4,000 people holding hands around a lake.  Great.  Why?

Exactly, why?  When you set out to get people to have an effect on anything, you need people to take the step from What? to Why?  Once they ask that question you have an opening to discuss, to excite, to enlighten.

When we set out to raise money to help the people of Haiti we knew that the money raised would provide a momentary fix to an immeasurable tragedy.  In the days after the earthquake the attention that Haiti received was immense.  As the days passed, Haiti dropped lower and lower in visibility.  On the day of Hand to Hand for Haiti another earthquake struck the people of Chile.

Today, if you want to know how the people of Haiti are doing, you have to search for the information. 

Haiti is just one example of a place that needs help.  They need money to solve their problems, but more than that, they need people who have had experience dealing with the big issues that they face, and they need them for a long time.  They need a government to offer guidance, leadership and a rule of law.  They need doctors to see to it that the population is able to function and eventually prosper.  They need income.  Without a sustainable way for the population to support themselves, they will never thrive.  Helping people to rebuild their lives is not a single step process.

As any organization looks for a way to help they need to look at the whole picture.  We are all guilty of having a short attention span.  (As I  write this, I am wondering how many people have read this far into the blog?)  Without taking into consideration the whole picture, there will be no real change.  Peoples lives will not get better and a lot of time and money will be wasted.

When we set up the fund raiser for Haiti we had the advantage that many organizations do not have.  We have a machine.  We have a chain of help that extends from Ellicott City, MD to Sarasota, FL to Haiti.  Each part is looking at the needs of the people and making sure that things are being done well, ethically, and with the end result in mind.

So, on the day of the Hand to Hand for Haiti we had somewhere between 500 and 1,500 people holding hands at Centennial Lake.  Whatever that amount is, we touched people.  We made people aware of the plight of the people of Haiti and we kept the focus on something that was quickly fading.  We have raised over $10,000 so far and we hope to add to that. 

If you were there on the day of the event you got to see a diverse group of people who gave of themselves to achieve a goal.  They stood patiently in the cold to have an affect on something, they felt like they were making a difference and, they did.

So how do you inspire people?  Set a BIG goal and make sure it is clear that you will make a difference.  People want to be part of something bigger than themselves.  You are in the admirable position of being able to provide that.