At Christmas, we are supposed to do something for other people.
Dutch pop radio channel 3FM sends two or three of its DJ’s in a temporary studio, the week before Christmas. They are not allowed to get out of the studio, stop broadcasting and eat for six days. Their goal is to collect as much money as possible for a silent disaster. The annual event is called Serious Request and it has gained enormous popularity over the years.
The hole on the picture is supposed to put your hand in. Polish your nails, gender doesn’t count, and donate one euro, or don’t and donate more.
The challenge started Wednesday afternoon. It was supposed to collect 100 euros. By Thursday morning, this challenge had already grossed over 400.000 euros.
This challenge is started by six-year old Tijn(pronounce: [taain]), who thought about a way to help the millions of children worldwide who will most likely die from a disease that is easily curable in wealthy countries. He will lose his life to DIPC(brainstem glioma) within a year.
He really doesn’t seem to care about his own health. He is dying. That doesn’t stop him, but it motivates him to help people even more. Thousands of people, many celebrities included, were touched by this story and decided to donate.
Last year, the DJ’s of Serious Request collected over 12 million euros, and that record will surely be beaten. Tijn will be remembered as a hero, someone who brought light in the dark 2016.
I remember this, it was wonderful. With his challenge going viral they managed to raise approx. 2.5 million euros. In total, Serious Request raised 9.257.000 euros that year. It was a glorious project. Tijn also had an asteroid named after him, and he was invited to the city of Breda in his home province and was made major for a day. He also received the Cross of Merit and was blessed by pope Franciscus. After Serious Request he continued on raising money. As can be read in the UPDATE from the original poster: “… he and his family collaborated with a foundation set up after the death of another child with brainstem glioma to help beat the now incurable DIPC. That action has grossed over a million euros within a few days. “.
Finally, in 2017, after Tijn’s death, one of the clinics that was being renovated in Ivory Coast by the money raised from Serious Request was named after him. The clinic included a mural of Tijn with his hands raised up with his finger nails showing and at the re-opening of the clinic one of the two original DJs came and painted them red.
Right in the feels
After Jack Ryan, a teenager who has autism, showed interest in stocking shelves, Baton Rouge supermarket employee Jordan invited him to help with the job. The two finished the task together, stocking for more than 30 minutes.
Jack Ryan’s family was touched by Jordan’s kindness, and his grandfather called the gesture “a miracle in action.”
According to the Today Show, Jack Ryan was offered a part-time job at the store, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to send Jordan to school.
Watch more on the story here: https://on.today.com/2Km5eBj
Amazing 👏
When Addy Tritt paid a visit to her local Payless in Hays, Kansas, last week, she didn’t intend to walk out with the last of the store’s inventory. Tritt went to the now-out-of-business shoe store after seeing an ad on its Facebook page promoting its slashed prices.
When the last 204 pairs of footwear dropped to $1 each, she figured she could buy some and donate them to a shelter or church. After considering several different organizations, Tritt finally landed on the idea of sending the shoes to Nebraska, where recent epic flooding has destroyed millions of dollars in crops, injured and killed several people, damaged homes and deeply impacted farmers.
“I believe part of my plan is to help people, so I’m going to do that any way that I can,” she said.