In the summer of 2010, Brandon Stanton moved to New York City after losing his jobs and took to the streets with only goal: to take photos of NYC’s wide variety of inhabitants. Stanton wanted to photograph the ordinary and make it beautiful; this is how Humans of New York was born.

Stanton started HONY as a simple photo blog with a catalogue of the people of NYC, categorized by neighborhood. But soon enough, it started to evolve into something much more than that. Stanton’s new goal was to find someone, anyone, from the streets and celebrate their presence. Stanton began to talk to the people he photographed and told their stories not only through his pictures, but through their words.

Now, HONY has reached over 8 million followers on various social media networks worldwide and has even become a New York Times No. 1 bestselling book. Stanton’s latest venture, though, is a real story worth telling.

After photographing a young student from a crime-ridden neighborhood in Brooklyn, Stanton became inspired to give back. Vidal spoke to Stanton about his principal, Nadia Lopez, and said that she was the most influential person in his life.

After spending time with both Lopez and her students, Stanton launched a fundraising campaign on Jan. 22nd to raise $100,000 for Lopez to organize trips to bring her students, most of whom have never left NYC and may not have the opportunity to receive a higher education, to Harvard University.

The fundraiser was a huge success, to say the least. Stanton reached his goal of $100,000 in just 45 minutes, which prompted an extension to the campaign. Stanton and HONY have currently raised $700,000 for Lopez’s school, Mott Hall Bridges Academy.

Stanton’s story is filled with just as much heart and beauty as the humans he photographs.

To visit the HONY blog click here.