A GOOD IDEA Wins $25,000 Through Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- A Good Idea, a volunteer organization providing direct services to the homeless and underserved youth in San Francisco, was among 100 charities out of 500,000 eligible nationwide to garner enough Facebook votes to receive $25,000 through the Chase Community Giving contest with JPMorgan Chase.

"Strong community support and a large Facebook following have propelled us to this point," said Jared Paul, Founder of A Good Idea. "We are very grateful to Chase Community Giving for helping us fund our work in the community."

As a Top 100 winner, A Good Idea will now be competing against other winners for a $1 million grant in the second round of voting beginning January 15, 2010. Chase will award the top vote-getter with $1 million, and the next five with $100,000 each.

"Every penny we receive is being pumped back into direct service events that benefit the homeless in San Francisco," said Paul, who serves the organization at no salary and whose staff consists of unpaid volunteers.

In two years, A Good Idea has built a strong following of volunteers and produced a string of impactful community service events in the Bay Area. The group recently attracted national attention for its 24 Hours of Service Event, which included distribution of goods to the homeless and other civil outlets. Gaining nationwide notoriety for their work, A Good Idea was awarded the "Random Acts of Kindness" award from the American Red Cross and has been recognized by Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Paul said, "Our volunteers are vital to our efforts and have dedicated thousands of volunteer hours to help us accomplish our goals. We now hope that those who are Facebook members will mark their calendars and vote for A Good Idea in Round 2 of the contest on Facebook."

Facebook: http://www.voteagi.com

About A Good Idea

A Good Idea, a San Francisco-based nonprofit 501(c)(3), is a vehicle for positive social change ideas that connect people in need with people who want to help. A Good Idea will be bringing a fully accredited residential high school for homeless teens to San Francisco called Hope Academy of Arts & Sciences (HAAS). To learn more please visit www.agoodideasf.org.

SOURCE A Good Idea