Rutgers-Newark Soccer Player Founds Charity to Help Local, International Homeless
Timothy Farias’ Got U Covered Foundation finances donation-filled bags distributed in Newark and Brazil
Photo: Dave Lunsford
“I remember the night we went out. It was so cold that after it was over, I came back to my room and crawled under the covers to get warm. Then I realized that those people were still out there in the cold with nowhere to go. There's only so much you can do.”– Timothy Farias
Junior forward Timothy Farias is a key reserve for Rutgers-Newark men's soccer team, contributing to the Scarlet Raiders’ successful 14-1 season.
But his contributions off the field are what resonate more with some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
As a freshman, Farias founded the Got U Covered Foundation, an organization that provides necessary goods for Newark’s homeless.
“I would always see a lot of homelessness around campus,” said Farias, a psychology major who hopes to study physical therapy after graduation. “I wanted to do something to help them.”
He gathered a few friends, bought 50 drawstring bags, filled them with gloves, hats, blankets, socks and hand warmers, and hit the city’s streets on a winter night in 2016 to distribute them.
“I remember the night we went out,” Farias said. “It was so cold that after it was over, I came back to my room and crawled under the covers to get warm. Then I realized that those people were still out there in the cold with nowhere to go. There's only so much you can do.”
Farias started a GoFundMe page and made a YouTube video to promote Got U Covered and collect more donations including toothbrushes, deodorant, food and water. Later the collection expanded to include feminine hygiene products for homeless women.
“The response from the video was awesome,” he said.
Farias's efforts to help the homeless don’t stop at Newark’s border. In late July he and his father, who is of Brazilian descent, traveled to Brazil’s jungles to aid those in need.
“My father was born in the Amazon,” said Farias. “He saw the project I was doing with the homeless and asked me, ‘What if we did that in the Amazon in Brazil?’”
So Farias and his family collected 300 bags filled with school supplies for the needy in Brazil.
“It turned out to be an awesome event,” said Farias. “We gave them breakfast and lunch, and then gave them the bags. I want to be able to do it again.”
Farias currently is collecting goods for another 50 bags to be distributed in Newark this winter.
“I drive around Newark now and see my bags, so I'm really happy about that,” said the Kearny native. “When I see the people's faces after we give them the bag, that's a rewarding feeling. I feel like I actually get more out of it then they did, especially when it was cold out.”
Rutgers-Newark head men's soccer coach Kevin East didn’t know about Farias’s efforts until he stumbled onto the YouTube video.
“I was extremely proud and impressed. For him to get involved in the community and help people like he has just speaks to the quality of person Timmy is,” said East, who added that Farias has received calls from other charities offering assistance. “He's very humble, and not doing it to get attention. He's doing it because he wanted to help."
Right now, Farias is focused on helping those the Got U Covered Foundation have yet to reach.
“It's funny,” he said. “When I was 11 years old, I was asked what my dream was. I said that I wanted to help homeless people. So it's something that just grew inside my heart in college. I just had to find a way.”