COSTA MESA, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 16, 2013) - In the U.S. alone, there are about 2 million youths who experience homelessness every year. To help end youth homelessness, empower young people and provide them with the tools they need, Sevenly.org (http://www.sevenly.org) announced today their partnership with Virgin Mobile USA's The RE*Generation (http://www.virginmobileusa.com/virgin-mobile-life/regeneration-past-about) and Mark Horvath, the founder of Invisible People (http://invisiblepeople.tv/blog).
"Sevenly.org believes above all else that people matter, every single person, especially our youth. Nearly 40 percent of our homeless population are children, with more than 40 percent under the age of five. We need to come together as a nation and help these kids by giving them a fighting chance to not only survive, but thrive," said Dale Partridge, CEO of Sevenly.org. "Through our partnership with Virgin Mobile and Mark Horvath, we plan to do exactly that."
Sevenly.org is a cause-activation platform. Just two years old, the company has already donated more than $2.5 million to charities around the world. For seven days, starting today through September 23, $7 of every purchase made on Sevenly.org -- from one-of-a-kind branded T-shirts and hoodies for adults and children created by up-and-coming artists, to lifestyle products like accessories and home décor -- will go to The RE*Generation, Virgin Mobile USA's seven-year old charitable initiative. Through this partnership, Sevenly.org and RE*Generation will bring together organizations that are dedicated to helping homeless youth, connecting them with people who want to help and giving them a chance to succeed. Virgin Mobile USA will provide a matching donation of up to $50,000.
"More than 100,000 youth sleep on the street for six months or more in America -- that is unacceptable. Our goal at RE*Generation has been to connect those in need to the right people and organizations to help them improve their lives, and we're doing that again by partnering with Sevenly.org," said Felicia Hill-Martin, who oversees The RE*Generation at Virgin Mobile USA. "Our youth deserve every chance they can get and with the funds raised at Sevenly.org, we can provide invaluable resources and manpower to make sure we help as many homeless young people as we can."
To create additional awareness and support around youth homelessness, Invisible People's founder Mark Horvath, who was previously homeless himself, kicked off a seven-city tour in late August, including visits to Chicago, Pittsburgh, Denver and Las Vegas. In each city, he visited shelters to capture the heart-aching stories of our homeless youth, as well as those dedicated to helping them; the videos can be seen on InvisiblePeople.tv. Mark will culminate his tour on September 17 at the newly constructed RE*Generation House located in Washington, D.C. Mark will also be attending Virgin Mobile USA's FreeFest at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. on September 21, where world-renowned musicians will perform to help end youth homelessness.