GoFundMe on Thursday is recognizing a select group of change-makers who went above and beyond to help others, marking the platform’s first-ever live event.
Six people from around the country are being honored for their selflessness during GoFundMe’s first annual Heroes Celebration in San Francisco. The event is being hosted by Mike and Nick Fiorito, who were previously recognized by the company for their fundraising initiative to buy blankets for the homeless. The event’s live stream, which you can watch above, is being hosted by popular YouTuber Matt Santoro.
Stemming from five different fundraising projects that were nominated by the GoFundMe community, the six honorees include Michael Benavides and Sergio Cordova of Brownsville, Texas. The duo is being commemorated for their work near the Mexican border. Along with a team of volunteers behind #TeamBrownsville, Benavides and Cordova have lent a helping hand to asylum seekers who are often in desperate need of supplies when they arrive.
#TeamBrownsville has gifted them diapers, wipes, coloring books, and toys, and offer dozens of meals every day. Volunteers also pass out maps to asylum seekers and help to connect them with services when needed.
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Charlie Hyatt is being honored for her work with veterans in her hometown of Columbia Station, Ohio. Hyatt has long volunteered at the local VFW, and was inspired to bring in supplies like soap and clothes for the homeless veterans who visit the facility after hearing about their struggles.
But when one of the veterans opened up to her about how he was moving into a new apartment with no money to purchase cooking supplies or furniture, Hyatt went a bit farther by setting out to furnish the apartments of veterans transitioning out of homelessness with her Help for Heroes charity.
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Daniel Alvarado, 16, of Colorado, was a child when his older brother, Diego, was diagnosed with leukemia. The following years were filled with long hospital stays for the family, and the experience left an impression on then-6-year-old Alvarado.
Not one to wait to do something, Alvarado came up with the idea of Cancer Fighters to the Rescue, his initiative to collect toys for children at the hospital. He asked people in his neighborhood, and soon he received a flood of toys he could donate to children and families in need of a smile.
Though Diego died in 2016, Alvarado has continued the mission, having donated more than 9,000 toys, all in his brother’s memory and following his motto to “never give up and keep on trying.”
Lance Cooper created the #SaveFlintChallenge in response to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Though he lives more than 600 miles away in Richmond, Virginia, Cooper was determined to inspire his community to help people in Flint get access to clean drinking water and keep the media focused on the situation, even when attention has faded.
Lisa Peyton-Caire’s mother died at 64 from congestive heart failure in May 2006. The tragedy led Peyton-Caire to launch the Black Women’s Health & Wellness Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
The facility provides important health services for women in the community and offers support to new mothers and moms-to-be. The center also offers financial education workshops and mental wellness support. After her mother’s death, Peyton-Caire set out to create a place where black women could be cared for — and Black Women’s Health & Wellness Center is the realization of it.
“We get to see these heroes every day, but the broader world at large doesn’t really know about how many amazing things are happening,” GoFundMe CEO Rob Solomon said during the event’s live stream. “We think it’s important to celebrate regular people doing amazing things, and then we hope it inspires more people.”
from PEOPLE.com https://ift.tt/37gCuqu
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