animals in Irvine. She also has several tennants in some property she owns.

Kate helped one of her tenants who has MS by buying her some groceries and a few other things. She helped a person pay their utility bills. She helped a student get a new computer keyboard and ink. She got a nursing student some nursing shoes. She got another person more memory for their computer.

>Lynda Muenzer
Lynda is an educator at Kettering Elementary School. She also is very active and into physical fitness. She and her husband have three kids.

She bought a CSULB grad school a cell phone. She got a Wilson high school a ticket to grad night. She helped someone at Special Olympics pay their bills. She bought books for kids in the children's party.

>Moses Freyre
Moses was born in Peru, but has lived in LA or South Bay most of his life. He has worked in L.A.'s health department for sixteen years, providing resources, education, and services to prevent the spread of STDs. He is active in Friends without Barriers, a group thay provides services to those with HIV/AIDS.

Moses helped six patients who were at the end stages of their battle with AIDS whose families needed help paying bills and buying food. These stories were deeply moving and the depth of need for financial support was staggering.

>Patti Allen
Patti is a mother of three grown boys. She owns Arbor by the Bay on 2nd Street and previously owned Holly's Hallmark. She has had a presence on 2nd Street for 26 years and lives just a half block from her store.

She donated $250 to the Catholic Charity. She helped a hotel worker pay her bills. She helped a woman's shelter. She paid a friend's phone bill. She helped offset the cost of caring for a cat. And she helped a homeless person get some things they needed.

>Kevin Nicholson
Kevin owns a real estate appraisal and consulting company. He is going to pursue a master's degree in school counseling. He has a tiny Yorkshire terrier named Louis. He has done a lot of volunteer work and has organized weekly volleyball games on the beach.

Kevin went to dinner with some friends and noticed a woman in her 40s, alone, using a cane who did not look very happy. He annonymously paid for her dinner, which was $14. Having grown up with two alcoholic parents, he went to a place called Celebrate Recovery and learned about a place called New Life Beginnings. Seven women and 32 children were living there. He helped them with some materials from Handwriting without Tears. He mentioned a group called CWOLF (coffee with out lovely friends) that he contributed to and also helped a mother and son at Precious Lamb Child Care. Kevin was also awarded $500 to pay forward.