512° F | The Moore Family Charitable Foundation

Every summer in Austin, people die from heat.

We decided that wasn't okay.

Hi, we're Emily and Calvin. We're students in Austin, and we started 512°F because we learned that people in our city are getting seriously sick, and dying, from heat we barely notice. We want to do something real about it. This project is part of a yearlong civic leadership program, and everything we do is student-led, research-based, and community-focused. We believe everyone should have a role in making Austin safe.

How 512°F Started

512°F started in the summer of 2026. We built 1,000 cooling kits, each with a cooling towel, bucket hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, misting spray bottle, drawstring bag, and a note of care from a student, plus 250 more sets of the same supplies kept loose, not pre-bagged, so a neighbor could restock just the one item they needed. We also supplied both partners with bug spray, dog bowls, and thousands of bottles of water and electrolyte water. We worked with two Austin partners: Austin Mutual Aid, whose outreach team brings supplies directly to people at camps and on the street, and Trinity Center, whose cooling center gives people a place to come inside. Working with both taught us that heat safety needs two different things done well: reaching people where they are, and giving people somewhere to go.

Since that first summer, our work with Austin Mutual Aid has grown into its own year-round program, Operation Daisy. Here, we're going deeper with Trinity Center: 512 Summer returns every year, with more dedicated support built in each season.

MISSION STATEMENT

512°F exists to help unhoused people in Austin — and their pets — stay safe and comfortable during extreme heat by providing simple, practical cooling support, because no one should suffer or die from heat.

Last summer, Austin hit 100-plus degrees for more than 70 days. We partner with Trinity Center, a cooling center in a gymnasium at St. David's Church downtown, where people can come inside to air conditioning, take a shower, eat a meal, and rest. They log thousands of visits every summer.
Working with Trinity's staff taught us exactly what a cooling center runs short on first: cooling towels, bucket hats, clean underwear for the shower program, and regular laundry service so staff can keep towels moving instead of hauling loads to the laundromat themselves. 512°F now returns to Trinity Center every summer as a standing commitment to keep those gaps filled.

Every summer, we build cooling kits for Trinity Center: a cooling towel, a bucket hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, a misting spray bottle, and a handwritten note of care from a student. For their shower program, we provide underwear in the sizes they run out of first, priority large and extra-large, plus regular laundry service so their towels keep moving. We provide Propel for afternoon hydration and dog bowls, because people with pets deserve a cooling center too.

Your donation helps us keep Trinity Center stocked all summer: towels, underwear, laundry service, and more.
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You can also help by writing notes to include in the packets we make. Words of care for our Austin neighbors matter as much as the supplies. Notes get collected each spring, ahead of summer kit assembly, hand yours to Emily or Calvin.