In September of 2007 I moved out of my parents house in Newport Beach, CA. I opted for the culturally diverse East Los Angeles community Echo Park. As a 19 year-old "pelirojo" living in a predominantly Hispanic community, a full hour north from the shelter of my parent’s house in ethnically sterile Orange County is quite a change for me. Growing up in such a "uptopia-esque" place made me realize I took my life for granted. As an able-bodied humanitarian who has dedication to making a difference and bringing happiness to people, I feel like I should do something fun and beneficial for my new community.

I got this idea as I sat on my patio around 3 o'clock, fidgeting in my adopted rocking chair. (Straight from the streets of East Los Angeles, next to picked apart Kentucky Fried Chicken bones and escort advertisements.) As I rocked and ate a delicious bowl of Top Ramen noodles with stir fried tofu and vegetables I watched everything that was happening on my diverse block. In the 5 minutes it took me to swallow my noodle concoction I saw more happen then 5 days in my quiet ex-neighborhood.

Two men pushed shopping carts, stopping in front of each house and apartment complex trashcan, peeking in and digging through dirty diapers, rotting meat and dog shit to hopefully find aluminum cans that they can turn in for twenty cents or food scraps that are not too raunchy to eat.

A Hispanic man strolled the block with his pushcart selling snow cones, chicharones (pork rinds) and Mexican soda pop. He spotted a few of his friends hanging out on the block and hung out. They were laughing, gossiping and having such a great time on the city street. Children came up and bought candy and parents came out to hang out with neighbors. Everyone was happy. It renewed my sense of community in the increasingly detached world.

A few minutes later ice cream trucks came up, more children came to the streets. Children hung out, each smiling, laughing and enjoying their favorite cold treat after school on a warm afternoon. But ice cream is not as effective or delicious during the evenings in the winter when it is cold often and dark early. When it becomes cold does the children's and families’ favorite activity/tradition have to hibernate for winter? No.

I want to engineer a bicycle equipped with a front basket and a trailer that can carry a small generator/battery, speakers, a propane tank to heat water and snacks. The hot water would be used for hot chocolate, coffee, cider, tea and instant soup. Candy, pastries and other snacks would be available as well.

This would reunite the neighborhood in the winter like the ice cream truck did during the end of summer September heat wave. I would bike around neighborhoods in the early evening/evening and give away warm drinks for donations which would cover operating costs (after the $1,000 is depleted)

Once a week I would journey with friends to distribute free warm drinks and home made burritos to the cold and hungry homeless on "Skid Row" in Downtown Los Angeles. Inspired by the Los Angeles Burrito Project. It is the simple things in life that make people happy. Simple human interaction, burrito and conversation brightens a homeless persons day, the coffee is just a great common denominator.

Bicycling is my passion. In June of 2007 I participated in the AIDS Lifecycle, a 7-day charity ride from San Francisco, CA to Los Angeles, CA. I raised over $3,000 to support HIV/AIDS research and treatment in Los Angeles. http://www.aidslifecycle.org Currently I am raising $4,000 for Diabetes research and training for a 105-miles charity bicycle ride through Death Valley in October. I ride my bicycle around Los Angeles and believe a bicycle would be the most efficient and cost effective way to carry out this endeavor.

I was thinking of trying to turn the whole process into a video documentary. From the entering of this contest to the build to everything in action in the different communities in Los Angeles.

I am just trying to reunite us all as human beings, looking beyond cultural, racial and economic discriminations and just enjoy a warm drink on a cold night.