One man overcame personal struggles of his own to help feed hungry students in Los Angeles and set a positive example for his children.
Beannul Harper is the founder of the Los-Angeles based non-profit organization: I’M ALL IN, which provides students with access to school lunches.
Harper’s story has been featured in multiple news sites in the U.S. and worldwide, after it story picked up traction on social media and online blogs.
One Harper’s son came home from school without any credits on his school lunch card because he had been paying for another kid’s lunch.
That was when Harper decided to launch his non-profit organization to tackle part of the hunger and food insecurity issue in California.
“No child should go hungry,” says Harper.
Harper says the fact children go hungry in the U.S. is absolutely unacceptable.
“You can go to any prison in the U.S. and the prisoners get three meals a day, but some students get less appetizing meals,” says Harper in response to the lunch shaming that’s has occurred in California schools.
Before California banned school lunch shaming this year, students who weren’t able to cover the cost of their school lunches, were often given less appetizing meals.
This led to many students being singled out and bullied by their peers.
The new law, now in effect, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and bans the practice.
This was one of the reasons Harper started his non-profit.
But it wasn’t always smooth sailing.
In today’s interview, Harper reveals some of his secrets to launching his non-profit organization as well as some of his next steps for success.
Harper says people need to understand his strengths and weaknesses to help us understand the full story about how he got started.
He says there were many opportunities and threats along the way as he got his new organization off the ground.
To launch his non-profit organization and help people, he had to overcome his own challenges.
“To be successful, you have to never give up,” says Harper.
“Never let anything or anyone get in the way.”
Harper says positive thinking is what got him over many of the hurdles in his life.
“It’s what makes me a winner,” says Harper.
There was a time when Harper says he was struggling, but he managed to pull through and help other people too.
He says the reaction from his friends and family have been worth it.
“My mother told me told me she is very proud of me,” says Harper.
“I was telling a few of my close friends back East and they told me they were also proud of me and that I could do anything I set my mind to.”
“Even my oldest daughter was surprised about what I accomplished in such little time,” says Harper.
“That was the best feeling.”
To learn more about Beannul Harper or make a donation to his non-profit organization, you can visit: http://www.imalln.org
