A group of twenty-five dedicated students recently changed the lives of forty-five homeless people living on Skid Row.
This summer, a high school club called LOOK International, a network of four high schools (Crescenta Valley High School, Glendale High School, La Canada High School, and South Pasadena High School) pursued a project titled Empowerment. The project’s purpose was to help the homeless people on Skid Row by distributing bicycles and empowering them with the freedom of mobility.
To start off, the club publicized its mission statement through local newspapers and posters. Also, in order to raise enough money for bike repairs and purchases, officers from each school asked for donations in front of Ralphs and Vons in their respective neighborhoods and even went door-to-door, asking for used bikes and/or bike parts. In addition, students held multiple garage sales with donated items and school supplies, turning a profit of over $800.
In the end, the club collected forty-five bicycles and fundraised over $1400. After two long, hard months, approximately twenty officers gathered in a parking lot next to San Julian Park on August 21st to hand out the bicycles. New, as well as used bicycles were given out to a group of specially selected homeless people through a lottery system. Reporters from various news stations and newspapers were present, as well as a security taskforce from LAPD for safety purposes. Overall, the event ended successfully and all the students showed deep satisfaction upon seeing their hard work pay off.
Alex Lee, the president of the CVHS club, stated, “Through this project, I hope to show the rest of Los Angeles that if only people put in some of their time and effort, they can change the lives of hundreds, and even thousands of lives.”
