What America wants, America gets.
It’s a fairly simple concept.
Following this notion, USA Today launched a contest through social-networking site Twitter that was unlike any of its kind. Twitter users were asked to vote for their favorite charities using the hashtag #AmericaWants, thus entering the non-profits into the first ever USA Today campaign for charity; the prize: a full-page ad valued at $189,400. After days of tweeting, it was clear that what America wanted was the non-profit To Write Love On Her Arms to receive the ad.
(Or for those Twitter-savvy, it looked more like this: #AmericaWants @TWLOHA to get a full-page ad in USA Today).
Today, America got what it wanted.
For those who haven’t heard, To Write Love On Her Arms is a non-profit based in Cocoa Beach, Florida; the NGO is dedicated to raising money for and awareness about those suffering from depression, addiction, self-injury, or suicide.
Now, those are weighty subjects by anyone’s standards, but what makes TWLOHA so effective is their message that the stigma facing these topics needs to be removed, and that it can be done so through open and honest conversations. Recognizing that these conversations were going to be difficult and that it would take the individuals having them much courage, TWLOHA turned to social networking site MySpace to launch their story.
More than three years after the non-profit was created, TWLOHA has more friends on MySpace than any other non-profit, and the organization has raised more than $700,000 for treatment centers, as well as directly answered 150,000 messages. With slogans like “rescue is possible” and “stop the bleeding,” TWLOHA quickly made a splash.
The fledging charity raised money and awareness by finding people where they were: online. TWLOHA also made shirts, given to Hayley Williams of Paramore, the men from Switchfoot, and many more, to raise awareness for the cause, proving just how important and integral to success it is to reach out to those most vulnerable in new and unheard-of ways.
I cannot adequately express how important TWLOHA’s message is to me, so I will just serve as the messenger for today. To quote their full-page ad, “You are not alone. Hope is Real. Help is Real. Your Story is Important.”
Please go and pick up a copy of the newspaper today; it may start conversations that change lives.
For more on To Write Love On Her Arms, visit their web site at www.twloha.com or follow the organization on Twitter: @TWLOHA.
The picture above is the copyighted logo of TWLOHA; I do not own the photo or the logo.
No comments:
Post a Comment