I won!

There were 15 contestants on the first ever "Long Beach Giving Project" presented by Justin Rudd.
After weeks of creative giving and lining up new people to help out, all the contestants finally gathered, presented their giving to the Judges and enjoyed a night of sharing. In the end, I walked 2nd street after winning the $1000 prize, I was giddy and it wasn't just because I had 2 redbulls while listening to each contestants 8 minutes of stage time. I was like a 1st grader about to have his first day of school. I walked 2nd st with my lovely Girlfriend and couldn't stop thinking about whats next.



But before I drop what I'm going to do with the winnings. Heres what I did with the $500. The rules of the project didn't allow more then $100 to be given to any one project or person. It also stated that giving had to be done 1st hand... no hand outs, or checks. The giver needed to find a need and act on it in a creative manner... heres what I came up with.



MY PROJECTS:

The Feed the homeless crew.

First project: I wanted to reach out and help our homeless population. Long Beach has more then 3000 homeless people.
• Went to Costco with a friend of mine (Amanda Meza!) and her borrowed Costco card.
• Spent $100 on lunch making supplies.
• Recruited 6 of my close friends to help make the sandwiches, bag up the lunches and ride around Long Beach on bicycles handing them out to homeless friends.
• Gave out 90 lunches and were able to point the homeless to people that could help them.



Second Project:
Heather Hamm is a women in her late 50’s
She was recently diagnosed with MS
She has dementia and a minor brain tumor.
She gained 50 pounds and had no clothing necessities that fit her.
I took her to Loehmanns and led her on a shopping spree.

My Third Project:
Marilyn is a third grader with an amazing voice.
She lost her Father, Grandfather and brother within a short time.
A very poor family struggling to make ends meet.
She won the Haute Dog poetry contest and gave the $100 prize money to her mom for that months rent.
This time I wanted to bring a smile to her face, so I set up singing lessons for her.
She was extatic and sang for Audrey and I 3 songs right there in the park.

Project four:
Mothers day is tomorrow.
I bought 50 flowers from Romance Ect.
Picked up 25 mothers day cards from Rite Aid and headed to the Long Beach Womens Shelter. They were soo thankful for the contribution saying no one had ever done that for the shelter. Now the kids would have something to give to their mothers at the Shelter.

Project Five:
Susie, a single mother of 2. Lost her job and apartment due to her Heart problems. She is desperate for a job that doesn’t require a lot of standing and walking. Her heart complication is called “Left Ventical Blockage” . I figured out that she was putting her and her children at risk by driving around Long Beach looking for a job with car tires that were completely BALD infact tire thread was starting to show.
I searched around and located 4 barely used tires for $100, the Tireshop gave me a $75 discount. She thanked me again and again.

CLOSING:
After all of these giving projects, I’m inspired to do more.
Already I am looking into getting involved in all of these peoples lives.
Working with the City of Long Beach to help get the homeless jobs and housing. Supporting Marilyns singing career, Donating more to the Womens shelter and Working to get Susie a job and housing.

My remaining $8 dollars were spent on more flowers to add to the remaing 25. I rode around 2nd street with Ralph handing them out to people just to bring some random happiness.


So yeah. It was a good experience. Although the above doesn't seem like alot, I believe each thing made a great impact on these peoples lives. Thanks again to Justin Rudd, the Judges and to the community of Long Beach. Huge thanks to my beautiful girlfriend Audrey Armada for her support and wisdom during the giving.

Stay tuned for the BIGBIG GIVE!!
Also a video from all of the giving.
More on this at www.justinrudd.com