TeenHelp - Rosa Loves

Article featured in Avatar - Volume 3, Issue 9 (March 2010).

Rosa Loves
By Katrina

"We are everyday people aware of a need in our community. We realize that we are capable of performing tangible acts of service that will meet individual and immediate needs in order to affect wide scale encouragement. Rosa Loves is an example, an inspiration, and will serve as a possible backbone to many more grassroots "love projects" around the world."

Rosa Loves takes a different approach than many of the other causes TeenHelp has featured in the past. In 2006, Rosa Loves started to form under the watchful eyes and open hearts of three guys really wanting to make a difference in the world: Mike Fretto, Chris Lewis, and Jeremy Dean. Rather than just supporting one large cause, Rosa Loves donates money to smaller causes and individuals doing good works around their communities.

"For Rosa Loves, the act of listening is something as important as it is subtle. Without listening, one can't hope to know someone else. This knowing enriches our lives and calls to us: to hear the stories of people in need, to feel true compassion, and to act."

In order to be able to donate to all these great causes and individuals, Rosa Loves has t-shirts on sale that support each of the causes. Once a goal is reached, the t-shirt goes out of print. Examples of the stories behind the t-shirts include:

Food for the Panti: Proceeds from the Food for the Panti shirt, Rosa Loves' latest t-shirt, goes to purchasing various agricultural tools to help the "Panti Asuhan" project.

Armonia #2: Proceeds from the Armonia #2 (as well as the original Armonia) go to a Mexican organization that works to send various prominent members of society to college. Once these members graduate from college, they come back to the town and help out other members achieve their individual goals.

Simple Machine: Proceeds from the Simple Machine t-shirt go to St. Augustine, Florida. Because many members of this town have no way of transportation, the money from this shirt goes into buying eco-friendly bicycles for easier transportation.

These are only a few of the amazing causes supported by Rosa Loves. To find out more or to find out how you can help, please visit www.rosaloves.com.