From dorm room to saving lives, South Tahoe High grad going big with global expansion of H2H

Health 2 Humanity Corp.(H2H), a hygiene products company started by 2013 South Tahoe High grad, and current Chapman University student John Cefalu, is taking another step forward in helping people around the world with a newly launched crowdfunding campaign.

H2H plans to use funds raised in the campaign to further expand globally their hygiene solutions in developing countries with their sustainable product and #NoMoreDirtyHands campaign.

On July 25, Cefalu and his non-profit company started to raise $40,000 to further the production of hygiene products in developing countries. H2H teaches people to create soap which not only saves lives through cleanliness, but helps create jobs.

The nonprofit exists to empower those in developing countries to have the skills and resources necessary to create lasting hygienic solutions within their communities. Proceeds from the sale of every bar of H2H all-natural soap funds the efforts of Health 2 Humanity Global which offer vocational programs that create jobs, more scholarships for rising entrepreneurs, more skills development and education, and the implementation of sustainable hygiene solutions in developing countries.

“1.4 million people die of preventable diseases each year,” said the 21-year-old Cefalu. “While our government and many nonprofits are well-intentioned to help people in these developing nations through donations and other relief efforts, giving only creates dependency. By stark contrast, the H2H model empowers. After witnessing the major hygiene problems in Kenya firsthand, I knew that I needed to help make a change, but I wanted to do it right. That’s when I started making soap in my dorm room, and the model for H2H was born. If I could make the soap myself, so could the people of Kenya – and in turn, create jobs and put an end to preventable disease caused by poor hygiene. That model has now expanded to three nations, dozens of entrepreneurs and thousands of lives impacted through sustainable hygiene solutions. In short, we teach entrepreneurs how to make hygiene products. The entrepreneurs hire staff, give away soap to local orphanages, and sell the rest at a substantially reduced cost compared to major products companies to their local communities. Hygiene is then sustainable and accessible for all within these communities. It’s true when we say, ‘soap saves lives.’”

H2H does more than just create soap. Through the development of entrepreneurial enterprises in developing countries that so far include Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, communities will not only see hygienic disparities addressed, but they will create a sustainable future without dependency on donations. To date, the H2H network has sustainably donated more than 17,000 bars of soap in seven orphanages, and cut illness rates by more than 25 percent in sponsored areas.

With the crowdfunding campaign run through Crowdrise, Cefalu and the H2H team hope to continue to expand to developing countries to create more entrepreneurs and empower them to have the skills and resources available to create lasting hygienic solutions within their communities.

For more information about Health 2 Humanity Global, visit: www.h2hglobal.org.

To visit the nonprofit’s crowdfunding campaign, visit: https://www.crowdrise.com/health-2humanity.