Buy Me Another Birthday Present, Please
Over the past two birthdays, I have asked friends, family and the public at large to buy me a birthday present. I have received such a terrific response that I would be remiss to not ask again. So, buy me a birthday present, please!
This year, I want tin snips.
Yes, tin snips.
Have you ever tried to install a tin roof without tin snips? Have you ever tried to build a house without a roof? There you have it. No tin snips, no house. (Okay, so they were $32 at Home Depot and that's the number we're working with this year.)
Make a $32 donation to the Appalachia Service Project today, and help buy the tools to re-roof a home, plus so much more.
How do you do it?
Buy tin snips by donating $32 to ASP today. Click here to make your donation, and include in the "tribute" area "Ben Thoma."
Don't have $32? 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 $32 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.)
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?
A couple years ago, 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
