9:34am | As the Saturday, March 26, deadline draws nearer, contestants in Community Action Team’s fourth annual Long Beach Giving Project are busy scouring the city for folks in need to whom they can grant up to $500 in goods and services.
Inspired by Oprah’s “Big Give” and “Idol Gives Back,” CAT founder Justin Rudd said $15,000-plus in goods and services (not cash) is being given locally to those who needed it most during this year’s project.
As with last year, for the second time, the giving will take place with two rounds of contestants, Rudd said.
In previous years of this contest, for example, a participant purchased prom tickets for a student who couldn’t afford them; purchased groceries for a family who was hungry; bought bus passes for someone dependent on public transit; and paid the electric bill of a senior citizen whose lights were about to b shut off.
So how does it work?
The first round of contestants consists of roughly 10 of CAT’s most exemplary volunteers and supporters over the past year, Rudd explained. These 10 individuals were given $1,000 on March 18 and challenged to use their leadership, creativity and resources to make differences in people’s lives by giving the money away in goods and services. As the clock continues to tick, the contestants are actively seeking ways to make an impact on the community or in an individual’s life using up to $500 at a time.
Click here for more information on the Long Beach Giving Project.
This Saturday — the March 26 deadline — a dinner event will put the “givers” face-to-face with a panel of judges before a crowd of about 150 spectators. Each “giver” will provide a roughly six-minute spiel on how he or she spent the $1,000. They will also face two minutes of grueling questions about their giving from the 25 Long Beach GIving Project alumni that will make up the panel, Rudd said.
The roughly three-hour event will culminate with one contestant walking home with an extra $1,000 in his or her pocket to give it away as he or she wishes.
But where does the money come from?
“Funds for the program are made possible … by the successes of CAT’s Long Beach Turkey Trot and the Haute Dog Parades,” Rudd said.
Before last year’s event began, the first-round winner, Elana Young, a junior at Wilson High School, submitted this written statement to Rudd:
If I won the $1,000, I would try to enrich other women’s lives with breast cancer and buy supplies for the animal shelter. I would also try to help the veterans at Veteran’s Hospital because they have given so much, and they should get something for their service.
The second round of giving is open to the general public. Interested individuals have until tomorrow to submit to Rudd suggestions that would benefit a specific person or persons who deserves a helping hand. E-mails should be no longer than 250 words, explain who you would help, as well as how and why, and must be sent to [email protected] with “Long Beach Giving Project” in the subject line.
Semi-finalists selected based on their e-mails will be e-mailed on Friday and must be able to attend Saturday’s event and present their request to the panel of judges. The finalists chosen that night by the judges will receive $250 grants and will then be given seven days to complete their giving project.
Rudd said that in previous years, “givers” used their grants to pay for school uniforms, bus tickets, meal vouchers, prom tickets, baby clothes, gas, sack lunches, Mother’s Day cards, scout uniforms, art supplies, rent payments, blankets, dance lessons, singing lessons, hygiene items, diapers, shoes, books, electric bill payments, office supplies and much more.
Additional information can be obtained by e-mailing Rudd at [email protected] visiting JustinRudd.com.