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Twitter Challenge Prompts Richard Branson to Donate $2K to Glendale Homeless Shelter
Richard Branson, September 18, 2012 (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Conde Nast Traveler)
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A Glendale homeless shelter is about to be the beneficiary of $2,000 dollars thanks to Sir Richard Branson, who ran a one-day Twitter campaign to raise awareness of the facility's plight.
Inspired by volunteer Shannon Smith, who contacted British business mogul Branson to ask if she could wear his shoes for a day, Ascencia winter shelter will be able to bump up their budget a bit.
Branson explains what Smith did in his blog on the Virgin site:
True to her word, she wore the shoes all day on Christmas Eve. As well as doing her day job, she went to the Ascencia Winter Shelter in Glendale to join in a partnership with Ascencia, Social Media Club LA and Invisible People. They served homeless people dinner, handed out gift bags and helped to brighten up the lives of many people.
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Smith put up a video about the experience:
The next step, so to speak, was on Twitter. Branson challenged his followers to Tweet the hashtag #shoeathon, and when they hit 2,000 mentions, he'd donate $2,000 to the shelter.
We’ll donate to help Ascencia Winter Shelter in Glendale on behalf of 1st 2,000 people to tweet #shoeathon Get tweeting http://t.co/JTSZuPwO
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) January 22, 2013
It only took a few hours to hit the goal.
"Virgin spokeswoman Felicia Hill said the money would likely be sent out to Ascencia in a couple weeks," explains the Glendale News-Press, adding: "The money will likely be used to supplement the regional winter shelter -- funded by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a countywide agency -- which services Glendale and the surrounding areas."
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