One Simple Way You Can Make an Actual Difference in Somebody’s Life

Mark Suster
Both Sides of the Table
4 min readJun 25, 2017

--

Fresno State students receive supplies for school with help from Renaissance Scholars staff John Hunt, Jr. (left) and Kizzy Lopez (right).

We’re all bombarded with social media campaigns asking for us to Tweet, share, like, change our badge, use a hashtag or generally show outrage at a topic du jour. We jump in when we feel compelled or want to support the person who enlisted us.

Today I’d like to ask you to consider a small additional gesture that will make a tangible impact on the life of an 18-year-old in need of some love and assistance. Please watch this very short 2-minute video that talks about children who are going into their freshman year of college and are either homeless or graduating from the foster care system.

I learned about the Renaissance Program from my wife, Tania, who has been working on a few causes related to helping children who age out of foster care.

It never occurred to us that there would be this large group of ambitious people entering college with literally no support system. Of course it makes sense once it’s brought to your attention and once you know about it, it’s hard to do nothing.

So my wife sprung into action and contacted our nearest university, UCLA, to see whether they had a need for “dorm move-in kits” for incoming students who had no parents or support system. Her goal was to donate pillows, sheets, towels, bedspreads, soap, laundry detergent, school supplies, and other basic necessities most of our parents provided lovingly as we entered our first year of college.

It turned out that UCLA had a Guardian Scholar program set up since they have around 100 students entering this year out of foster care / homelessness.

The Ask

Tania set up a few ways people who may feel moved can donate — and truly any amount would be meaningful — from $25 — $1,000. Every dollar given goes directly to the students and my wife is so focused on that that she set up multiple ways of donating with no fees (crowdfunding sites take up to 9%).

So there’s a Paypal page, a Venmo page or you can buy gift cards directly from Bed, Bath & Beyond (if you do the latter please don’t buy items directly because they started mailing each package individually to us so we want to limit this and get one bulk order — thus gift cards).

We need to raise at least $35,000 to get these deserving students the most basic resources they need for college. And since today is my wife’s birthday I thought the best present I could possibly offer is my assistance in the work she’s truly passionate about. So I plan to match every contribution given dollar-for-dollar up to the first $10,000.

If you feel moved to donate — thank you! If you’ve given to other causes and are tapped out, don’t worry. But I’d at least appreciate your help in spreading this message to other people. You can start by clicking on the heart below so more people on Medium see and and then share across Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Tania, I love you for caring. I love you even more for doing something about it. Happy Birthday.

Huge thank you to our portfolio company Parachute who kindly donated sheets. I’m super grateful for your support. And while this isn’t an ad, I should tell you that Parachute products (bedding, towels, tabletop) are simply fantastic. I know this as a happy customer who paid full price for his.

*********

  • Every day in the US there are around 428,000 children in foster care. The average age is 9 year’s old.
  • On average they stay for 2 years but many stay 5+ years
  • More than half of the children are people of color
  • Every year > 20,000 foster children “age out” and these are some of our most vulnerable youth. One of the greatest organizations making an impact in helping people graduating is LA Kitchen, where my wife also donates her time. If you want to know more about this great program watch this 60-second video.

*********

If you know companies that want to donate, UCLA is a public, nonprofit institution exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code under the Regents of the University of California. IRS Tax ID (TIN) 956006143

*********

Photo courtesy of Kleenex Brand video ad campaign. You’ll need one if you dare watch that amazing video above ;)

--

--

2x entrepreneur. Sold both companies (last to salesforce.com). Turned VC looking to invest in passionate entrepreneurs — I’m on Twitter at @msuster