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Hey y’all.

You’ve probably been seeing, hearing, and feeling a lot about last Wednesday’s deadly siege by domestic terrorists at the Capitol Building. If you’re feeling confused, overwhelmed, angry, or scared, we get that. And we’ve also got you. Read our explainer so you can avoid misinformation, protect your mental & emotional health and, if you’re up for it, take action online or in-person.

And if you’re looking for headlines and actions straight to your inbox every week, subscribe to The Breakdown, our current events newsletter featuring the latest news...and what you can do about it.

Let’s Do This,

Ben, Editor-in-chief

How DoSomething Members Are Tackling Hunger This Winter

Since COVID-19 began, millions more Americans are facing “food insecurity,” which means their household cannot provide enough food for every person to live an active, healthy life.

Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and immigrant households are disproportionately impacted, making them at least twice as likely as white adults to report that their households did not get enough to eat. So our members decided to Do Something about it through our Tackle Hunger campaign.

Katherine, a 17-year-old DoSomething member, and her friend Archisha worked with their teacher to start the Bay Area Homeless Project and collected food items, essentials, and monetary donations for local families experiencing homelessness.

DoSomething member Aidan, 17, responded to the immediate need in his community by teaming up with friends to donate non-perishables. “We’ve completed 2 drives with thousands of donations already and are planning to run more in these winter months,” he says.

“Due to COVID-19, many church food pantries are depleted in their stock since parishioners are donating less frequently as they only attend virtual mass,” says DoSomething member Isabella, 17. That’s why she and her friends distributed over 1,000 items to five local pantries.

The Tackle Hunger campaign is part of DoSomething’s Strength Through Service activation, where you can make a difference from a distance and earn verified volunteer credits. By participating in this campaign, you’ll help us reach our 25,000 hour community goal!

The US could keep nearly 941 million metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere if we committed to cutting our yearly emissions from transportation in half.

That’s why DoSomething members like Alexia (17), Sage (17), and Evren (17) are biking and carpooling to add to the 27,670 lbs. of CO2 our community has kept out of the atmosphere already.

Learn how you can Go There Greener too!

The Davis DoSomething Club (Davis, California)... and their Club Leader, Dua, are making headlines for their mental health scavenger hunt, seed bombs initiative, and more!

Learn the real deal on racial discrimination… in this video from DoSomething Club Leader Pia and her fellow club members.

This Week in Pets of DoSomething… meet member Lilia’s dog, Aurora’s dog, and Ella’s cat...plus Marco & Daisy, the wayyyy too cute son and pup of Diego, one of our Senior Software Engineers.

Deadline alert! If you’re looking for social impact mentorship and a global community of young changemakers… apply to be a Global Teen Leader by January 13.

Register for We the Young People… a teen-powered Inauguration special on January 14.

This week in Black joy… this family won a million dollars on New Years Eve and this UPS driver was honored with a parade.

More Amazing Impact From the DoSomething Community!

We asked you to brag about the amazing stuff you’re doing, and you did not disappoint. Here are some of our favorite answers from the DoSomething community. (Psst...submit yours here!)

“I started a student led organization that fights for sustainable, anti-racist, and inclusive changes in our school district. So far, we've gotten a gender neutral bathroom installed at my HS, made educational videos for students about consent and boundaries, and fought for inclusive sex education.”

- DoSomething member Nandita, 16, Texas

“I have helped teach the English language to Spanish-speakers around the world through Zoom.”

- DoSomething member Emily, 15, California

“I wrote response letters to kids in my community pretending to be Santa. This spreads a lot of cheer, and the letters are so cute.”

- DoSomething Megan, 13, California

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