StandUp for Kids – Silicon Valley
Hakuna Matata. We all recognize this Swahili phrase, but have you ever met someone who truly embraces & lives its message? Meet Eugene, our self-proclaimed “old soul” volunteer, who is so humble, that when asked how long he’s been with us, he said, “I’m not sure, I don’t track or care about those kinds of things.” We can confirm he’s been a fixture since his college days.
Eugene’s drive “to escalate [moving] kids off the streets & into stable housing, & elevating them…giving them a foundation” was born out of his strong family ties. They surrounded him with the love, support, & structure that a kid needs to thrive. He says he’s one of the “lucky ones,” & is paying it forward. “A lot of people that come here are like the people I grew up with…bad decisions [being made as] a result of no structure.”
His infectious fervency for our youth can’t be summed up in a social media post, but, we will leave you with this message in attempt, “not everyone is dealt the same deck at birth so try to imagine how a life would be for you & imagine how it is to constantly struggle, to never have the structure, foundation. Don’t take your life & all you have for granted…At StandUp for Kids – Silicon Valley, we are trying to bring the hope back, or to at least [help kids] believe in it.”