Did you know that at the end of the school semester, college students might have hundreds of pre-paid meal points (or “swipes” on their meal cards) that disappear at the end of each term?  Neither did we, until Awesome LA learned about ‘Swipes for the Homeless’, our March grant winner, who told us about their program that allows students to convert the unused dollars to food for their local homeless populations.  In addition to feeding the homeless, the organization also educates students on campus about local homelessness and hunger issues in their area.  We thought that sounded awesome.

‘Swipes for the Homeless’ was originally created at UCLA in 2009 to address the hundreds of thousands of dollars that disappeared from student meal plans every semester, and by 2012, the organization became an incorporated non-profit to help the program spread nationally.  They’re no up to five, student-run chapters, headquartered at The Hub LA in Downtown.  Here’s hoping their Awesome grant helps them develop more chapters across LA and beyond.

Learn more at swipesforthehomeless.org.