Ask HN: Donate? Please...
A few months ago I took on the challenge of running the entire London Underground for Harry Moseley's charity Help Harry Help Others (HelpHarryHelpOthers.com). I wanted to run 430 miles, travel through all 272 tube stops and complete every single tube line. Most importantly though I wanted to raise £10,000 for Harry's charity, To make a real difference I need to raise £100,000. I am exploring every opportunity to help make this happen. Hacker News and its community are one such way. Either by donating or talking about/sharing/posting Harry's story which could then lead to randoms donating.
The internet has changed many things - how we communicate, how we gather information and how we interact. It has also changed the face of charity. Like many of you, I am on Twitter. One year ago it was recommended to me that I follow an 11 year old called Harry Moseley. Twitter comes in for a lot of criticism, some of it is deserved but had it not been for Twitter I would never have learned of Harry Moseley and his story.
The internet is awesome. You write about the many who own startups, work for startups or just enjoy using their products. You criticse sites and laud them in equal measure - it is one of the most divisive platforms there is. For me it has become so much more than just a hobby. Because of the internet I was inspired by a complete stranger. I was inspired to try and run 430 miles. I am not a runner. I am a bit of a geek, I own two failed startups and it turns out my knee's are not great! The internet allowed me to find Harry's story. It then allowed me to create a blog (www.harrystuberunners.blogspot.com) free of charge so that people could see how I was doing. I then used www.animoto.com to create a video that showed my progress that I then put on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Iy82YV21k&feature=youtube_gdata_player) [Please watch it] which can be viewed by anyone in any country. I then used Facebook to create a page to attract people to join me in running. I created an email account at Gmail (harrystuberunners@gmail.com) to contact those people all over the world that followed me on Twitter who wanted to run with me. Through Twitter and email I got runners to join me on March 10th - they were from New Zealand, Canada, India, England, USA, France, Spain, Hong Kong and Japan - I'd never met these people but because of the internet these people are now my friends. I used a site called www.justgiving.com to create my own justgiving page (www.justgiving.com/steven-whyley) which has helped me raised £9000.
So far, in 20 weeks I have run 300 miles. I have strained ankle ligaments and I have torn the cartilage in my knee (I got free physio advice from medical sites) but the runs continue - this weekend I will be running another marathon - with a battered body. I will be running in the cold, with a bad knee all because I followed a kid on Twitter. I am doing this because I am desperate, desperate to raise money and help a childs dream come true. £100,000 isn't going to cure brain cancer but it can make a big difference. When I complete the London Underground I will go and find another subway system in another country and run it. I won't stop running until I raise this money.
Whenever people question the internet - and there are those that do - for me I now have an answer.
So I guess my post today is three fold. The first part is a reminder to you all how just how awesome the internet is. We are blessed to live in this age. Open yourself up to be inspired, we now have a medium that shows us on a daily basis how awesome people can be - don't ignore this, don't focus on the frailties of a site or question how the site is going to make money or why they've used a particular design. Focus instead on what that site can do for you. It could change your life. It could help you change the lives of others.
The second part to this is to make you guys aware of an amazing 11 year old boy. Unfortunately he won't be celebrating his birthday this year, lets make sure that no other child has to miss their birthday in the future. Go for a run, go tell someone about Harry, get on Twitter and follow someone inspiring rather than some Z List celebrity.
The third part, is a plea from me. If you are a startup that wants to give back and donate to a good cause then that is amazing. I just wondered if you'd consider Harry's cause. There are many fantastic charities and people out there that need help. No one charity or cause is more important or better than another - so I am not asking you to donate your money to Harry's - I am just asking you to consider donating to something, something that will make a difference.
thanks