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FAQs
Welcome to #HashtagLunchbag's FAQs. We hope these help in answering any questions you may have.
- If I am an individual, how do I host my own #HashtagLunchbag event in my local community?
- How do I find out if there is already a #HashtagLunchbag event taking place in my area?
- Is #HashtagLunchbag a non-profit organization?
- Who pays for a #HashtagLunchbag event?
- Is the $10 donation a requirement to participate? What does it pay for?
- How do I go about securing a venue?
- Why do you guys write love notes?
- If I am a company or represent a company, how do I host a #HashtagLunchbag event?
- Can my organization or company join a #HashtagLunchbag event?
- How can my company sponsor, partner with or become involved with #HashtagLunchbag?
- What is your food policy, if any?
- Are food or in-kind donations accepted for a #HashtagLunchbag event?
- Can I apply for a grant or community grant for my chapter or pop-up event?
- How do you find people or areas for meal distribution?
- Where can I get music for my #HashtagLunchbag event?
- Where can I find your official #HashtagLunchbag heart and logo?
- Which hashtags do you suggest I include when posting about #HashtagLunchbag?
- Can I set up social media accounts for my city?
- Is there an age limit to participating in a #HashtagLunchbag?
- Am I required to RSVP for an event?
- Can I make my own t-shirts?
- What's with the name #HashtagLunchbag?
- What makes #HashtagLunchbag different than other programs that feed people?
- How is #HashtagLunchbag in so many places?
- What is Living Through Giving?
- What does it mean to Feed & Feel Love?
- Am I really solving world hunger?
- How do I go about getting tax letters/receipts for a donor?
- What if my question is not answered here?
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Contact
Contact Us!
Whether you need help finding an event or simply want to know how you can make an impact, contact us we'll be sure to assist you with your inquiries and requests.
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News
Living Through Giving Is So Gangster
Posted by Admin · July 17, 2018 9:21 AMWe All Have Something To Give
Posted by Admin · July 12, 2018 7:44 AM#OriginalGiver - Anaika Forbes
See all posts
Posted by Dana Bakich · June 18, 2018 8:16 PM · 1 reaction
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Corporate Opportunity
Corporate Opportunities
#HashtagLunchbag welcomes businesses, whether small companies or large corporations, who are in alignment with our vision and wish to make a resounding contribution, both in their own back yard, as well as the world at large.
Want To Get Involved?
Corporate ContactOur Proud Partners
A few that help us keep our efforts going & growing.
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Join an Event
Join the Movement
Communities around the world are doing their part to organize and spread love in their very own backyards. Check out some of the upcoming events happening in your area below.
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Our Story
Our Story
#HashtagLunchbag is the perfect example of how a small group of people on a local level can make a tremendous impact, one small act at a time. Learn about how we got started and the things that continue to keep us moving.
Our Beginning
#HashtagLunchbag began on Christmas 2012 in a Los Angeles apartment by a group of friends who were having trouble finding a fun & meaningful way to give back. After a few failed attempts, we decided to take it upon ourselves and create our own experience. We went to our local grocery store and bought enough food to prepare 100 lunches (the kind your mom made you in grade school that made the other kids jealous). We sang and danced. We cracked jokes. We took breaks to watch funny Youtube videos. We connected with each other on a different level, while having the time of our lives! We hit the streets near the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Boardwalk looking for anyone that could use a meal. We smiled when asking people if they were hungry. We exchanged pleasantries while handing over our creations. We acknowledged their humanity, as well as our own. When we were done, we felt awesome and wanted to share with our friends! So we did. We shared on each of our social media platforms, jokingly tagging our posts with #HashtagLunchbag as an ode to hashtags.... plus it rhymed with what we were distributing (simple enough, right?).
We didn't originally intend to repeat our efforts but shortly after sharing, we received an abnormally large amount of likes/comments/calls/texts/emails from people telling us how amazing this looked & wanting to join us for "the next one." Riding the high of our good deeds, we decided to repeat our efforts a month later in January 2013. More of our friends joined, more meals were made, and more people were fed. Once again, we felt awesome and once again, we shared. The ripple continued and more people were hitting us up wanting to know how they could get involved. We ran it back for another go 'round in February 2013, growing out of our apartment to a local restaurant. We set a goal of making 1,000 meals. 100 hundred people showed up for the party. We added love notes of encouragement to each meal to further acknowledge those we were feeding, reminding them that they weren't forgotten. Just like we did, everyone went on to share their experiences on their social platforms, intriguing and inspiring their friends and their followers.
The ripple continued and ever since, we've hosted #HashtagLunchbag events at least once a month in Los Angeles. Through our committed efforts, we began to see others, friends and strangers alike, replicate our model. We shared our story with anyone interested and empowered many to bring our movement to their local community with simple do-it-yourself instructions. To date, our movement has grown to 100+ cities hosting #HashtagLunchbag events around the globe! We never thought that our small actions one Christmas morning would have gone global, inspiring others to spread love, one lunch bag at a time.
Our rapid growth led to the formation of the Living Through Giving Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 non profit organization that empowers humanity with the tools to create & benefit from organized acts of Love.Our Values
#HashtagLunchbag has become more than just a program that feeds the hungry in local communities. With handwritten love notes as our secret ingredient, we use bagged lunches as vessels to spread love, acknowledging the humanity of both the giver and the receiver.
Present
We present an A-Z experience for our volunteers to contribute their time to something fun & meaningful, while connecting with friends, both old & new, and immediately seeing the fruits of their labor.
Feel
Giving feels good, both for the giver and the receiver. Simply witnessing a random act of kindness uplifts the spirits of all parties involved. We are incrementally relentless in renewing these feelings with each and every meal we provide.
Feed
We are feeding a different kind of hunger. By providing a nourishing meal + love note to a person in need, not only are we feeding them, we are feeding ourselves. Feeding our souls. Feeding the humanity inside each and every one of us.
Inspire
By sharing our good deeds, both online & offline, we have the power to inspire others to join us in experiencing what we get when we give, sending an exponential ripple throughout the universe.
Feed & Feel Love™
A few months after we started #HashtagLunchbag, we realized that our efforts weren't revolutionary by any means. We were becoming known as a "feed the homeless" program (which made complete sense), but we knew we were much more than that. We would often question whether our efforts were really putting a dent in the bigger issues of hunger & homelessness. At the same time, we were seeing rapid expansion to other major cities, with people becoming addicted to what we created. We couldn't help but ask ourselves "Why?"
It then occurred to us that the meals we were creating were secondary to what we were really doing: presenting our friends with an opportunity to get out of their daily routine; an opportunity to snap out of their individual circumstances, even if just for a moment; an opportunity to do something for someone that couldn't provide them with anything tangible in return.
In doing so, we had an 'aha' moment and came to this conclusion: By Feeding others with meals prepared with Love, we were Feeling Love ourselves! Whether providing a meal to a hungry or simply smiling at a stranger on the street, any act, no matter how big or small, makes a difference and is more than enough!Our Logo
The 'hashtag heart' symbolizes the Living Through Giving lifestyle. Think of it as a bat signal for spreading love. Hashtags help spread & track messages across the internet, while hearts are the universal symbol for love. By hand drawing this symbol on every #HashtagLunchbag, we are bagging the love inside each and every one of us and spreading it to those who need it most. We could all use a little extra love in our lives. A little friendly reminder of how beautiful life can be. It's up to each and every one of us to spread this love every where we go and create the change we wish to see.
Living Through Giving™
Living Through Giving is the engine that powers what we do. It’s the intention behind every sandwich made and every love note written. A few months after creating #HashtagLunchbag, after watching our friends and followers bring the movement to their city, we quickly learned that our WHY for what we were doing was much more powerful than the WHAT we were actually doing. We feel most alive when we were focusing out of ourselves and want to share this experience with any and everyone. Whether participating in a #HashtagLunchbag, helping an elderly person cross the street, or simply smiling at a stranger, every effort counts towards our greater purpose. However big or small, we do whatever we can with whatever we’ve got.
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Get Involved
Join An Event
Want to join an event in your community and make a difference in someone's life, while feeding your own humanity?
JoinHost An Event
Don't see any events in your community or simply want to host your own for your friends or organization?
Host Your Own EventDonate
Sharing is Caring and Living is Giving. Help us keep going & growing by contributing to the movement!
DonateCorporate Opportunities
We love our corporate partners! From helping you build morale among the teams in your organization, to in-kind and/or monetary contributions, #HashtagLunchbag is happy to help your company find ways get involved while helping us making a difference in our communities!
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