Swipes for the Homeless Aims to Raise $20,000

Donation week for Swipes for the Homeless, a student group which donates unused dining dollars to the Los Angeles Mission, continued Thursday.

The LA Mission is a non-profit organization which, according to its website, "exists to provide help, hope and opportunity to men, women and children in need."

The original Swipes for the Homeless was created in 2009 at UCLA by sophomore Bryan Pezeshki, according to the Swipes website.

Pezeshki asked students to “swipe” meals to-go at the dining halls and he and a few friends would deliver them to the local homeless population.

Swipes for the Homeless said the program became institutionalized and an agreement was established with UCLA dining services which allowed students to donate meal swipes which would then be transferred into non-perishable goods and delivered to local homeless.

According to program, in its first year the UCLA effort collected more than 10,000 pounds of food and over the past two years they have reached over 30,000 pounds.

The program now exists in 10 university campuses worldwide, and the chapter at USC was established last semester. They have since collected more than $17,000 from 200 participants.

According to the USC group's Facebook page, they hope to raise $20,000 by the end of the donation week.

Donation can be made by students at tables outside the university bookstore and at Trojan Grounds from 10am-4pm until Friday.