"For the price of a pizza..."

(editors note: 9 pm Sunday- linkage figured out! Thanks Meg for the help! All the rest of you, read on and participate)

I read something once that started out with that phrase...it was a prose piece on supporting the arts, but I don't have a copy of it and can't remember it in detail. However, I use that idea and even say those words frequently when trying to figure out the value of an effort.

So today I ask the question: what if you could positively, directly impact someone's life for the price of a pizza? I mean right now, if you took the price of a pizza, and gave it to someone in immediate need, how would that make you feel?

I want to give anyone that reads this a chance to find out. I've struggled with how to present plea, and decided to be deliberately vague, except to say that any donations you make go directly to someone who needs it much more desperately than any of us need a pizza, and that the funds are not for myself in any way, shape or form.

This culture we live in is not kind nor easy on small people with big hearts that make the world better by being in it. These are the type of people I look up to as role models and heros; they do their thing every day, do not play victim or complain, and meet challenges with grace and dignity. They are good examples of what a person can be; not perfect, but beautifully human and working to make their immediate world a friendlier and warmer place for everyone they come in contact with. So often they do this with little more than sheer determination- resources are few and far between. They often have no safety net. So where are they to turn when things go awry? And, generally, these people are not ones to seek out help. They believe in pulling their own load, and helping everyone else pull theirs whenever possible.

I know someone like this, and they need some help, NOW. A lot of us bloggers talk about the 'blogging community". I have made good friends this way, though never having met any of you face to face. Blogging is a good way to make connections, but the challenge we have is to manifest our thoughts and words physically. This is one small way. This is also an exercise in trust: you have to trust that I am not trying to take advantage of your generosity, you have to trust that any donation you make will matter, and you have to trust that more than just you will contribute. Do not underestimate the value of culmulative small contributions. They can, and I am certain in this case WILL prove to provide some hope. We can be our own safety net.

If you need any more proof of my sincerity, I'll make this offer: the first 5 people that donate $20 or more can send me an email, and I'll send you an original piece of ceramic art from my last firing, equal to or greater than a $20 retail value. I'll even pay the postage to ship to you. I'm an artist...money, not so much, but pots I got.

Meg at Blogcabin has agreed to play banker on this project. (I wasn't smart enough to figure out a blind link to the individual's paypal acct.) So take a chance: make a donation by cruising over to Blogcabin, and click on her "support the cabin via paypal" link in the left sidebar, and do your thing. She'll collect and forward all funds daily. For the price of a pizza, someone's life can be better tomorrow. Be part of the blogging community safety net.

Thank you!