40 Days of Help
I went to Catholic school my entire life, from Pre-K all the way up to when I got my Master’s Degree. While I haven’t always been the best at practicing my religion, something I have always done was adhere to the activities surrounding Lent: no meat on Fridays, and to ‘give something up’. The real reasoning behind giving something up is to have you do something that will ultimately make you a better person, hopefully in some long-lasting fashion. That’s why this year I wanted to do something different, and why I created a new website: 40 Days of Help.
I was trying to come up with something out of the ordinary routine of giving something up (though it would do me well to give up swearing). I decided that a good, lasting idea would be to donate some time (a couple of hours each week) over the course of Lent to helping non-profits and churches with their web presence. This would make me do 2 things: manage my time better in order to deliver on this promise, and help out some people in a way that will last well past Lent.
I put some feelers out to friends, family, and Twitter, and most thought it was a great idea; I decided to take one step further. Since I’m not too sure how to go about finding organizations that would want my help, I thought it would be a good idea to make a website where both organizations, and individuals like myself, can sign up and exchange info.
On the site there are 2 forms: one for those seeking help, and one for those who want to help. Filling them out will allow me to list that info publicly and get people connected.
The great thing about this is even if you don’t practice Lent, it still gives you an opportunity to help those in need by using a skill set that not everyone has. The site is still a work in progress, but I really think it could be something special!