Danielle and Diyana

A Word from Lil' O about Danielle:

Danielle was the first friend I made in Los Angeles 10 years ago - in many ways I feel as though we have grown eachother up. She's a rare combination - equal parts beauty and silliness. She's a complex woman who inspires me and pushes me to be a better person, friend, and human. Here's the letter she wrote to the organization she donated the $20 to~

Danielle's Story:

I have been donating $25 monthly to a little boy through Plan USA for the past 8 years or so and have always wanted to donate to a little girl.

What inspired me to take action was my best fried Kalimba who started a "pay-it-forward" type of experiment.
Basically she gave 6 of her closest friends $20 each and challenged us to see just how far that $20 could go in making a positive change in life of someone in need. She also recently visited Cambodia Thailand and Laos. She met some very special children in great need out there and has collected money to help these children pay for food, supplies and schooling. She inspires me greatly.

And so I have finally took action on something I have been "saying" I wanted to do for quite some time. I had heard another incredible out reach program (much like Kalimba's) helping woman and children in Africa called "Healing Bridges" which was started by a dynamic and soulful woman named Zebiba. Healing Bridges was founded to help women and children in the poverty stricken and war torn African nation of Eritrea. Their mission is to create jobs in Africa for women to support themselves and their families.
Their sponsorship program will provide individual children with a U.S. sponsor to facilitate health, education, family support and a chance to succeed.

I choose Diyana because my mother's name is Diana and I just found her demure and shy spirit in this photograph to be all together sweet and heart-breaking at the same time. I feel that my two monthly sponsored children hold the spirit of the 2 children I plan on having one day.

Warden and the Streets

A word from Lil' O about The Warden:

David A. is a character like no other. He's odd and funny, elusive and sensitive, talented, and genuine and I have come to call him "The Warden" for reasons that are not nearly as funny as the title itself. Here's what he created for the street of NYC with $20~

The Warden's story:

Well, I decided to split the money in two and create a NYC Homeless Helper Package, a package filled with intensity and support. for 10 dollars each (with a few extra dollars from me for each guy) I was able to put together a nice package: -Mainly food-water-multivitamin packs-emergenC packs-sampler size moisturizer-some dentyne ice chewing gum the first guy, who refused to give me his name, is the guy who's wrapped up in the newspaper hat and coat... I asked him what kind of food he wanted and he said he'd just take the cash, but not so fast, this is not a handout for malt liquor or smokes it's for a NYC Homeless Helper package. he finally said he'd just take a couple of helpings from the nearby hotdog vendor cause he was really hungry. i then added those vittles to the existing goodies and tried to talk to him some more but he got really belligerent and ended up telling me to back off and that next i'd wanna know his "dick size" and that i could just "suck on one of the Italian suasages" I got for him. I ended up leaving him to his own privacy.

Sadly, a lot of questions on mental health of the homeless arise here. I hope he had a good meal and uses the other stuff and feels a little better. the second guy, is the tallish gentleman, who told me his name is Garland Wright. He wasn't picky but I recomended he have something hot and hearty and something he'd either never had or something he hadn't had in a long time. So he could really get a kick out of it and feel the warm nourishment entering his system, and the goodness of a delicious meal. He was kind of indecisive. He said he used to really like fish, so I went around the corner to whole foods and got him a huge piece of roasted salmon on a bed of corn and black bean salad and some tomato eggplant bisque and some tortellini. I also stopped and got him some neosporin cause he was telling me how F'd up his feet were, swollen and infected. so i got him some ointment to put up in his game. He was a really nice guy who was originally from Chicago. He used to work in construction but an accident left him injured and down on his luck. I send him the best and hope he gets in to a better situation. i know this brightened his day...

Karen and the Opera

A word from Lil' O about Karen:

Karen has been my best friend since college. She is one of the most brilliant people I know. Her mind is fascinating, she's endlessly funny and you could wrap the whole world up in her heart it's so big. Her aunt Lanie is a beautiful opera singer and her partner Paula is a composer. Here's where her $20 went~

Karen's Story:

I donated your $20 to a workshop for Paula's new opera, The Bridge of San Luis Rey (based on the magnificent Thornton Wilder novel). Lanie reports that the workshop last weekend in Amherst, Mass. was extremely invigorating. So Paula thanks you, Lanie thanks you, and I, as always, thank you. I've also attached a picture of the lovely evening at Lanie and Paula's apartment when I first donated the money to the opera.

Stacy, Shree and the Clinic

A word from Lil' O about Stacy:

Stacy and her daughter Shree will blow your mind with their beauty both inside and out. Shiney, soulful, mischeivious. My life in LA would not be nearly as full if they were not in it. Here's their story of $20~

Stacy's Story:

when kali asked me to do the 20 $'s for good, it didn't take me long to come up with what i wanted to do. i have medi-cal insurance which is a low income healthcare with no co-pay. one saturday night shree had such thick congestion and harsh coughing that i took her into a 24 hr clinic. I was under the impression that the clinic was always covered by my insurance, but it turned out that weekend visits cost fifty dollars. This was a ton of money to me that particular month. I decided to trust and spend the money, not able to bear listening to my sweet shree's wheezing through her congestion, even if it put us further from paying the already daunting rent.This story almost immediately came to mind when kali challenged me to do good with twenty bucks. I brainstormed for a a situation where the twenty bucks could have a large impact. I came up with the clinic.

I decided to go look for a family with a sick child to share the good with. i came to the clinic on a sunday quickly found a family with 3 kids and stopped them on there way in. They were hispanic and spoke little english. i tryed to explain to them what i was doing and asked if i could share the twenty dollars with them. they were confused and turned down the money, seeming a offended by the offer. they approached the desk and i watched as the mother of the kids talked with the woman at the clinic. They spoke in spanish so i couldn't understand every word, but i could comprehend enought to understand when the mother was taken aback that her full coverage medi-cal insurance wasn't going to wave the fifty dollar fee.

After a string of questions, the mother looked defeated. Finally, she shyly looked over at me and without words, asked me for the money. I smiled and gave her the twenty. She thanked me in english. The family did not want their pictue taken, but their son was happy to pose next to his sick baby sister. He was the only one who spoke english in the family. he says he is a good older brother and helps out his mom and dad alot.the experience was a sweet one, and a sad one too. i am grateful i was a ble to play a part in helping a little girl receive the healthcare she needed.

Andy and the Peruvian

A word from Lil' O about Andy:

Andy is my dearest male friend in the world. He is sweet, tender, one of the best listeners I've ever met, a superbly talented actor, and an incredible song writer with one of the sharpest and dirtiest wits around. Here's what he did with his $20~

Andy's Story:

I gave my $20 to Luis, a Peruvian man that works at the Chevron station up the street. I get coffee there each day, and he makes me feel like I'm walking into his establishment, on Main St., in 1950's America. He gives me a rowdy "Hey, my friend, how are you doing?!?!?" then shakes my hand, every time I walk in the door. He works for minimum wage for an enormous, faceless corporation, and puts an inordinate amount of energy into making everyone he comes in contact with feel a little bit better. He always tries really hard, with his broken English, to find American bands from the 80's that we both dig. He always tosses out a new one each time I'm there.

I see him hustling around the store all the time, obsequiously performing whatever task his manager asks him to do with absolute pride. He's poor, and he works a lot of overtime to try to better his situation. I see him at the end of a 9 or 10 hour shift a lot, beat to hell. His "Hello! How are you doing?!?! is a little more mellow then, but just as heartfelt. He was so unbelievably appreciative of and surprised by the gift. I showed him a picture of you, then told him a little about you and what you wanted to accomplish by giving away money, and he was riveted. He's quite a guy. He's the type of person who, by having more resources at his disposal, the entire community is better off.