The Guardian - Some 18-year-olds who take time off from their studies after graduating high school head off to travel, learn a new language or gain employment. Augustus Holm gathered some friends, gave away more than 21,600 pairs of shoes to families in need and set a world record that he hopes lends even more credibility to his future philanthropic efforts.
The 7 December footwear drive that Holm had a major hand in organizing in his home town of San Diego clinched the Guinness World Records mark for largest donation of shoes in 24 hours. But the story neither starts nor ends there, he said in a recent interview.
For Holm, it largely began in 2019, when he was 13 and his mother asked him to help her out with a fundraising gala dinner of which she was the chairperson.
Holm and some of his buddies got some pointers from his mom, Pat Salas, and others in the field of philanthropy on how to convince people to donate to them. They realized they had an advantage being children and siding with a good cause: supporting a local community clinic named San Ysidro Health.
Their pitch – in person and by phone – yielded results. As he has also told the San Diego Union-Tribune, Holm’s group raised $130,000 in the months leading up to the gala. Then they ginned up another $100,000 at the gala itself.
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