My dearly beloved Kelly Diels twittered me last night and asked me to participate in her Help Haiti Blog Challenge. She asks that we all think about how we can contribute, whether it is a service or a good or our time. And yes, yes, yes I say.
Last night Matt informed me that he had been online giving a family donation to his firm’s fund for Haiti (which they match! Yay!) and Grace asked him what he was doing. He explained to her what happened and she apparently turned and ran downstairs in silence. She returned holding a crumpled dollar bill and gave it to him, saying she wanted to give her own money too. This story, told to me when I got home, made me cry. I am so fiercely proud of this behavior. Grace has exactly $11 to her name ($10 now) and each dollar has been earned the hard way (usually by losing teeth). I find the fact that, without hesitation, she wanted to share some of her treasured piggy bank store, overwhelmingly poignant. I’m actually not sure I’ve ever been so proud.
I am going to follow in the footsteps of my friend Aidan on this one. Pursuing an idea she and I have talked about in other ways, I will donate $2 for every comment left on this blog between now and Monday morning, January 18th. Please come comment. Please. I will donate to Partners in Health, whose story so moved me in Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains.
My favorite line from that book seems an apt way to close this plea:
The idea that some lives matter less than others is at the root of all that is wrong with the world.
They don’t. Those people are our people. As Gracie told me this morning, chin trembling, she could imagine being hurt or without a house or without her mother. And she wanted to help the children who wake up that way this morning. And so do I. Please help.
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33 Comments
What a great idea! I love it. Thank you for helping Haiti. I will be participating in this challenge as well, doing what I can (selling jewelery).
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Lindsey, thanks for your generosity. And for teaching your children such generosity. You deserve to be quite proud of Grace. To give up roughly ten percent of one’s entire net worth is an incredible gesture.
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And, now I am crying too! Great job, Lindsey!
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excellent
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Here we are putting our ideas into action. I love it. I am thrilled to be doing something little and good and important alongside you and so many others. This matters.
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We’ll be discussing our family’s donation plan on a long drive this evening. I hope that my kids react as Grace has. You should be so proud.
Partners in Health is a great idea. I heard Tracy Kidder speak a few weeks ago and was terrific. I am reading his new book now. So much poverty and so much strife around the world. It is too much to even imagine. I can barely let my mind go there.
xo, me
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What a lovely daughter you have, Lindsey. I do believe that you picked a fitting name for her.
Thanks for doing this and thanks for inspiring me, along with Aidan and Kelly, to do the same. May gestures such as these have some positive impact on the people of Haiti.
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One human community.
Red Cross, CARE, Unicef, many other organizations are taking contributions.
Reminder – important for people to check out where they are sending their dollars. (There are already scams. Check the NYTimes link on my morning post.)
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You have a wonderful daughter and you should take pride that you taught her to be so caring. Thanks for sharing and for helping.
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That is wonderfully generous of you! I’m so inspired by the way the blogsphere is pitching in and helping!
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Awesome story, keep supporting others!
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You should be very proud what a wonderful gesture by your daughter!
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Thanks for the inspiration! The story of your daughter brought tears to my eyes. Nice that we are able to work together to give back!!
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Lindsey, I just recently found your blog and I absolutely love it. I love your spirit and what you stand for. Thanks for putting into words what many of us feel.
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you must be so proud of that daughter, and she must be so proud of you. xo
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I am not surprised having gotten to know you a bit that you have a daughter who also is as generous and kind as you. This is wonderful… just wonderful. Thank you.
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Lindsey, you and your daughter are an inspiration to all of us!
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You have a wonderful blog, and I am happy that I came across it from Wholly Jeanne.
You are doing a wonderful thing in regards to helping Haiti!
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I came over from Kelly’s website… thanks for your generosity!
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this is great Linds and what an amazing young lady Grace is!
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Love you and your blog, Lindsey. xo Julie
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Thank you for your story!
The generosity you have taught Grace shines in this post.
I have more faith in humanity this morning…
LOVE, Agazee
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There are tears in my eyes! your daughter Grace is truly that in name and in practice.
p.s. I came over from Theta Mom’s My Seven post.
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Oh, Lindsey…what a beauty of a daughter you’ve raised. You’re a clear leader by example, too.
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Thanks for the information and the post.
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I have been reading your blog for 3 years. Your words – both original and copied – have inspired me many times over. I am glad I checked in on this – a lesson in teaching, in giving, in thinking of others.
Know that your words make a difference. Continue to inspire, continue to challenge, continue to “be the change we wish to see in the world today.”
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What a touching gesture by your daughter– thank you both for the inspiration!
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She is her Mother’s Daughter.
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thank you, Lindsey.
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I think this is an awesome idea and how wonderful your daughter is already so caring about others.
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Think I missed the deadline here, but I send heartfelt spirit into the mix, and believe that our sincere thoughts and wishes AND our time and money might help direct our efforts beyond only this latest disaster and inspire us to work together to curb our own materialism and decrease poverty around the the world, particularly in our own communities (as poverty is why the same magnitude earthquake in the U.S. kills tens and in a poorly developed country kills thousands).
Thanks for your great spirit, and for the collective spirit of all your readers.
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Cool idea Linds! Thanks for doing that! xo, kc
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I don’t usually reply to posts but I will in this case, great info…I will add a backlink and bookmark your site. Keep up the good work!
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kelly Diels, lemead, lemead, AidanDonnelleyRowley, Carlos Velez and others. Carlos Velez said: RT @lemead: Thanks, @kellydiels, for the inspiration. My Help Haiti Blog Challenge: http://bit.ly/64kDsa [...]