This post highlights how I used Twitter to help secure a donation from Home Depot; a donation that was a critical part in a project I wanted to launch that would help the homeless.
Just over a week ago I brainstormed an idea that would accomplish two things:
- Fulfill my responsibility of cleaning up a portion of Lee St., one of several streets I’ve adopted in my hometown of Greensboro, NC
- Engage members (10 people to start) of the homeless community and pay them to help me clean up the previously mentioned section of street
In my eyes, to make this project work I needed to have 10, what I call “trash picker uppers” donated. They are priced at around $30 each and are needed to help pick up some of the less than desirable trash that will be encountered along the way.
I called the local Home Depot, but after about a day and a half of no returned call (local store is understandably busy) I took the project to Twitter and reached out to @HomeDepot. My tweet indicated that I was working on a project to help the homeless and needed a donation.
To my surprised I received a response on Twitter, which led to a couple emails, a phone conversation with someone at the corporate office, a follow up email… and then a call from the store manager at the local store I originally called. The final phone call indicated that the store would be making the requested donation.
This is just another example of how Twitter helped connect the dots… dots, which probably wouldn’t have been connected through the normal channels.
PS – I’m still raising money to help fund the hourly wage for the project; if you would like to make a contribution ($10 would be appreciated) you can do so by clicking here.
.:Follow me on Twitter – @RyanShell:.
