Local Woman Aims To Make A Difference One Random Act Of Kindness At A Time
by Jasmine Payoute
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Philadelphia woman plans on making a difference in the city's homeless community one "date" at a time.
Lolly Galvin is the founder of #BringIt4Smiles, an organization that raises money for homeless men and women in our area. Unlike other organizations of its kind, Lolly not only spends money with the homeless she helps, she also spends some quality time.
"It feels like a lot of people just donate money to causes," Lolly said. "It's important to be present with a person, sit across from them, and let them talk about their experiences."
And that's exactly what she did.
Lolly says she got the idea from Periscope, an app that lets you share and experience live video streams directly from your smartphone or tablet. According to her Gofundme page titled, "Pay It Forward Live," she will also be using the social media app to live stream her experiences. She hopes her videos will encourage viewers to help out as well.
So far, she has garnered the help of more than a dozen donors from all around the world. With their help, her Gofundme page now has more than $500 in its account.
"I made a Gofundme and in three days I made $500," she said.
On her first mission to make a difference, Lolly expressed on a Facebook post that she was a little bit nervous.
"I was scared that maybe they wouldn't like that it was being filmed or that they would prefer the money over going to lunch," she said. "I told myself get a grip and I walked over and kneeled down."
The man that Lolly introduced herself to was Tom. He is just one of more than 5,000 of Philadelphia's homeless men, women, and children, according to research done by Project Home.
"We ate at Five Guys," Lolly wrote on a Facebook post. "He ordered a burger and when I told him to get fries he said, 'to be honest I have no bottoms.' Ah, right you kinda need teeth for fries."
"He said, 'I can't believe this, man' about five times," Lolly said. "We said goodbye and I thanked him for giving me an amazing experience. He thanked me and said it would take him a while to get over this."
Luckily, Tom isn't the last person Lolly plans on helping.
Thanks to her donors, the 31-year-old has nine more surprises that she will give out each week to some unsuspecting homeless Philadelphians. This time she plans on doing something new, but could use your help.
Lolly hopes that more people will help out, and she is open to any suggestions about what she should do on her next quest to #BringIt4Smiles in the City of Brotherly Love.
For more information on how you can help, visit Lolly's Facebook page.
