Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonas Corona.
Jonas, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I was 4 years old, I went to Downtown Los Angeles with my mom and my Aunt Janet and helped give food to homeless people. I helped giving food and clothing to homeless people the age of 4 until i was 6 years old. During that time, there were only homeless adults that came to receive help, but by the end of the second year, the first homeless child came to receive help. He was only able to receive food because we did not have any clothes in his size. He was around 6 years old and did not have any family with him, except for an older brother. At that time, seeing that boy on the street and learning that there were kids my age on the streets that needed help, made me really sad. I knew I had to do something about it. and so i started Love In The Mirror. Love in the Mirror is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that cultivates youth-led, service-focused initiatives to create a positive impact in the world through meaningful programs for all members of the community. So far, we have helped over 50,000 people in need and we would like to continue to grow and inspire people of all ages in 2018 and beyond.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Overall, it has been a smooth road but starting it was kind of hard. Since I was only 6 years old, people didn’t want to help me, because they thought i couldn’t do anything at such a young age. After I continued to ask and prove to them that I wanted to help and I could help, we started to gain supporters and now have a lot of people helping us.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Love In The Mirror – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We put together events and drives to collect donations (food, clothes, socks, toys, toiletries, and learning materials) and we give the donations to shelters and missions or me and volunteers pass them out ourselves on the streets.
We are known for our sock drive and peanut butter and jelly sandwich making events because we collect 10,000 pairs of socks each drive we do and make thousands of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a day.
We are different than most organizations because our main focus is to create volunteer options for younger individuals.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our long term goal is to have a youth shelter in Long Beach because there are no youth shelters in the city of Long Beach, the closest one is in Orange County or in Los Angeles.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.loveinthemirror.org
- Phone: 562-433-5100
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/loveinthemirror
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/loveinthemirror
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/loveinthemirror
Image Credit:
Love in the Mirror
Maximus Corona
Scott Smeltzer
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