In December, Michele D’Acosta (filmmaker and fellow peace traveler) and I, sat down to a cocktail at the Casa Del Mar hotel in Santa Monica and waited for the arrival of Sue Chen, CEO of Nova Ortho Med, one of the United States’ top mobility products companies. Getting in touch with Sue so easily and getting the positive response about our crutch inquiry was just another of the many small miracles we’d encountered along The Peace Project…and as the sun set on the Pacific, we both anticipated a meeting with a positive outcome.
When I saw Sue walking towards us, I had to laugh – it’s rare that I see another woman who walks with as much purpose as I, but when she shook my hand with a firm grip, sat down, smacked her hand on the table and said “So Ladies…what do we need to do to get Sierra Leone off the ground?”, I’ll admit that even I was taken aback at her audaciousness. And had I been mid-sip, I certainly would have either choked or spewed, but as luck would have it, I had a little Angel on my shoulder and an empty mouth and thus, simply smiled and murmured without batting an eyelash “Well…we probably need about 10,000 pairs of crutches.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, Sue left, and Michele and I celebrated with a glass of champagne while the sun set and I realized that The Peace Project was destined to touch more lives than I had even imagined when we first set out.
Since that time, we’ve been working furiously behind the scenes, logging over a thousand hours to put the pieces together to implement a complex logistical effort which involves at it’s core, one of the most dramatic social efforts in recent history whereby we’ll be distributing over 10,000 pairs of crutches to amputees, war victims, women and children in Sierra Leone on one day, World Peace Day, September 21st, 2011. (We’re also cooking up one of the most dramatic art efforts in recent history that we’ll unveil soon!)
I took a leap in January and made a decision to walk away from Out Of Bounds, the experiential marketing business I founded and have been running with theredhead’s help for over eleven years so that we could focus on this important mission and dedicate all of our time to The Peace Project, TheWhole9.com, and Gallery 9.
The miracles that have happened since then and the excitement that The Peace Project has sparked in nearly every person and organization we’ve shared it with (including the world’s largest non-profit, UNICEF, who will be partnering with us for this effort in Sierra Leone) have convinced me that my decision was the right one. There was only one thing wrong…
As we walked down the path with Nova, something started feeling wrong. The incredible enthusiasm about getting Sierra Leone off the ground that Sue exhibited when we first met became tempered with talk of how this effort would be used to re-brand Nova, build customer loyalty and earn respect for them within their industry and beyond. For 25 years, I’ve been selling brands on how cause marketing does this, and for the first time in my career, I had a funny feeling about it that I couldn’t identify, but that kept me awake night after night.
Last week, after three months of working like a demon on this deal, I received a contract from Nova that spelled out the terms of the agreement. Terms which included them shipping 10,000 pairs of crutches and mobility devices to Sierra Leone. Street value: over half a million USD. In return, all branding would include “Powered by Nova.”
In January, when I stood on the edge of a precipice, I looked before me and took a leap. And I flew. And now shimmering before me was the pot of gold that would get the people of Sierra Leone off the ground. And the only thing I had to do was…
SELL OUT
I had to sell out the fact that when I envisioned The Peace Project, I had one goal and that goal was to create a dynamic where people worldwide would realize that they had the opportunity to change the world. I had to sell out the purity of my intention and the purity of the intentions of every person that has donated time, money or other resources to this project. I had to risk the authenticity that I knew was the reason people believed in me and The Peace Project.
So just as I had in January, I stood still (for a minute), I looked within, I grabbed hold of my faith with both hands and I…
WALKED AWAY
Then, as now, I felt the surge of power that I’ve felt at every moment in The Peace Project when experiencing a small miracle and I thought to myself “Hell Yeah!” because contrary to feeling like I had lost, I knew I had won. Because after a moment of fear, I regained my incredible faith that come World Peace Day, 2011, I would be in Sierra Leone flanked by my comrades from the Amputee Soccer Team, my son Tejan, filmmakers Michele D’Acosta and Sergi Agusti, photojournalist Pep Bonet (who got this party started only last year when I saw his work), and a cadre of other incredibly creative people, and we WOULD be handing out crutches and watching a country continue to pick itself up after what has been called the cruelest war in Africa’s recent history.
And I also knew that every single one of you would be watching this effort and feeling damn proud that you helped make it happen.
Now…some that hear this story and hear about what has happened in the past week which includes having a little angel step forth to unexpectedly fund some (or all) of the crutches, would think that perhaps I had psychic abilities. But I know the truth, and that is…
Last year I stood before you and boldly claimed that through creativity and community we would change the world. And instead of laughing, you stepped up. And together, we have been walking this path called The Peace Project. Together we have stood in our truth, and together we have created a miracle that will take place on World Peace Day 2011 called Operation Rise.
This effort won’t be easy and even with the cost of the crutches covered, it will still cost close to $250,000 USD, but I know with certainty that we’re up for the challenge. In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing details about how you can get involved, but in the meantime, I want to share something else. When I made a decision to walk away from Nova, those nearest me heard “If I have to buy the crutches myself, we WILL be implementing Operation Rise on World Peace Day!” and I’m still prepared to do that if necessary. I pledge to you that short of a natural disaster, this project will happen on World Peace Day and now I want to ask you to make a pledge to The Peace Project via a comment below. Are you prepared to make a donation of money? (If so, and you’d like to start now, you can even visit The Peace Project website and be one of the first to make a donation for Operation Rise.) Would you like to donate time? Or art? Will you spread the word and raise money among your peers? Is there something else you’d like to do to help?
We’ll be raising money through everything from $2 music downloads to other types of donations and unique fundraising efforts. The key is not donating alot, but stepping forward and committing to donate something, of putting your money and time where your mouth is, saying yes to being part of changing history and bringing about a more peaceful (and equal) world where everyone has the power of mobility and can move around and take care of themselves and their families.
Say yes to Peace and you too will feel that same surge of pride that I felt when I again realized that:
Through creativity and community, we can change the world.
