5,000 Bars of Hope – Maxwell’s Soaps

Here is a crowdfunding effort absolutely worthy of support; 5,000 Bars of Hope. Maxwell Moore, a former Greenside Navy Corpsman and combat veteran, is working to raise $15,000 so he can fund 5,000 bars of soap; enough to supply 6 months of showers for the homeless. It'll be used in mobile shower units built by a charitable organization called Lava Mae from old city buses.

Moore describes himself as a social entrepreneur. He is also a vetrepreneur. In my mind both of those things deserve support, and even if they didn't his mission would. Max Moore spent most of 16 years living afloat or out of a ruck, in Afghanistan and Iraq and other places. A truism he learned is that hygiene doesn't just impact physical health it often equals morale. The fundamentals of this are as true for homeless people as it is for deployed personnel.

You overlook the dignity that the simple act of washing your hands or taking a shower brings.

After more than a decade and a half taking care of ‘Devil Dogs,' Maxwell (a Devil Doc) moved to downtown Los Angeles, near Skid Row and began making soap the “old fashioned way” while making his VA appointments. Not too much later he became aware of the general lack of health and hygiene of the city's homeless, particularly among military veterans living on the streets. That was the genesis of Maxwell's Soaps doing its part to help take care of people and ultimately the 5,000 Bars of Hope campaign.

Watch this video. You have four minutes to spare — pay particular attention to the last 30 seconds or so.

“Don't be nasty!” Max Moore.

You don't have to just support the IndieGoGo campaign (though you can for as little as $20). For every bar of soap they sell they'll donate a bar to the homeless.

More about Maxwell's Soaps here online or here on Facebook. Follow them on Instagram here, @maxwellssoaps.

Maxwell's Soaps founder Navy Corpsman Max Moor (right) in Afghanistan with U.S. Marines and local nationals.

“So I was recently asked what inspired me to get into making soap… Here is one of many inspirations from my past… This is Afghanistan a few years back where I served as a Navy Corpsman with the Marine Corps… and that Afghan feller there with the bandaged hand I'm wrapping up had a real funky infection that was causing him a terrible amount of pain… Not to mention his hand smelled like a foot! Nice enough guy, but his root problem? Poor hygiene! The dude had no soap in his gear. None! Nasty? Yes. But also pretty sad. So after some pricey antibiotics, I got him some bar soap with strict instructions to wash his hands 4x daily. Had the interpreter translate “don't be nasty!” into Pashto. Like magic, his rash went away and his hand didn't smell like a foot. There you go folks. That's why.”  Max Moore, Maxwell's Soaps

#dontbenasty

From the Maxwell's Soap website:

“Don't be nasty!” was a catch-phrase Max has said for years; borrowed from his late, no-nonsense mother when he was a child as well as from military instructors if someone didn't clean their rifle or make their bed. Don't Be Nasty!

For us, “Don't Be Nasty” means not only to get clean and don’t be dirty, but also means don't be nasty to your fellow human beings.

“Don't Be Nasty” at Maxwell’s Soaps represents the idea that we all have a shared responsibility to try to make things better.

Hat tip to Torin Hill of TORIS for the story — without that post I'd never have heard of this fella.

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