There are little things that can completely restore your faith in humanity. I love those things. Sometimes you are the one that starts them and people catch on and other times you watch as others take a small idea and it grows to proportions they didn't even expect them to.
Allow me to tell you a little story:
As most of you know, I am a huge, nutty fan of 30 Seconds to Mars. Not long ago they put the opportunity to build a house with them for Habitat For Humanity up for bid on eBay. There was a morning slot and an afternoon slot. Together they raised $10,000 for HfH and today the band are building that house with the winners in Los Angeles, California.
Some fans were inspired to do their own bit for HfH and started up a page for The House the Echelon Built. (note: The Echelon are the street team for the band). They hoped to raise enough money to build a house. They were well over halfway to their target when the band got wind of it and posted a blog about it on their MySpace page. Once that blog hit interspace, the page took off and by the end of the day the first house was paid for and the second one was well underway. Now, not even 24 hours later, the second house is paid for and the third is underway. I cannot get over how incredible this is. A small initiative by a handful of people who wanted to help out anyway, even though they didn't live in California. There was no meeting with the band, there was no recognition in it for them - just the motivation to do something for others.
This is the site where all the love is happening: http://www.hopebuilders.org.uk/fundraising.php?c=viewaccount&aid=71
And there is a Dutch version for those of us without a credit card who would also like to make a contribution to someone's future.
The Dutch site isn't going as fast as the international one, obviously, but I believe that it will get there as well.
Hope doesn't really build houses, but lots of hopeful people with a little bit of generosity each ... well, that might just put a roof over some heads.
We have so much in our Western lifestyles. It doesn't take much of a sacrifice on our part to make a huge difference for someone else. It doesn't have to be Habitat for Humanity or the World Nature Fund or War Child. But look around you and see who you might help today. Who knows? It might be a really cool experience.
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