Trojans in Business: Marihelen Tomer

By Jordan Moore on March 3, 2015 2:45 PM | No Comments

Written by Caroline Deisley, USC blog contributor

Name: Marihelen Tomer

Resume: Founder of LuvWay

Sport at USC: Women's Soccer

Caroline Deisley: So I saw that you founded LuvWay after a mission trip. What was that experience like and how did it inspire you to create a nonprofit?

Marihelen Tomer: I've done a ton of mission trips and a ton of traveling. I think when you see so much need in the world it can be quite overwhelming. There are so many problems but if we all had the attitude of trying to be the answer to just one of them, then more could be solved. For me, seeing all these abandoned babies and orphans in Kenya made me want to help. This is the problem that I want to help find the solution for.

CD: Did you ever think growing up or when you were at SC that this is something that you would eventually do?

MT: I knew I always wanted to help people but I didn't know in what capacity. I thought I would be a social worker or a teacher maybe, but I didn't think I would be working towards opening up orphanages in Kenya and beyond.

CD: How did you decide to go on these mission trips? Did you just want to travel and it was a way to get out there?

MT: I always wanted to travel, but I wanted to help people too. A friend told me about a trip that was 11-months long and you got to go to 11 different countries and backpack around the world. It sounded like the greatest thing ever. You get to live out of a backpack, live with people, help them and do everything from green bean farming in Malaysia to orphan care in Haiti. How could I pass that up after graduation?

CD: What do you think has been the hardest part since you founded LuvWay?

MT: I think the hardest part is the fundraising aspect. Everyone is in the business of fundraising. It can be hard to get people behind your cause and allow your cause to touch their hearts so they are willing to open up their wallets. The goal is to make them want to partner with you financially in a project. Anything takes money, building an orphanage takes money. So that's probably the hardest thing, getting people to be behind the project and support it.

CD: I saw that you did a couple fundraising events with soccer camps. What was it like combining your two passions into something that you could put on as an event?

MT: I think it's great because my biggest network is soccer so to get the soccer community behind what we've done is really great. Seeing three institutes come together to support orphans in Kenya is really cool and really unique.

CD: When you first created LuvWay what were your original goals and have you stuck with them and seen them come into fruition?

MT: When we first started I had no idea even what a nonprofit was. I ordered a package online and googled how to put together a nonprofit. I realized I needed board members so I asked a couple of friends and then decided we should throw a soccer tournament to fundraise and came up with the idea to make bracelets. The goal has always been the same, and it's to build this home in Kenya, but I think how we've gone about it and our understanding of how to run a nonprofit is increasing. I'm learning a little more about how to fundraise and strategize. Who do we want to partner with? What's our target audience? We're learning the business side of it better, but the end goal is the same. We want to build this orphanage. It's cool to see people come together like architects who have donated and people who want to donate blankets. I had a friend ship blankets from Germany. It's great to see little pieces of it coming together.

CD: Is it hard to keep your main focus and remember what you are all doing it for when you get bogged down with paperwork and the business side of it?

MT: I think sometimes it can be. I remember some of those late nights when I was filling out papers for our 501c grant thinking, 'what does this have to do with what I really want to do and why does the IRS need to know this?' All we want to do is build an orphanage. I try to keep pictures of some of the kids we worked with in the past and some of the kids that have inspired us, especially some of the ones that have passed away because they were neglected. I always try to remember them and that's usually what fuels the fire.

CD: Do you have a favorite story or memory from your time over there?

MT: Any time that you get to spend holding those kids, making a difference and getting to be there with them is my favorite. One time I was with these two boys who were twins. They were brought in because their mom had passed away from AIDS and their dad was dying of AIDS so he surrendered them. We had to take both of them in because they had never been tested. So you're taking two little boys who have just been through a traumatic situation and they're getting pricked and poked and are shaking because they're so scared. They don't speak Swahili they speak some other tribal language and then you get to be there for them and hold them and run over and buy them candy from the store next door. You just get to love them and you're thankful that you get to be there with them. Even as heartbreaking as the situation is, I'm always grateful that I get to be there because I know that I genuinely love them. It's the one thing that I can do. If you can't do everything just do one thing. I just want these orphans who have been abandoned, thrown in toilets, dumpsters, whatever to know that they are loved. If we spent more time just loving one another I think that we would have a lot less problems in the world.

CD: How have you seen the company grow since it started?

MT: Well it started out just as me really just with a dream so now I've started to see other people catch the vision. We now have some amazing people working with us and amazing people in Kenya that we hope to be working with. I've seen my dream becoming other people's dream. I think that's the most important thing. If you can't inspire others, your dream dies with you. If I die in two years then the orphanage doesn't get built, but if we can inspire others to catch the vision then it lives on forever. I think that's what all of us want. We want to leave a legacy here that we did something good, that we did something that changed lives.

CD: Finally, what can people do to help?

MT: We need money, we need services. We want people who want to help fundraise. We want people who can come to fundraisers. To be honest, anything and everything. We are so new and we are so small that eventually in the future when we have a home we're going to need people's arms to hold these babies. We have a fundraiser coming up May 2. We have a wine tasting that we're trying to get people to come to if they feel it in their hearts to support us financially. We really just need anything and everything, any service or support is something we would appreciate so much.