A Good Cause: HashtagLunchbag
Random acts of kindness. We’ve all heard the term. We may even have put it into practice a time or two. Well, here’s a group of friends who have decided their acts of kindness aren’t so random any longer. In fact, they believe fully in the idea that small actions times lots of people equals big change. And, they’re looking to prove just that. Readers, meet HashtagLunchbag. It’s a definite tongue twister but if you are a social media user, you understand the impact.
HashtagLunchbag started as a small group of friends who decided to spend Christmas Day 2012 packing up bagged lunches with a wholesome, healthy meal and handing them out to the local homeless in Los Angeles. As they went through the process, they began sharing via their social media. Photos posted to Instagram. Tweets were written for Twitter. Statuses were updated on Facebook. And, each shared item was accompanied with, you guessed it, #hashtaglunchbag. Friends and followers started seeing the hashtag and asking if they could be involved with the effort the next time around. And, so it began.
The next month, they asked all participants to donate $10 to keep them up and running so they could continue to stay afloat and progress their mission. Their abilities strengthened, their volunteers tripled and they now had a well working system. They found a larger venue to set up an assembly line, made their wholesome bagged lunches and, this time with more manpower, were able to spread efforts to different areas of Los Angeles.
The goal of HashtagLunchbag is not only to feed the homeless once a month and to have fun while doing it, they want to make the movement go viral. On their website, they explain what is needed to set up your own HashtagLunchbag in the city you live. They’ve created an easy template for you to use so you can have smooth sailing from the start. It includes a shopping list. They recommend the 99cent Store for groceries. They also provide a sign up sheet print out for each new founder in each new city to use, facilitating updating volunteers. They even explain the easiest way to arrange your assembly line! And, most importantly, they can’t emphasize enough the act of sharing all your hard work via your social media with the staple #hashtaglunchbag to help spread the word. New cities are being added to the movement each month!
So, here’s where you come in. Check out the website. Learn about how easy it is to do. Gather a group of friends in your city and get to work! There are mouths to be fed in every city or neighborhood within the world. If you’re another LA local, don’t feel like you can’t start up another HashtagLunchbag group in the city! LA is huge. The more ground HashtagLunchbag covers, the more people are left with full bellies. Just don’t forget to tag your adventures with #hashtaglunchbag!
If you’re unable to actually participate in the events but believe in the cause, there is a donate tab on the site where you are also welcome to support financially. The $10 each volunteer brings and the donations from the site are what keep an incredible movement like HashtagLunchbag going.
If you are in the LA area, HashtagLunchbag is having it’s monthly event on, Sunday, March 31st. Everything you just learned about is going down!
Where: The Parlor Hollywood
7250 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
When: Sunday, 3/31/13 at 10:30a
What to bring: minimum $10 donation and a smile
Who: You!
If you are a local business and are interested in donating bulk items – i.e. bottled water, bottled drinks, etc – please email [email protected].
Remember, small actions times lots of people equals big change!
To learn more about HashtagLunchbag, please visit their website. You can also follow them on Twitter @hashtaglunchbag for updates.
Image via HashtagLunchbag
