Wednesday
Aug082012
10,000 comments for 10,000 children: Blogust 2012!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
UPDATED ON 8/9/12: A big huge thank you for your comments yesterday! Your comments on this post alone are worth over $10,000 -- and will help over 500 children get the vaccines they need. But Blogust is just beginning -- check out the main Blogust page every day in August to find which blog is hosting fundraising comments for the day. You can comment on every blog that's participating on the relay, and every comment left every day in August is worth $20. Our goal to raise $200, 000 by the end of the month is on track. THANK YOU.
{Psst! Today's host is none other than Catherine Connors of HerBadMother.com -- please go comment on her post and let's keep the relay going!}
This post is my contribution to the Shot@Life Blog Relay for Good.
By leaving a comment on this post and spreading the word you can make a real difference.
Thanks to our sponsors EVERY COMMENT is worth $20 per comment up to a maximum of $200,000 to vaccinate 10,000 children. THAT'S RIGHT: $200,000 to reach 10,000 children. And yes, 10,000 comments -- including yours! Let's do it!
Have I ever told you that I grew up in a developing country? I saw first hand what a difference vaccines make in the lives of children. The need is real, and it's true that sometimes $20 is the difference between life and death. $20 is what it costs for one child to receive 4 life-saving vaccines: measles, pneumonia, diarrhea and polio; as hard as it is to believe, preventable diseases like these take the life of a child every 20 seconds. But we're trying to do something about it, and you can help!
The theme of the Blogust relay is "Comments Count." If you're a blogger I don't have to explain what this means to you. Bloggers love comments -- if we didn't, we'd be typing away alone at typewriters (uh, if we could find them) or scribbling in notebooks.
Instead, we're posting our words on the internet for the entire world to see and hopefully, react to.
Despite the stereotype, bloggers are connectors at heart.
I know that most of you don't have blogs, but I'm willing to bet that most of you are on Facebook. You know that feeling you get when someone "likes" pictures from your vacation? That's what a blog comment feels like...times 72 (give or take) because your friends on Facebook are, well, your friends. They like you already.
But blog readers? They come to be entertained, or perhaps they just find your blog randomly while googling for cookie recipes. They don't owe you anything. So when they stumble upon your blog and something you wrote inspires them to let you know a little bit about themselves...well, it makes all the difference in the world.
I don't know if you've heard, but writing can be lonely.
In fact, for me it has to be lonely. I make myself forget that other people are going to read my words or I'll freeze up. It's only after I hit publish that I allow myself to think of who might read my words.
When you let me know a bit about you, it makes me -- and everyone else who is reading -- feel less alone.
This is why, when I was asked to highlight one comment or commenter that has made an impact, I couldn't think of just one person. I love it when my friends and family leave me a comment, of course, and I'm eternally grateful for my small band of consistent commenters, but I want to honor what I call the "unknown commenter": The person who doesn't have a blog and still wants to say connect.
They read. They feel. So they comment.
Because, honestly, why should you take the time to let a stranger know you liked their words? They don't even know who you are! You have nothing to sell, no blog for them to link to. You are getting nothing in return.
And yet, you write.
You agree. You disagree. (Maybe you agree to disagree?)
And in the end, you communicate.
That's what blogging is all about.
So thank you -- to all the commenters out there.
CALL TO ACTION: Please leave a comment on this post -- it can be about anything, but if you don't know what to say, tell me about a person in your life that inspires you.
I would be so grateful if you would spread the word about this post. Every comment you leave today (and tomorrow, and the day after and on and on that until the end of August, COUNTS.)
Communication makes a real difference -- you can give a child a shot at life!
If you want to learn more about Shot@Life, you can find them on Twitter and Facebook.
Shot@Life is an initiative of the United Nations Foundation that educates, connects and empowers the championing of vaccines as one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of children in developing countries.
During Shot@Life's Blogust, 31 bloggers, one each day in August, are writing about people from our communities who have inspired us. The first 1,500 comments in the Blogust: Blog Relay for Good raised $30,000 for childhood vaccines ($20 per comment) in a matter of days! YAAAY! The initial donation commitment (see FAQs) is now complete and your comments have helped vaccinate 1,500 children in developing countries!
However, we are not stopping there! Read on to see how your comments so far have inspired and additional $170,000 donation:
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION
Since this is a relay, Blogust participants are passing the baton to the each other. Yesterday, Tiany of Social Savvy Mom wrote about the gift of comments and how the words of online friends helped her through a difficult time. Now she has passed the baton on to me, and tomorrow it's Catherine Connors' turn. Be sure to visit Her Bad Mother and leave a comment on her post tomorrow.
{Psst! Today's host is none other than Catherine Connors of HerBadMother.com -- please go comment on her post and let's keep the relay going!}
This post is my contribution to the Shot@Life Blog Relay for Good.
By leaving a comment on this post and spreading the word you can make a real difference.
Thanks to our sponsors EVERY COMMENT is worth $20 per comment up to a maximum of $200,000 to vaccinate 10,000 children. THAT'S RIGHT: $200,000 to reach 10,000 children. And yes, 10,000 comments -- including yours! Let's do it!
Have I ever told you that I grew up in a developing country? I saw first hand what a difference vaccines make in the lives of children. The need is real, and it's true that sometimes $20 is the difference between life and death. $20 is what it costs for one child to receive 4 life-saving vaccines: measles, pneumonia, diarrhea and polio; as hard as it is to believe, preventable diseases like these take the life of a child every 20 seconds. But we're trying to do something about it, and you can help!
The theme of the Blogust relay is "Comments Count." If you're a blogger I don't have to explain what this means to you. Bloggers love comments -- if we didn't, we'd be typing away alone at typewriters (uh, if we could find them) or scribbling in notebooks.
Instead, we're posting our words on the internet for the entire world to see and hopefully, react to.
Despite the stereotype, bloggers are connectors at heart.
I know that most of you don't have blogs, but I'm willing to bet that most of you are on Facebook. You know that feeling you get when someone "likes" pictures from your vacation? That's what a blog comment feels like...times 72 (give or take) because your friends on Facebook are, well, your friends. They like you already.
But blog readers? They come to be entertained, or perhaps they just find your blog randomly while googling for cookie recipes. They don't owe you anything. So when they stumble upon your blog and something you wrote inspires them to let you know a little bit about themselves...well, it makes all the difference in the world.
I don't know if you've heard, but writing can be lonely.
In fact, for me it has to be lonely. I make myself forget that other people are going to read my words or I'll freeze up. It's only after I hit publish that I allow myself to think of who might read my words.
When you let me know a bit about you, it makes me -- and everyone else who is reading -- feel less alone.
This is why, when I was asked to highlight one comment or commenter that has made an impact, I couldn't think of just one person. I love it when my friends and family leave me a comment, of course, and I'm eternally grateful for my small band of consistent commenters, but I want to honor what I call the "unknown commenter": The person who doesn't have a blog and still wants to say connect.
They read. They feel. So they comment.
Because, honestly, why should you take the time to let a stranger know you liked their words? They don't even know who you are! You have nothing to sell, no blog for them to link to. You are getting nothing in return.
And yet, you write.
You agree. You disagree. (Maybe you agree to disagree?)
And in the end, you communicate.
That's what blogging is all about.
So thank you -- to all the commenters out there.
CALL TO ACTION: Please leave a comment on this post -- it can be about anything, but if you don't know what to say, tell me about a person in your life that inspires you.
I would be so grateful if you would spread the word about this post. Every comment you leave today (and tomorrow, and the day after and on and on that until the end of August, COUNTS.)
Communication makes a real difference -- you can give a child a shot at life!
If you want to learn more about Shot@Life, you can find them on Twitter and Facebook.
**********
Shot@Life is an initiative of the United Nations Foundation that educates, connects and empowers the championing of vaccines as one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of children in developing countries.
During Shot@Life's Blogust, 31 bloggers, one each day in August, are writing about people from our communities who have inspired us. The first 1,500 comments in the Blogust: Blog Relay for Good raised $30,000 for childhood vaccines ($20 per comment) in a matter of days! YAAAY! The initial donation commitment (see FAQs) is now complete and your comments have helped vaccinate 1,500 children in developing countries!
However, we are not stopping there! Read on to see how your comments so far have inspired and additional $170,000 donation:
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION
Thanks to you - and the incredible response to Blogust 2012 - you've inspired an additional donor to make a generous pledge of $170,000 to this amazing blog relay and what it can achieve this month.
If we all reach this target, combined with the initial $30,000, we will be providing lifesaving vaccines to help protect 10,000 children in developing countries against some of the deadliest diseases.
Your comments count. And your donations, large and small, and the actions of the whole community, including our dear friend Anne Geddes, have helped inspire this amazing response.
For every comment made as part of Blogust 2012, $20 will be donated to Shot@Life to help provide life-saving vaccines to children in developing countries up to the additional $170,000 contribution made possible by this generous gift. We need your help to reach this goal of protecting 10,000 kids.
This response is an amazing tribute to you. While we were already inspired when you helped us reach our initial goal of $30,000, we are equally as inspired knowing you will help us reach this new goal. Keep posting. Keep donating. Tell your friends about Blogust. Our actions together can make a huge impact....and all of it together tells an extraordinary story of celebrating each other and helping create a better world.
Since this is a relay, Blogust participants are passing the baton to the each other. Yesterday, Tiany of Social Savvy Mom wrote about the gift of comments and how the words of online friends helped her through a difficult time. Now she has passed the baton on to me, and tomorrow it's Catherine Connors' turn. Be sure to visit Her Bad Mother and leave a comment on her post tomorrow.
Reader Comments (620)
I know how hard it is to pick just one. I know, because you are among my faves. So happy to see you participating in this beautiful effort.
/$20 ching!
I love the Facebook "like" analogy; great way to help our non-bloggy friends understand what feedback means to us, especially when we share something so personally important.
And I'm still reeling over how many more kids we can directly help through our efforts this month!
Roxanna, Your post is beautiful and gets right to the heart of why comments matter so much, every day and especially these days of August for Blogust. And it's SO exciting that today we get to announce that $200,000 can be raised for Shot@Life by commenting on you and all the Blogust bloggers' posts!!!! YAY!!!!
From one native of a developing country to another, great post. :)
K.
How wonderful, and what a great organization! I'm inspired by people like you, who take time to help others.
Happy to help!
I'm not sure exactly what to say except that I so admire what you're doing here and completely relate to the extended hand that is a blog comment. I hope you reach your goal!
May God Bless You!
This is just about the most incredible initiative I've ever seen. Roxanna, your post is stunning and I love that you chose to honor the unknown occasional commenter. Strangers don't have to say a word and it's always such a lovely gift when they resonate with something you've written. Bravo and AMAZING work on this!!!
I just came across your blog via a tweet from Cool Mom Picks about the $20. What an easy way to give back - and hear from other people - and find a great new blog to read! Yay! Thanks for sharing your thoughts - I'm inspired, intrigued, and awed daily by all of the amazing blogs out there - and the people who comment on them!
<3 Great ideas.
What a great cause. My children were both born in a developing nation (Ethiopia) and my son, while a mere 4 months old, nearly died from diarrhea--not something to vaccinate for obviously, but something that simple clean water (so readily available to us) could have prevented. I have seen first hand the devastation that lack of preventive medical care can cause and vaccines are just that--preventive care that every child should have access too.
Thank you!
So many people, so little time.
Do I win for least creative comment ever?
This post is a great reminder that together, women (and men) online can do anything. What a great celebration of the power of community! (ps: go Aly Raisman!!)
Roxanna, what a great post. It is so true that writing gets lonely and that every comment makes you jump up and down with delight. It is what got me addicted to blogging. So happy to be a part of Blogust with you and such inspiring human beings.
Thank you for doing this! Love the idea of a blog relay, and I'm happy to grab the comment baton - and pass it on.
Thanks for helping us connect the dots. Blogging. Community. Kids. Shots. Doing what we can.
I'll comment to that. :)
What a great initiative! I'm glad to be able to comment and help the children of the world. I saw a link to this post on twitter and had never been to this blog before, but now I can add it to my rotation. From now on, I will comment, even if I don't think it will mean much, because now I know it will!
I loved this line, "and all of it together tells an extraordinary story of celebrating each other and helping create a better world." well said! here's to more celebrating and more helping!
BRAVO
Woooo! :)
Good Luck!
I am a new blogger on women's wellness issues and time management, because who knows more about time management then women doctors? Thanks for blogging on such an important issue.
Keep up the good work. I like bloggers who are either light and humorous or just those who plain speak kindly. You're more of the latter--well, at least in this piece, and I like your tone. Thanks for the human interest approach. Knowing that just posting a comment will help you gain support for the vaccines is inspiring. Children need all the protection they can get. Thank you!
Love,
Pia Magalona
Thank you. You are bringing hope into many lives.
Shout out for comments! Thank you, Roxanna, for the wonderful post.
Great initiative! I'm from a developing country and I understand this cause very well! So glad to help! :)
As a new blogger I really get this now, comments do matter. They can make your heart so happy! I hope this blogust goes way over its goal to help those children!
What a great post! Thank you for participating in this campaign!
What a fabulous initiative! It's a public health girl's dream! If only every problem were minimized by tapping on a keyboard.
Hi, just wanted to leave a comment to say I discovered your site through my good friend, Jeannette Kaplun, who shared your post on Facebook today (and who inspires me every day!). I think it's awesome what you guys are doing to create social change and help children in developing countries. I'll definitely be back to read again soon!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
This is so fantastic!
Kindness and kind words count, and it's fantastic that kind words can turn into kind actions by saving a child. I also write but very few comment on my blogs, but that's okay, I'll keep writing. Because that's what writers do! Thanks Chrysula for being a champion!
Thanks for connecting with Shot@life! So pleased to get introduced to all of these amazing Blog artists!
Another day. Another Great post!
Psyched that the cap has been raised and that each comment is once again raising valuable money for a very needed cause!
I love the comments you chose to highlight. They demonstrate that even a small act or a few simple words can change everything for another person. By allowing us to leave comments here, we can change the future for a child we do not even know. Thank you!
what an amazing idea. love this, totally support it. I'll spread the word!
A great post for a great purpose!
Heres my $20 comment!
I love the word "connectors" - I feel like that in so many areas of my life. I'm going to use that word a lot now - thank you for posting and for supporting Shot@Life!
Very thought-provoking post, thank you. Even with my teeny tiny private blog, I'm thrilled by comments (hmmm... could it be Mom? Or Dad? Or Good Friend1? Or Good Friend2? The mystery! The excitement!)
Happy to leave my "comment" as support. I will share and cross my fingers for many more to come.
Thank you for the opportunity to take part in this great effort. It is so inspiring to see someone stand up and find a solution. Be encouraged!
What a wonderful and super easy way to make a difference for a child. Thanks to you and the sponsors for this opportunity!
Always inspired by all my favorite lady bloggers of color!
(What with their helping me expand my worldview and all that stuff.)
Thanks my dear, you give me so much to think about.
Children and their infinite potential inspire me--which is why it's so important to me that we all support this effort.
Thanks for doing this and making it so easy for us to help a great cause!
All the best, keep up your good work :-):-)
Thank you, a good read.