As you may know, Kobe Bryant took on the challenge of fighting homelessness last summer, and has not let up since.
Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, created their own foundation appropriately titled the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation, which partnered with a resource center in Hollywood called My Friend’s Place.
My Friend’s Place is a center that provides underprivileged youth between the ages of 12-25 with shelter, foo
d, clothing, showers, transportation and other services. According to Ben Bolch of the L.A. Times, My Friend’s Place has helped 1,741 individuals since Bryant and his wife’s foundation partnered with the center.
Bryant even spent the night on skid row–the infamous street in Los Angeles occupied by homeless people–this summer; interacting with several homeless individuals and becoming inspired by the various stories.
Now, Bryant is set to facilitate a group walk in order to help raise money in an effort to eradicate homelessness in Los Angeles. Kobe took to his Facebook page and directly addressed the organized walk, encouraging his fans to participate:
“As some of you may know, I am the honorary chair of HomeWalk in LA. 51,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles. This is simply unacceptable. If you’re like me, you love L.A. and want to make it the best place to live for everyone. We can work together to end homelessness.
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In fact, this year, we can double our impact! For every $100 or more you raise, they’ll match it dollar for dollar. That’s doubling the money to help our neighbors move into homes.”
According to Mark Medina of the L.A. Times, last year’s walk–which was also hosted by Bryant–brought out 28,00o walkers, raised $2.2 million, and “funded groups that moved 12,000 people into permanent housing. ”
This year, HomeWalk will take place on November 17 and those who are interested can sign up and join Kobe’s team here: http://homewalkla.kintera.org/teamkobe. As of now, it appears as though Bryant’s team has already surpassed the total amount raised last year, although Kobe’s goal this year is $10 million (he has since raised the goal to $25 million).
Note: You can visit the Bryants’ website for their foundation at kvbff.org, “like” it on Facebook, or follow on Twitter @KVBFF.
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In case you missed it: Kobe talks A-Rod, growing up in a family of “a-holes.”
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