Twitter Feeds 4,000 Homeless Invididuals

My wife loves Twitter. She loves the fact that instead of calling up our friends or texting them to meetup, we have a Tweetup. She loves that I Tweet about the most interesting things and my followers care enough about it to continue following.

She is bullshitting. Doesn't get it. And I'm cool with that.

When I had a bad day last week, the Twitter community was there to get me back in the swing of things in a big way. It played out like this:

The donor can be found here if you want to thank him too. (I kept his name anonymous, but I have no problem displaying, I will leave that up to him!)

I am not sure how this played out but the path that I led had at least a play in the matter. Below is the stream of events that lead to the donation and the direct feeding of 4,000 homeless Orlando area individuals, courtesy of Rock For Hunger.

1. Created a personal brand that encompassed my entire package (Rollett Marketing, Music Marketing, Rock For Hunger, Social Media, Gen-Y and so on)
2. Reached out on Social Media sites (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc)
3. Created loose relationships with people (blog comments, Twitter replies, introduction e-mails, etc)
4. Continued past relationships and built new ones - never settle on what you have. There are so many interesting people that can teach you so many things.
   
5. Build a brand that is recognized in the community - speaking at local events, joining user groups/organizations, etc.
   
6. Don't ask, but participate - My start-ups need money, Rock For Hunger can sure use some donations, etc, yet I do not ask for anything, but I do tell the stories that are involved in the process, hoping that someone will be inspired. This can include volunteering, donating some canned foods, helping out with research, sending out some links or yes, lead to a great donation.
7. Give back - You cannot solely be a taker. Give back to your community, volunteer your time and send some links out to make someone else's day brighter.

When the day is done, more times than not, you need to believe that you are doing the right thing. It is very easy to get caught up in your day-to-day and focus on the projects in front of your face. There is absolutely nothing wrong about that. But seeing the power in helping someone out, well, that is more power than going at it alone could ever be.

Thanks Twitter, not just for the act of kindness, but for the community and power that you bring. Wait, no, thanks to the community. Twitter is just the tool that we use to reach out to each other.

For those looking to know more about Rock For Hunger, please visit their Blog, which is back up and running on its regularly scheduled postings. The Fest is coming soon too, November 15th. I heard that G-Ro is bringing the Sneakers back for one more show! Just a rumor though.

-Greg Rollett