The CrowdRise 24-Hour Impact Project to Raise $10,000 for Homeless Living in Las Vegas Flood Tunnels

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Matt O'Brien, author of Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas, joins CrowdRise's 24-Hour Impact Project to crowdfund $10,000 in 24-hours for the homeless population living in the flood tunnels featured in Matt's work. If the money is raised in time, he will spend the next 24-hours implementing those funds to help cover some of the residents' basic needs.

Below the nightlife of the Las Vegas strip are miles of underground flood tunnels. These tunnels are home to hundreds of homeless who are largely invisible to the world above.

Matt first visited the tunnels in 2002 after reading about them. He was shocked to see the immense homeless population living in the tunnels. Since then, Matt has visited twice a month to check on his friends.

Matt returned to the tunnels yesterday to film interviews with people living there about their needs. The video issues a fundraising call to action to help meet those needs on his CrowdRise fundraising page. "You know what I want, I want a job," explains a homeless veteran.  "Socks, batteries, canned food stuff," says another.

The video portrays deeply rooted poverty, and a population of homeless Americans who struggle to make ends meet, in sharp comparison to the Vegas Strip above. They relay the hardship in frank interviews with Matt, and the video showcases their needs in earnest — going a week without eating, sleeping on cardboard, the dark and damp that comes with living underground.

"There are many people in the tunnels who want and deserve to be helped," explains Matt, "I'm very excited about being able to change their lives right now."

The $10,000 will help to meet the tunnel residents' basic needs, including clothes, shoes, toiletries and transportation. It also will include job counseling and health care. The dollars will be collected via online fundraising platform CrowdRise. An impact video that follows the fundraiser and how the money is spent will be posted on the page the next day so that donors can see their immediate impact. To learn more about the project, see the inspiring video footage and, most importantly, to support the cause visit: https://www.crowdrise.com/86402SecondsinVegas.

About CrowdRise
CrowdRise is the world's largest and fastest growing online platform dedicated exclusively to charitable fundraising. For more information visit www.CrowdRise.com.  

About the CrowdRise 24-Hour Impact Project
The CrowdRise 24-Hour Impact Project was developed to demonstrate the power that real-time crowdfunding can give an individual.

CrowdRise ambassadors are selected to find an important cause and in 24 hours raise funds to make a change. They then spend the following 24 hours implementing that change. Activity is filmed and shared so that donors can see the immediate result of their contributions. To see all 24-HOUR IMPACT PROJECTS, visit www.crowdrise.com/impactproject.

SOURCE CrowdRise

Related Links

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