My faith in humanity was restored today, my cynicism crushed, the real potential of Facebook, social media, connectivity, community, was demonstrated fully in a life changing way. If you look at the post before this one youll see a request I put out to friends in Austin, TX to help a woman they didnt know, that they had no reason to help. But I asked anyway. For a favor that no one owed me. I asked for people in Austin to help me find a place to live for a single, homeless mom who left the same cult I grew up in . . . She reminded me of my mom, single, living in a tent, with three young boys. She is resilient and relentless in her mission to change her life for her boys and herself. So I asked who knew of a place she might rent or a house share situation and the help started rolling in. Within moments David Simone, Adam Gilad and my own sweet daughter Austria Lakhani offered to help, to give money . . . and they are nowhere near Austin. Justin Boggs reached out with a connection within an hour that turned into the place she and her boys will rest their heads for the next couple of months as she saves more money so she can get a place of her own and have a little cushion. Her boys can start school from a house and not a tent. Her child with a kidney disease will not be impacted by the Austin summer heat. Justin lives in Boise, near me, not Austin. Many other people shared the post, made recommendations, reached out individually to people they thought could help. People like Rachna Jain, Penni Wild, Lou Altman, Sherri Rosenbaum, Lucia Mitro, B Marie Dee, Kevin Kovatch, David Gonzalez, Dixie Gillaspie, Jillian Coleman Wheeler, Maruxa Murphy, Wayne Buckhanan, An Coppens, Aleta Satterthwaite Batz, @Kristin Krcha Cunningham, @ariana cano, @Kim usey, @erik gomez, Bill White, Carrie Owensby Wilkerson, Lisa McLellan, Karen Barber, @Michala Moodle and anyone else I may have missed, people from around the United States and Indeed the world helped spread the message. I dont have the permission to identify the person Im helping or the person who stood up and took her in. But to both of you I hope only the very best of things come to you. Im truly humbled that each of these people would take the time to step up, to reach out, to be the example of humanity we all should exemplify when the opportunity presents itself. My heart wells up with gratitude as I write this and think of each of you and your complete willingness to help. I think of my 10 year old daughter being willing to give away her money without a second thought, that shes saved on her own, to help kids like her. I think to myself that when it is so easy to find the examples of what is wrong in the world there are dozens of examples a minute of what is right and what people are doing to make a difference. Im also reminded that while Facebook makes us all crazy at times this could never have happened this quickly a decade ago and that there really are truly unworthy uses of Facebook and social media and this is one clear example. Finally, Im inspired to dig deeper to do more, by each of you because you are the example I hope to set for my own daughter, my community, myself. From the bottom of my heart thank you for what youve done. As I sit here writing this tear rolls down my face. Im taken back to being a 7 year old boy living under a tree in a tent, in a park in Caldwell Idaho, starting a journey I could never imagine would end one day being able to help a reflection of that boy . . . simply by writing a note and sending it into the ether where my friends and family would do the rest. I dont know another way to honor all of you than with this note. So, thank you. You are the best our world has to offer and today like most days, thats all we need.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 00:38:24 +0000
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