Experiencing the spirit of human kindness through 48in48
Sitting up on the 20th floor of a building in New York City this Saturday morning, watching 100+ volunteers work tirelessly to build 48 nonprofit websites via 48in48, I can’t help but reflect on the power of human kindness.
When Adam and I began putting together the plan for 48in48 in January 2015, there were several hurdles we had to get over before it could become a reality. Could we raise enough funds to put on such an event? How would we logistically pull something like this off? Where would we get all that coffee?! And, gulp, can you even build 48 websites in 48 hours?
But the biggest question we had was whether or not we would be able to compel literally hundreds of people to give up their weekend and work relentlessly (for free) to help a nonprofit.
Would you believe that has been BY FAR the easiest part of all of this? By. Far.
The incredible spirit of the people volunteering at 48in48 is inspiring to say the least. It’s Saturday morning and I just went on a walk through the venue we’re at in NYC, and wow there are so many people cranking away on these sites. No one forced them to do this, and many of them were here until 2am. Check it out:
I just met one of our nonprofit recipients, a woman (Ardella) who gave up her life savings 11 years ago to start a nonprofit to help inner city kids meet celebrities to inspire them to work hard and dream big. The nonprofit is called Young Smiling Faces (please consider making even a small donation, she’d be blown away.) As she shared her story with Adam and I, she was overcome with emotion about receiving this gift. She has 100% self-funded her nonprofit, quitting her job and ultimately having to sell her house (she moved in with her mother) in order to keep her efforts going. This is the first time anyone has really helped her, outside of her immediate family.
While Adam and I created the platform for 48in48, we are not actually helping her. Her fellow New Yorkers are. Having conversations with people like Ardella only fuels our passion to bring this experience to as many cities as we can. Globally. Because we’ve seen the power of simply asking people to help. Despite what you might be feeling about our society today, particularly in the wake of the current national election process, I can tell you that the kindness of the human spirit is alive and well.
And it’s a beautiful thing to experience.
