Project Kengikat

Fancy Doesn’t Make It Better

// August 14th, 2010 // HIV and AIDS, Homeless Outreach

For the past two months I’ve worked pretty hard on making my website match the stylish look of my blog, but in the end all the time and energy was simply a huge waste of time. Once I launched the website I learned that the company I went with to help build the new offered no live customer support and what was even worse was the fact that they did not support my blog. Email support is all they were able to offer and this was only 24 to 48 hours after you contact them.

“We are just like Google and FACEBOOK, we only offer text based support” is what one rep said in an email to me. Funny thing is that I don’t pay Google or FACEBOOK one red cent, so why would she compare their service that I have to pay for to a free service was really beyond me. I guess this is the new age of doing business where the customer is the enemy and you avoid them at all cost. This experience reminded me that nothing replaces good old fashioned face to face contact. I say old fashioned because it would seem that in the age of doing everything online and  internet friends we have some how lost the importance of human contact in our daily lives. I also learned that online companies can offer the world and only deliver crap and if you are not careful they will get away with your money.

In the end, my website is back to the basic design, no flash in the pants and nothing fancy. Just a clean, clear basic approach to my work. I am learning what my parents told me a long time ago when they told me that “fancy doesn’t make it better. It just makes it nice to look at.” My website was created by someone who knows me and knows the work that I do. Not only this, he is a friend and has been very involved with the work I do. I guess what I am saying is that I have learned that the grass is not always greener on the other side and I am very thankful and appreciative for what I have.

Ok, so having said all of this, let me move forward with the point of this blog. In addition to spending all this time working on my website I also worked on a letter asking companies for in kind donations for my Do Something and Life Kits. For those who do not know what the kits are, they are hygiene kits for people who are homeless or battling HIV or AIDS.

I looked at plenty of letters online and even called a few places to get copies of their letters. The result ended in my trying to make what I do more like other places. I used models that are not my own and end result was 100 returned letters saying “NO” But just like with the website I learned a very valuable lesson.

What I do is very unique and not like any other outreach or organization. My outlook is from experience and from actually living through what I am trying to help people with. It’s from talking directly to the people I try so hard to serve and really paying attention to their concerns. It comes from really caring about the work I do, putting people ahead of simply being a large organization that does very little to help people. The people who have supported my efforts without fail time and time again as just as unique because they put humanity before politics, love before conditions, respect before guilt and love before shame or guilt.

Today I am taking all this in, consider just how special and unique my organization, the outreaches, the people I serve and the people who help me do it truly are. As I consider and take all this I have found that the letters I sent out asking for help with the items for the Do Something and Life Kits were not reflective of the work I do. They made no compelling case for the work I do and offered no difference from all the other letters for requests I am sure all of these companies receive each and every day.

As I plan to write the request letter again, I am keeping in the front of my mind that “fancy does not mean anything otherthen fancy” It is more important for me, my heart and soul to be in every letter for support I send out. I must make a compelling case in order for any company to truly consider an in kind donation to my work. I must shine, I must stand out from the rest. I am not saying that this will automatically get companies to sit up, take notice and give, but it will send a clear message that we all need to do all we can to make a huge difference in this world.

I know many people reading this will say “you need to apply for non-profit status” but they have no idea what this involves or what it means. Furthermore this does not automatically qualify me for any funding whatsoever. All I truly need to do is what I have done for the over three years now and what I have created will continue to grow and make a huge difference for people in need. It will continue to educate, empower and inspire people to get involved with the process of CHANGE that is good for all HUMANITY and not just one community.

As I close this blog I am reminded of the woman who was slave in the house of the man who had leprosy and it was her, the slave, the lowest of the low who was able to take him to the person who could heal him. I am reminded that I don’t need to hold any high position, have a fancy title behind my name, sit at a fancy desk, eat meals with fancy people, hold elected office or seek permission or approval from anyone to make a difference. All I really need to do is believe and be willing to work as hard as I can to make it happen.

It’s funny the lessons we learn as kids come back in later years to help us move forward on our paths.