Here’s the deal: I decided to eat only an aid ration per day and blog about it to raise money for famine relief in Somalia –where things get dramatically worse by the minute. These are my daily experiences… I only ask that you contribute whatever you can to save lives. A child is estimated to die every six seconds. So, around 3 have died since you started reading. Donate here (all donations go directly to UNICEF) please.
This has been a great week at work. A really tough one, but great in many ways. It has also been a really tough week for the project challenge, just because of hunger pangs and forgetting my food.
Everything I’ve done so far as part of this project has been worth it. I’ve finally discovered thanks to @sprinzette and @andrewsenter that the UNICEF page has a “latest donations” window where contributors leave their messages. Unfortunately, none of those come to me so I’ve been remiss in thanking all of my friends for their incredibly generous donations to my crazy idea. Coming at the end of the post.
On to the coolest thing that’s happened as a result of this project: yteL, one of my lifelong friends (she knows who she is) not only contributed to the cause, but also told her daughters about it. This is what happened (taken from her Facebook post):
“…my girls want to help, too. They are having a lemonade stand on Saturday for the cause (they came up with this one). We’ll match/multiply whatever they make. I encourage every parent here to use this opportunity and have great conversation with the kids about how fortunate we are, and our responsibility to help those who need us. You may be pleasantly surprised…”
As if my stubborn approach to life and willpower weren’t enough, this was like an after-burner for my persistence. To think that something I’m doing can have even a minor influence in young minds excites me immensely. I wish I could do a whole lot more to make us sensitive to what happens to others. To be fair, knowing their parents, my influence was but a nudge –they are awesome people. Thanks Lety & Marco!
At this point in time, it’s almost impossible to thank everyone who has been kind enough to help me along the way in the first 20% of the project, but I’ll still try.
Monica: my gorgeous and supportive wife, who not only has to put up with my newly developed weird eating habits and schedule, and sometimes eat my rather smple food –but she was also my first super generous contributor and she makes me feel as if I were Mother Theresa for doing this. Thanks babe.
My great friends Richie, Ili, Boli, Cartílago, Jürgen & Marianilla: Love you guys. I know you think I’m crazy, but still you support me generously.
Mema: My best friend from Argentina, who helped me through good and bad times in Argentina and was second in line at the donations page. Gracias Me!!
To Azucenna, a.k.a. @EvilChick who was my very first “internet” friend, and confidante –who I met way back in 1993 at the ISCA BBS and who sat through hours and a gazillion keystrokes at the other side of the screen mostly… Yeah… #alwaysageek –thanks, not only for your constant generosity but also for your concern about my well-being whilst doing this. 🙂
Fitz, Peniche, Vicki, Milo, Betsey, Toño Leon –great friends who I met while in my past life as a sometimes fat client: You guys are awesome. Thanks.
Thanks to Mario & Michelle (@bilbeny & @locadelamaceta) for their support, their generosity and friendship.
Thanks to @zolliker, @danysaadia and @wednesdayf –Mexican twitterati extraordinaire and great friends for spreading and for your contributions.
Nicki, Anjali, Andrew & the awesome Mr. Malbon – Awesome people at @madebymany who give away their free time and nights to make this initiative possible.
Heidi (a.k.a. @uberblond) – The mastermind behind Six Items or Less, and an inspiration for this fat planner. Heidi worked at BBH New York until recently when she decided to drive across America to get back in touch with her roots, with herself and reality. She now blogs from the road in her road trip, and was kind enough to mention this project in a fantastic post about the “experiential shift” and how brands could benefit from doing and trying.
Sheena @Matheiken – Not only is she the inspiring genius behind the Uniform Project –also a massive inspiration for this project. She also congratulated me AND made a generous donation. You can too –just click here (all donations go directly through UNICEF).
My tweeps Dan Burgess who lives in a tree (let that sink in), Lu Serrano, Camilo Aguirre, Justin McMurray, who have encouraged me, retweeted me and generously contributed to my project even though we’ve never met.
More awesome people who help spread the word: Emma Cookson (@EMMACNYC) who heads BBH New York and is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, Tara Dublin (@taradublinrocks) who is an awesome and funny woman, a radio personality and a funny writer. Someone get her a book deal and a radio gig NOW, PLEASE.
ALSO: Bob Knorpp (a.k.a @TheBeanCast, marketing podcaster and mean Words With Friends gamer), Tim’s brother and strategist extraordinaire @malbonnington… And so many other Twitter and/or real-life pals like @Mujerdepocafe, @megalomaria, @HumanBeam, @Mayalene, @abekton, @danigranatta.
My friends from work @galancantu, @lasiguenza and @alecastillomj who have helped raise awareness about the cause, spread the word and have been using their twitteratti status to spread word about the project: Thanks!!
Natasja, Lucien, Anon, Kat, Linsey Haire, Tina Burgess, @juxtapozed, millalj, Tina, nicky kaleniuk, MathDr –hope I get to know you, you are awesome and generous people. Thanks!
To the countless people who have either retweeted me, helped me spread word and keep doing it every day: Fuad, Geraldina, Pau, and so many more…
I apologize if I haven’t kept tabs. Anyone I’ve missed is not on purpose –either donations have no names, or I’ve just plain forgotten on my third straight night writing or working past midnight. If it’s not too much to ask, and you have donated and I’ve missed you, I would appreciate a note letting me know.
In summary: Thanks for being my heroes. Thanks for inspiring me to continue.
If you want to become someone’s hero: donate here (all donations through UNICEF). When else will you have a chance to be a hero to 13.5 million people?