The Giving Spirit

The Giving Spirit’s mission is two-fold: to provide immediate aid and a human connection to homeless lives in Greater Los Angeles ...Learn more

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Sienna Bevan is fundraising
Samohi Giving Spirit Homelessness Outreach
Want to join the Samohi Giving Spirit in making a difference? We're raising money to serve homeless individuals and families in the Santa Monica and West LA area. Funds will help purchase items for 70 backpacks full of essential items - food, water, hygiene products, toiletries, socks, hats, weather protection, writing tools and more. Our club members will assemble the backpacks and then connect directly with unhoused individuals and families by giving out backpacks as volunteers of The Giving Spirit.

Currently, Los Angeles has the second highest homeless population of any major city in the U.S., with over 70,000 people experiencing homelessness. Our school club, the Samohi Giving Spirit, is focused on addressing this problem, even if only in a small way. We are connected to a Los Angeles nonprofit organization called the Giving Spirit.

More information about The Giving Spirit: The Giving Spirit provides life-sustaining aid directly to homeless lives on the streets of Greater Los Angeles via our Outreach Events - assembling survival kits of sustenance, warmth and hope to serve our most vulnerable. The people we serve are in many ways just like us, but without the support infrastructure to prevent them from falling through the cracks. We help them remember that they matter, that people do care about them and to provide hope that they can regain a home off the streets.
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19 supporters
The Giving Spirit Youth Council is fundraising
Helping Homeless Domestic Abuse Victims
In an effort to shine a light on the often overlooked intersection of domestic violence and homelessness, The Giving Spirit Youth Council is launching a comprehensive initiative to support homeless women who are survivors of domestic violence. Statistics reveal a harrowing reality: women with household incomes of less than $7,500 are seven times more likely to experience domestic violence compared to those with incomes over $75,000. Many of these women remain trapped in abusive relationships due to a lack of alternative housing options, and those who do manage to leave often find themselves on the brink of homelessness, with insufficient funds to secure stable accommodation. Homeless women, in particular, face an exacerbated risk of physical violence, underscoring the critical need for safe and supportive housing solutions.

At the heart of our initiative is a partnership with Alexandria House, a beacon of hope and transformation. As a transitional residence and house of hospitality, Alexandria House offers a lifeline to women and children seeking to navigate their way from the turmoil of emergency shelters to the promise of economic stability and permanent housing. Beyond providing a safe haven, Alexandria House is committed to fostering a community-oriented environment that is intentionally multicultural, anti-racist, and centered around the needs of economically disadvantaged women. Through educational and enrichment opportunities, they empower residents and neighbors alike to rebuild their lives with dignity and purpose.

Our mission is twofold: to expand awareness about the pervasive issue of domestic violence and to increase both financial and material support for its victims. We are collaborating closely with Alexandria House to compile a list of essential items needed by these courageous women and their children. Additionally, we will participate in their renowned walking event to elevate public consciousness about this critical cause. To amplify our impact, we are launching a GoFundMe campaign, enabling us to gather the necessary material aid and monetary donations. Through targeted presentations and outreach efforts, we are committed to not only addressing the immediate needs of domestic violence survivors but also to fostering a broader understanding of their struggles and resilience.

Your support can make a tangible difference in the lives of women and children striving to overcome the twin challenges of domestic violence and homelessness. Join us in this vital cause, and together, let's provide a pathway to safety, healing, and empowerment for those in dire need.
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32 supporters
The Giving Spirit Youth Council is fundraising
Fund Laptops for High Schoolers
Imagine you are a graduating senior in highschool, depending on technology to turn in assignments, contact friends, store important documents for your family, and express yourself creatively. Now imagine you are living in poverty, experiencing housing insecurity, struggling to get enough food, and with no safe or quiet place to study or do homework. However, you have overcome all these challenges and are about to graduate!

But imagine that your computer (perhaps the only technology you had) is taken away.

Graduating students experiencing homelessness/poverty often have their LAUSD school-issued laptops taken away, erasing years of personal files and memories and leaving them without computer access amid their other struggles. They have a great new horizon in front of them but lack a vital resource. Help us gift an under-resourced LAUSD student with a Chromebook to prepare them for their next stage in life and allow them to realize their dreams too.

We will be collecting donations to go towards purchasing multiple chromebooks. These will be distributed in collaboration with LAUSD to a group of graduating seniors experiencing poverty/homelessness. This event was held last year, and they were able to change three students' lives through donations. We are hoping this year to raise funds for ten chromebook donations.

We acknowledge the responsibility we have as fellow humans to ensure these students’ dignity, education, economic opportunity, and a better quality of life. Acknowledge that they are our future, too, and that ALL children matter.
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15 supporters
Behnam Shahbazi is fundraising
Helping homelessness in memory of my brother
In memory of my beloved brother, Ali Shahbazi, who passed away last year, my family and I are raising money for a cause he always supported: helping the homeless community and unsheltered animals.

We chose The Giving Spirit as the donation center, as we were personally in touch with them, volunteered in their events, and observed the kindess and support they share with the people in need.

This is how the The Giving Spirit describes their mission: "We provide immediate aid and a human connection to homeless lives--men, women, children and families in Greater Los Angeles. We also educate volunteers and communities about the human face of homelessness with the goal of recognizing that homelessness does not mean hopelessness and lives can be improved and housing challenges resolved through community awareness and action."

Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause which means so much to me and my family.

Best,

Behnam
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41 supporters
Caitlyn Roe is fundraising
The Giving Spirit L.A. Paws 4 Hope Project
L.A. Paws 4 Hope is The Giving Spirit’s Companion Animal Program’s (CAP) biggest project to date. The CAP was created to serve the lives of heroic companion animals whose life-sustaining support gives their homeless owner purpose and a reason to survive. Since we started it in 2017, the CAP has shown hundreds of our homeless friends that their version of family is as real and as vital as ours. #theyareus

By donating today, you will help fund projects like this October’s L.A. Paws 4 Hope. We are committed to serving 1000+ companion animals with our Companion Animal Kits – filled with over 20 items to provide sustenance, grooming, honor, care, comfort, and joy – things that their owners could never afford or imagine providing.

The CAP has allowed us to witness, firsthand, the powerful partnership between these precious companions who sustain resilience, courage, and a sense of family – even when facing the tragic reality of this pandemic.

Shelter policies in many communities prevent our friends from entering with their four-legged companions, limiting their access to shelters, services, and housing. These kits provide leashes and collars that permit entry to a shelter. They also include food, water, blankets, treats, and much more.

Your donation allows us to expand the CAP’s educational programming and content development to create more awareness around serving the needs of these companions who need each other to sustain the hope of finding a permanent roof over their heads and a safe place to call home, which the long-term solution we seek.

More information about The Giving Spirit: Founded in 1999, The Giving Spirit provides life-sustaining aid and hope directly to thousands of homeless lives while also creating and curating educational programming to allow the reality of life on the streets to the be a catalyst for long-term change in communities all over Greater Los Angeles. Those we serve are in many ways just like us, but without societal understanding, support, infrastructure, and access to care to prevent them from falling through the cracks. We remind them that their lives are as valuable as our own - as are their stories, which reflect the impact of the tragic injustice and inequalities that face our country today.

Click here to watch a powerful video and learn more about The Giving Spirit's Companion Animal Program. https://bit.ly/2CAaSSI
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55 supporters

About The Giving Spirit

The Giving Spirit’s mission is two-fold: to provide immediate aid and a human connection to homeless lives in Greater Los Angeles and to inform our volunteers and the Greater Los Angeles communities about the human face of homelessness both through the experience of building and personally giving out “survival kits” with needed life essentials and through education and community awareness programs. The Giving Spirit’s educational and community awareness program is involves moderated discussions by panels of formerly homeless individuals and experts and is designed to inform and educate volunteers and communities about the human face of homelessness, its myths and realities and effective ways to connect with and help the homeless.

11693 San Vicente Blvd. #113Los Angeles, CA 90049

Find The Giving Spirit at

Causes

Civic participation, Public affairs, Homeless services

Established

2002

Tax ID

61-1405121

NTEE code

Homeless Services/Centers

The Giving Spirit is a 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 61-1405121. Donations are tax-deductible. Select content is provided by GuideStar.

Recent Donations

Cleo Topp donated to Samohi Giving Spirit Homelessness Outreach
$506 mos
J Thomas Bevan donated to Samohi Giving Spirit Homelessness Outreach
$1206 mos
Anna Vegezzi donated to Samohi Giving Spirit Homelessness Outreach
$506 mos
Declan Ney donated to Samohi Giving Spirit Homelessness Outreach
$207 mos
Anonymous donated to Samohi Giving Spirit Homelessness Outreach
$4507 mos
Eli Dumper donated to Helping Homeless Domestic Abuse Victims
$458 mos
Wendy Cielak donated to Helping Homeless Domestic Abuse Victims
$2008 mos
Karl Lautman donated to Helping Homeless Domestic Abuse Victims
$2008 mos
Brooke Crane donated to Helping Homeless Domestic Abuse Victims
$5008 mos
Anonymous donated to Helping Homeless Domestic Abuse Victims
$1908 mos

The Giving Spirit

Samohi Giving Spirit Homelessness Outreach

Helping Homeless Domestic Abuse Victims

Fund Laptops for High Schoolers

Helping homelessness in memory of my brother