So in the last three days, I’ve seen three GoFundMe projects that have caught my eye. The first was for the family of a three year old boy who died in a horrific accident on New Year’s eve. The second was for a dear friend and former radio guy whose family has fallen on some brutally hard financial times. The third was to send Stan Kroenke, owner of the St. Louis Rams, a box of shit.
Yes, you read that last one correctly.
I have donated to two of these causes, and I’m slightly considering giving to the turd…I mean third. I don’t have the money to donate to these causes, but I did it anyway. And do you know why?
Because I had to. No, no one put a gun to my head and said, “Give it up…Daddy needs a new hip.” Yet I felt strongly compelled to not only give, but to give until it hurt a little.
It’s easy for many of us to give a few shekels here and there. It could be as simple as some spare change at a traffic light, or a few dollars a month to a cause without a face. And please know that I’m not belittling these acts of kindness in the least. It’s many of us doing this together that really make a dent.
It’s only when we become emotionally invested in something where we find the resources that either we didn’t know we had, or did and really didn’t plan on parting with.
A friend who starts a campaign for his buddy who lost a child on New Year’s Eve. A mentor and friend who is not even able to scrape to get by. I’m blessed that I have yet to face either of those experiences in my life, and I pray that I never do.
To all of you, I challenge you not to go out and find something to give to, but to simply be open to what you see in front of you. If something tugs at your heart, and yes, your wallet, open it. To someone who has nothing, $10 makes a difference. $10 is a meal rather than going hungry that day. A few gifts of $10 keeps the lights on. Several gifts combined can mean a beat-up car that can take you from job interview to job interview.
All of it adds up. All of it makes a difference.
And no matter what, don’t let the naysayers get you down, because they will always try. My friend Steve shared the same GoFundMe about our radio friend, to which one guy responded on his post, “Yeah this happens to lots of people. They just don’t have the name to get people to give them money.”
This person has either started a failed GoFundMe, or he’s just an asshole.
And as of writing this, I’m so happy to report that each of the three GoFundMe’s were successful. Combined, 982 people gave $45,375 dollars to causes they weren’t planning on giving to, but they couldn’t sit back and do nothing. Yes, even 27 people raised enough money to send Stan Kroenke not just one, but three boxes of shit…one to each of his residences that the organizer could find online.
Now if that’s not giving, I don’t know what is!
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