Buy Me a Birthday Present, Please
I'm turning 30 this year, and I've always been a bit annoyed by the question "What do you want for your birthday this year?" Perhaps "annoyed" is a bit harsh, but I've just never been comfortable asking people to get me things.
But this year is different. For the first time since I was young enough to ask for Legos, I actually do know what I want this year, and I'm asking anyone and everyone I can to get me a birthday present—including you.
I'm very blessed to look back at 30 and feel fulfilled by my life thus far. I am married to my beautiful, best friend, we just bought our first home, I enjoy my career path… I have no material needs in this world. So, what birthday present could I possibly ask for?
Hammers! 30 of them.
That's right, hammers. I want you to buy hammers for my birthday. Not for me, but for the Appalachia Service Project (ASP). For over one third of my life I have been in some way involved with ASP (volunteer, staff member, group leader, etc.) No other organization has done more to affect the person I have become. No other organization I know does more good for everyone involved in it's home repair mission.
Why Hammers?
Hammers are the iconic tool of home repair. Ever heard "If I Had a Hammer"? They also happen to cost only $17, and I think we can get enough people to donate so that we can buy 30 hammers for ASP—30 hammers for my 30th birthday. That's only $510 amongst all of you—totally doable. So, let's do it.
How do you do it?
Buy a hammer by donating $17 to ASP today. Click here to make your donation, and include in the comments area "Ben's Birthday Gift."
Don't have $17? That's okay—donate what you can. I appreciate any and all gifts. With the help of ASP, I'll tally the results and let you know how far we are getting.
What's that? You prefer using Facebook?
No problem: you can donate $17 through Facebook as well.
What if you don't use your credit card online?
Simple. Mail a check made out to the "Appalachia Service Project" to 4523 Bristol Highway, Johnson City, TN 37601. Please be sure to include "Ben's Birthday Gift" in the check's memo area.
(2003: Carter County, TN) That's me with the late Norma Dean: one of ASP's earliest volunteers, champion storyteller, and great friend to the project's founder, Tex Evans. See more ASP photos on Flickr.
What's ASP?
Since 1969, the Appalachia Service Project has served as a home-repair mission that strives to make homes warmer, safer and drier. It serves the good people of Central Appalachia—where West Virginia, Virginia, Tenessee, and Kentucky converge. It is a Christian project, but serves families and volunteers of any religious background.
The majority of the project's efforts are centered on an 8 week period in the summer when tens of thousands of volunteers arrive a week a time to rebuild families homes across 20+ counties in those 4 states. Each volunteer center is staffed by a small group of committed, college-aged staff members. Volunteers fundraise year-around for the opportunity to serve and are usually made up of both high school students and adult group leaders. The experience of volunteerism is as important as the 500+ families that benefit annually. The founder, Tex Evans used to declare that, "ASP is a relational ministry, with home repair on the side."
How'd you find this idea?
Last year, at the TED conference, I was inspired by Scott Harrison's 31st birthday story. Scott used his 31st as an opportunity to create an amazing non-profit called charity:water which brings clean, drinking water to those who otherwise would not have access. While I don't have the ambition to start a new charity, I do see an opportunity to benefit the efforts of ASP.
Thank you in advance
