“I was only 8 years old when my mom and I became homeless. Once my business took off, I dedicated it to helping local organizations—including the ones that helped us.” — Donovan, age 14
When he was eight years old, Donovan and his mother, Casey, became homeless. They lived in shelters around Albuquerque for over a year as they tried to get back on their feet. Even in the midst of hardship, Casey and Donovan always took the time to look around them and be grateful for the help they received.
“People here are struggling every day,” Casey says, “but our community rallied around us in our time of need. We couldn’t have survived without their empathy and compassion.”
Even after the two overcame homelessness, they never forgot the kindness that their community showed them. So when Donovan was in a position to give back, he decided to pay it forward—starting with a bar of soap.
“My mom introduced me to soap-making a few years ago,” Donovan shares.. “She taught me this advanced version called cold process. You have to let the mixture cure, and it was really cool to see how it bound up and came together. Soap is a science and art in itself.”
Donovan became so skilled at soap-making that his hobby quickly turned into a small business. He became the youngest vendor at Rail Yards Market—a local mainstay for handcrafted goods—and he started his own Etsy shop. But from the start, Donovan knew that he wanted to pay it forward.
Immediately, he began donating soaps as well as a large percentage of every sale to organizations that helped him and his mom.
Donovan has donated over 20,000 bars of soap and thousands of dollars to shelters and organizations that help the homeless. His work even caught the attention of Dirty Jobs‘ Mike Rowe, who featured Donovan on his show and helped him open a storefront called Donovan Discovers in downtown Albuquerque.
When people heard about Donovan’s mission, they wanted to do more than just buy his soap. So, Donovan started a GoFundMe, which raised over $23,000—enough to allow him to hire day laborers from a nearby shelter