Help us provide Compassionate Care for Los Angeles

Team fundraiser

Jasmin Guzman and David Maldonado are organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Noah Reich.

Donation protected

Happy Holiday Season!

Hello, I’m David, and with my partner Noah, we founded and operate Classroom of Compassion, a queer-led community care initiative and nonprofit serving our communities of Los Angeles and on behalf of Los Angeles. We support actions, vigils, and memorials around Los Angeles serving our most vulnerable communities. Since we began our work in 2018, we have traveled with one message, one reminder and one mantra; I hope u know how loved u are. As we count down the final days of 2020 and look forward to 2021, we’re asking for support to help continue our work and spreading our mantra into the new year.

“I hope u know how loved u are” is at the root of everything we say and do. This core value and mantra has been the guiding principle that has powered the Classroom of Compassion since 2018. We’ve traveled the country these past few years providing compassion as a public service to communities in the midst of tragedy. We respect and honor the unique history and stories of every community we serve and offer the tools and resources to foster spaces of inclusivity and renewal. We hope every person, in every community, knows how loved, strong, and important they are.

Every act we’ve carried forth is a service on behalf of the community that has joined us with their support. Our pink shirts are not only the uniform of the Classroom of Compassion, our shirts have been the main source of fundraising for our community work! Since 2018, every shirt that we’ve created has been hand screen-printed by us and provided to our community for a $30 donation.

It is this community support that we value and rely on to function. It is also a reason why it was so shocking for us when we learned that Forever21 had produced 4800 "I Hope You Know How Loved You Are" pink tshirts as a part of their 2020 "Back to School" collection. Dismayed and disappointed based on this looting..we were compelled to create this gofundme as another avenue of financial support to continue our programming into 2021.

While we wait for Forever 21 to pay up for the merchandise that they looted from us, we’re asking the community for help continuing our work into 2021 and beyond.

We’re asking for donations to continue doing the work we’ve been dedicated to these past few years as we grow and expand to serve more communities, families and public spaces across the country.

We know that 2020 has been a challenging year for a lot of us emotionally, physically and financially, and ask that if you can’t donate to our fundraiser, that you please share it with your network of friends, family and colleagues. As independent creators, we know that a giant corporation like Forever 21 has the upperhand in resources and money.

Our biggest ally in this fight is visibility. Please share and spread our story and help us Spread some holiday cheer by sharing holiday compassion.

Thank you!