People wax, eat and do crazy things to raise money for homeless youth

For $200, Chris Shepheard will drink a liter of sour cream. For $300, Steven Jockisch will give up talking, texting and email for 24 hours. For $600, Larry Olson will shave off his eyebrows. All in the name of charity.

A new campaign challenges young people to "do whatever it takes" to raise money to fight youth homelessness. The initiative, sponsored by Virgin Unite and the Minneapolis-based branding agency mono, asks people to make a pledge to do something crazy — like eat a head of raw garlic or freestyle rap nonstop for a full hour — then use social media to solicit donations from friends. "We wanted to make millennials the hero and leverage the power they bring into the world these days," campaign account director Julie Vessel told The Daily Good. "We wanted it to have a spirit of fun."

November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month and the Do Whatever It Takes campaign is just one of many efforts to raise money for and reach out to children and teens who are trying to make it on their own. High school and college students in 21 cities across the nation participated in a "Solidarity Sleep Out" Friday to solicit donations for programs that help homeless youth. StandUp For Kids, a national nonprofit that works with homeless youth, kicked off a campaign this month to get a big purple couch set up in schools, universities and public buildings to raise awareness about young people who are forced to "couch surf," or move from one home to another to find a place to sleep.

There are about 1,682,900 homeless and runaway youth in America, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Youth fall into homelessness for a number of reasons — family problems, economic issues, residential instability. Many leave home to escape abuse, strained relationships or parental neglect. Forty-six percent of runaway and homeless youth had been physically abused at home, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Seventeen percent were forced into unwanted sexual activity. Six percent of homeless teenagers are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, according to the National Network for Youth. Between six and 20 percent are pregnant.

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