I’m a sucker for a good cause. So when my friend, J.R. Phillips, told me the story of his friend, Dana Smith, a single mother of two that had been diagnosed with brain cancer I counted my own blessings and did what you’d probably do as well. How can I help?
Medical bills have left the Smith family with problems other than dealing with this horrible diagnosis. But J.R. didn’t want my money. He wanted marketing support to help Dana raise funds to help offset some of her medical costs. His passion for helping Dana inspired me and as I would come to find out, inspired many others.
I suggested that we create a blog where we could tell Dana’s story. A hub for people who also wanted to help to find information about upcoming fundraising events. About six weeks ago we created Dana’s Miracle Journey on WordPress.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that I have zero graphic design game, but I did not let that stop what has turned into an explosion of support for Dana and her family. Turns out, not having any graphic design skills doesn’t matter when the message is authentic.
The last six weeks the results have been remarkable. Over 3,800 visits to the blog -that’s about 100 people a day! Most of this was achieved through social media and good old fashioned word-of-mouth. Its amazing what inspiration plus social media can do.
Three fund raisers were announced. The Monday golf tournament raised over $5,000!
Others were inspired to help as well:
Andy Tebokhorst made flyers for upcoming fundraiser events.
Red Daisy Studio is making necklaces with 100% of the profits going to Dana’s Miracle Journey.
Artist Jeff McNutt agreed to auction original artwork valued at over $3500.
WestBank helped set up an account to donate to funds at all of their branch locations.
A friend of Dana’s, Kristin McCullough, set up a Facebook page for Dana’s Miracle Journey last week that already has 99 fans.
J.R. telling Dana’s story inspired others like Heartland Payment Systems, The Airo Project, Fast Signs and Connoly Law Firm to help out pro-bono or at highly discounted rates. There are probably others that helped out, so my apologies if I have forgotten anyone.
There’s a ton of momentum and inspiration behind this cause. So much of both that WHO-TV featured Dana’s Miracle Journey on the 5 p.m. news on Monday.
I talk a lot about social media on this blog. I talk about using it for brands, public relations, building relationships and ultimately generating actual sales. But social media has many uses, as this personal story demonstrates.
Inspiration comes to us in many ways and often without any notice. When we act on that inspiration we are often even more inspired by how infectious it can become. Some say people don’t communicate like they used to, that this Web 2.0 movement and the age of texting and social media are damaging the old school face-to-face relationships. That may be true in some cases, but I challenge those naysayers to take a look at the wonderful success of Dana’s Miracle Journey and ask if this would have been as successful without social media?
So please, take a look at Dana’s Miracle Journey and see for yourself. If you are inspired to help, that would be greatly appreciated. If you are inspired to do something for someone you care about, don’t let anything get in your way. You’d be amazed what can be accomplished through inspiration.
Author: Josh Fleming
www.lessingflynn.com
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
