Al Andrews stepped on to the stage. He held something up. “What is this?”
“A beach towel.”
Holding up another item he asked, “OK, what is this?”
“Wrapping paper.”
Now, ask a 4-yearold what those things are. The answer is a cape and a sword. What happened to all of us that made us only see those things for their intended purpose? Why did we lose our imagination?
4-yearolds can fly
They don’t see things as they are. They see things as they could be.
Al wanted to be a philanthropist. There’s only one problem — you need money to do it. He thought about what he could do to take away that challenge. He had written a poem some years earlier.
That poem was turned into a children’s book. When someone buys a copy of that book, all of the net profits from that sale go toward a particular goal until that goal is attained.
The Lift Project
Thistle Farms is a social enterprise that employs women who have survived lives of prostitution, trafficking, substance abuse, and homelessness. They produce lotions, soaps, lip balms, candles and other products.
They had a problem. The workers needed to get products and supplies from one floor to another at their facility. They had a utility elevator that was broken for so long the door was covered over with drywall. To get their items upstairs, they had to go outside, around the building, up a hill, and finally back in.
The Lift Project was started to earn enough money to fix the elevator. How much would it cost? 2000 books. That’s it. When you can break down a problem to the smallest piece, the problems don’t seem to big. As of July 22nd, that project was completely funded.
The Boy, the Kite, and the Wind
The book created from that poem is called The Boy, the Kite, and the Wind. The video below shows some kids from Africa reading the book.
“If you dream, people like to join the dream”
The company is called Improbable Philanthropy. Will you buy a book (or 10 or a hundred) to help fund the next project and help Al be a philanthropist?
You can follow Al Andrews on Twitter @itsalandrews.
