What the Action Campaign is Really About

I’m writing this on Tuesday, November 15 at 3:33am and I’ve been awake for nearly 24 hours now working on two different freelance projects. I’m a bit exhausted but I’m feeling compelled to blog before I sleep tonight about something I need to get out of my system. If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, I’ll assume you know all about the action campaign we’re in the midst of raising funds for. I’m not going go into that here. I’m not going to talk about the amazing perks we’re offering. I’m definitely not going to remind you about how I’ve offered my services (along with my ego) to produce a 5-minute documentary for anyone or any organization willing to bid $2,500 or more to our action campaign. I’m not going to go on and on with statistics about how severe this global water crisis is and that it’s the leading cause of death in the world. Lastly, I’m not going to exhaustively remind you that we’ve got less than 37 hours left in our IndieGoGo campaign to finance the first phase of our national social action campaign to tackle the water crisis in Haiti and around the world. Ahem.

I want to talk about what this social action campaign is really about. It’s not about the great perks. It’s not about me or the rest of the team. It’s about doing something for someone else. It’s about making small sacrifices to make the world better…to make each other better. There are a billion causes out there and I get overwhelmed too. Like everyone else, I too am suspicious of organizations asking for my money. But if we want to do as Gandhi suggests and be the change we wish to see in the world, then we need to start living differently, more sacrificially.

We live incredibly abundant lives and there are things we can do without. Those “things” can go a long way for people living in impoverished situations. It’s very simple. We don’t have to give up everything. But if more of us gave up something from time to time, that could add up quickly, and lives would be changed because you chose to skip that bagel or super-sized Mountain Dew. If the water crisis isn’t your thing, that’s fine. Maybe just ask yourself about the excess in your life, what you can cut out, and then give it away. Use that money to buy a homeless dude a meal or use it to buy a small gift for an orphan. Just do something, because like it or not, people around the world sort of depend on it.

Here’s the bottom line: We’re not going to abuse your generosity – your money isn’t going towards a down payment on a new car or a trip to Hawaii. Every dollar is going towards this action campaign. In fact, in the spirit of transparency, throughout the first 8-12 months of our action campaign, we’re going to be documenting ON VIDEO the activities and successes of this campaign and sharing these videos with you along the way. Do your homework on the team behind this action campaign and you’ll see that we’ve all got a decent track record and that we’re crazy passionate people who go to great lengths to get things done. Stories can be powerful tools. They can inspire movements and movements can change lives. They can make the world better. They can make us better for being a part of them. Join us. There’s less than 37 hours left for us to reach our goal of $15,000 on IndieGoGo. Please consider donating this morning’s bagel – the monetary value of it anyway – to our cause. If we get enough bagels donated, we can get this thing funded by Wednesday, November 16, 11:59 p.m. PST.

Now back to editing “La Source” – we’re about a month away from handing this film off to the composer and about 3 months away from having a completed film ready to bring to the world. Next year should be a wild ride and I hope you join us.

Thanks in advance!
Patrick