Jolene Banuelos
Fundraising and Events Coordinator
Jolene Banuelos was born in Durban, South Africa. She has always had a compassionate heart and even dreamed of having her own land on the beach for rescue dogs and street children when she was a kid. Her favorite place in the world is her home country of South Africa. The welcoming and loving people that she was surrounded by in her community really inspired her to take action throughout her life. A pivotal moment in her growing years was when her nanny, a Zulu native, would take Jolene to the Zulu territory and show her the way the people in those communities live.
The homes that she would see were huts on the hill, with no electricity, or clean water to drink. However, the people who lived in these communities were so loving, humble, kind-hearted, and ultimately joyful. This realization at a young age really shifted her life’s perspective. From this point forward, she was immersed in the culture and lives of the Zulu community. Her nanny spoke only Zulu and Jolene spoke English, they shared their cultures with each other by teaching each other how to speak the other’s language. Her heart fell in love with the people who resided in these communities.
Jolene carried these memories and teachings with her throughout her life. She shared the lessons she learned as a child with her 3 children. In fact, on a Christmas visit to the Zulu territory, she immersed her daughter to the way of living of the people there. Her daughter noticed how they would have to do their homework by candlelight at night. She asked Jolene why they couldn’t have solar power for their huts. This sparked a movement and idea. She encouraged her daughter to raise money to solve her own question, which eventually led to raising enough fund to install solar panels onto the huts. At a later scenario, a little Zulu girl had fallen into a coma after drinking the water in the community. This sparked yet another initiative to fundraise money and effort to install water filters for this community.
These stories would eventually be the reason that Jolene created a South Africa Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) called Rainbow Nation Foundation. This organization would focus on uplifting the communities in need by providing basic necessities. Jolene considered these necessities mandatory for every human being on this earth.
Her efforts and passion for supporting people in need does not end there. During the July riots in South Africa of 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. Jolene was brainstorming to raise money for those that were unable to attain adequate necessities in the community. This is when she was introduced to Clare Swithenbank-Bowman, the founder of Litter(Trash)4Tokens. Together, they were able to fundraise over $30,000 in support of the communities devastated by the riots. The fundraised money went into efforts to provide masks, shoes, clothes, food, and school supplies to those who were affected.
The serendipitous meeting of Clare and Jolene aided in the expansion of Trash4Tokens in South Africa. As a human-lover, Jolene keeps in contact with many of the people in the Zulu territory. Jabu, her childhood nanny’s daughter, supported the Litter(Trash)4Tokens initiative by becomingone of the runners of the Token shop that was created in their community.
Jolene loves her warm, tropical, beautiful beaches. This is why she enjoys traveling to gorgeous places around the world that remind her of home. From the vividly captivating sea life of Mentawai Islands, to the gorgeous atmosphere of Bali, the loving people of Thailand; Jolene loves to be around communities by the ocean that thrive with humble humans.
Amongst humanitarian efforts and her endless service to communities, Jolene enjoys surfing videography and capturing the graceful dance of surfers on a magnificent wave. She feels the calm, harmonious flow of the water, and capturing these scenes becomes a mediation for her mind. She has lived in South Africa, Los Angeles, and now calls San Diego home. While living in San Diego and raising efforts for the riots in South Africa, she became a Litter (Trash)4Tokens Board of Directors as the Fundraising and Events Manager.
She is grateful for the unified team at Litter(Trash)4Tokens that organically came about. “Everyone is super patient and goes with the flow. Their hearts are very giving with no pressure.” This is such an important aspect of being a part of a board for non-profit work. When everyone is compassionate, it allows the members to truly focus on the mission at hand.
Keep in touch with Jo!
Follow her other non-profit efforts and her social media accounts below for more information on her projects:
@kidshelpingkidz
@rainbownationfoundation