You Are Beautiful in Every Single Way

This post is dedicated to all the amazing people who have so far fundraised, donated, or otherwise supported One Home Many Hopes and our Breaking Ground campaign.

So, okay, I admit, I was a bit pissy in my last post about the campaign. What can I say? There have definitely been tough moments.

But then there are these amazing moments — like when you realize that there are people scattered around the world who are working so hard for these 32 little girls who they’ve never met. We started out this campaign with 6 people in three cities and two countries, an idea, a conference call phone number, and the need to raise $70,000. Now, we have 184 people raising money to raise a new roof and 567 people who have donated. And that doesn’t even count all the people who attended and donated OHMH events in London, Boston, New York, San Francisco and other places around the world.

And wow — how these people have rallied their networks! There are crew leaders who have recruited other team members and together have raised nearly $4,000 in two weeks. I have a Google alert set up for “One Home Many Hopes” and people I’ve never contacted nor even heard of are blogging about OHMH, the girls, and how excited they are to be a part of this effort. Thanks to the passion and dedication of these people — these strangers to me and to the girls! — we are just over halfway through the campaign and raised just over half of what’s needed.

We’re still not done! Even here in Lesotho, people are getting involved — a Maseru bake sale is being organized for this Sunday, 2-4pm. Come on out and buy some of the best baked goods that you’ll find in this town – no exaggeration. Lemon bars, pineapple upside down cake, New York style bagels, chocolate chip cookies, banoffee tarts, sugar cookies, amarula chocolate truffles, banana nut bread — and that’s only a partial list of what will be available. This is no grade school bake sale, folks; you won’t want to miss it!

So, another hearty thank you to all the One Home Many Hopes supporters out there. What you’re doing matters. Not just in the big scheme of life, but in the individual lives of 32 grateful girls.

 

And the Whole World has to Answer Right Now

Just because I volunteer for orphaned girls in Kenya , it doesn’t make me a good person.

I mean that.

One of the most frustrating things I’ve experienced since I began co-leading a fundraising campaign a few months ago is when people are reluctant to get involved because they don’t want to appear to be saying “lookie lookie, I’m a good person!”

It’s an understandable feeling, don’t get me wrong.

But I’m gonna vent for a bit — volunteering or fundraising doesn’t make you a good person. It’s a good thing to do but it doesn’t make you a good person. In fact, you can fundraise and kinda be a jerk about it. One of our fundraisers in New York is using the tagline “Give some money. Don’t be a dick.”

And I like that.

I like it because it doesn’t try to make you gooey with sympathy. It just calls you out — no matter how bad things are in the US economy, you can still spare $20. Give up one night’s dinner out. And if you can spare it, so can many of the people you know. They just have to be asked.

Co-leading this campaign from Lesotho has really sucked sometimes. People are difficult. Collaboration takes patience. A six-hour time difference between me and the most of the team has meant long nights and conference calls in the wee hours of the morning. And I hate it sometimes. So there, I feel like saying that already makes me a not-good person. Who can hate raising money for 32 orphaned girls who desperately need a new home? Me. That’s who. I do love these girls crazy madly deeply, but I’m not doing this campaign just because of that. It’s just something that needs to get done. And I”ll probably never want to lead a campaign again. That doesn’t make me a good person (although it does make me appreciate the people who fundraise for a living).

Neither are you a holier-than-thou, do-gooder by asking for a few bucks from people who can spare them. So, hey, the next time a friend or a colleague asks you to join a fundraising team, just give it a shot — especially if the cause is something you connect with. All you have to do is send a few emails to everyone you know. And don’t gush.

Okay. Glad to have that off my chest.

And now, here’s your invitation — Give some money or Join my Team. Don’t be a dick.