[dropcap size=big]L[/dropcap]il’ Libros co-founder and On Air With Ryan Seacrest radio personality Patty Rodriguez didn’t watch the Democratic debates. She didn’t go on a Twitter rant. When she got fed up with all her heartbreaks that came from seeing photos of dead children and reading about babies detained in mass holding camps, she took action.
“I have to do something,” she told L.A. Taco. Within hours, Rodriguez used her social media influence to raise more than $8,000 to buy shoes for recently released children awaiting asylum at Catholic Charities Center in McAllen, Texas. She also partnered with the owner of one of L.A.’s most lauded restaurants, Bricia Lopez, to sell out a special $150-plate charity dinner will all the proceeds going to charities that provide legal aid to separated families.
“My heart breaks. And I feel helpless. And I cannot continue to go about my life without trying to help and I think the best way right now is using our platforms,” Rodriguez wrote to her 90,000 Instagram followers.
Rodriguez isn’t alone. Popular gourmet cotton candy maker Twisted! – founded by Lucia Rios – is in the middle of a fundraiser raffle with the same goal. L.A. social media – and the women of color who dominate it – is increasingly filling a void historically dominated by the charitable arms of big corporations, rich philanthropists, and powerful non-profits.
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