I Walk for Love: 1 person, 100 days, 2,000 miles

Full Name:
Jordan Dibb

Living in:
Minneapolis, MN

Listening to:

Earth For Foxes

Eating for Breakfast:
Eggs & Toast

Where does your story begin? (Set the scene)
I graduated college in the spring of 2009 and for 6 months attempted to find a job that was worthwhile. After thousands of resumes sent out and countless interviews with nothing to show for it, I decided I wanted to do something constructive with my time. Then the earthquake in Haiti hit and I decided I wanted to go down there to aid in relief efforts. But after calling many non-profits I learned that I needed background experience in Disaster Aid - which I didn't have. When I asked one of the organizations how I was supposed to get down to Haiti to help then, she simply replied, "Well you could always walk". That put the idea in my head that I could fundraise on my own and ended up planning and completing a 2,000 mile journey, where I walked from Minneapolis, MN to Miami, FL in 100 days, raising nearly $40,000 for Action Against Hunger, a non-profit who was supplying disaster relief in Haiti.

Within days of creating my walk's fan page on Facebook, I had thousands of followers. During the 100 days that I walked across the country I gained nearly 12,000 followers, which helped me spread the word about my cause. A lot of the donations that I raised for Haiti came from those Facebook followers. Facebook also allowed me to better plan my walking route. People saw that I would be walking through their town and messaged me, inviting me for dinner as I passed through or even giving me a place to sleep for the night. Of the 100 nights during my walk, I spent more than 80 nights with families I had never met, a lot of them hearing about me through Facebook.

If the story doesn't end there: Did this event spread to impact the lives of other people?
It definitely did! In 3 months my friends, family and Facebook followers raised nearly $40,000 dollars for Haiti! Those donations helped feed and water men, women and children in Haiti. I just couldn't believe so many people could come together and make such a difference for others who they had never even met before. LINK

Salvation Army to collect donations at KARE 11

I didn't get this posted in time for the drop off site but I am putting the rest of the information on where you can help out.

KARE 11 has teamed up with The Salvation Army to help collect basic needs items for people affected by Sunday's storms.

Items needed:

- Personal Hygiene Items - NEW (toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc.)
- Diapers
- Non-perishable food
- Men's/Women's/Kids Underwear - NEW
- Clothing
- Blankets/bedding
- Towels

Donations can also be delivered to The Salvation Army's permanent locations:

- Clothing & furniture to 900 N. 4th Street in Minneapolis
- Food & Hygiene items to 2024 Lyndale Ave. N in Minneapolis

KARE 11 is located at 8811 Olson Memorial Highway near Highway 169 in Golden Valley.

They are also accepting text donations. Text "BLESSING" to 85944 to make a $10 donation to the Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services efforts. (Standard texting fees apply)

The American Red Cross is accepting donations to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Financial gifts enable the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to victims of disasters. People may also call (612) 460-3700 during business hours or mail donations to the following address:

American Red Cross - Twin Cities Area Chapter
NW 5597
PO Box 1450
Minneapolis, MN 55485-5597

You can make secure online contributions by visiting the Twin Cities Red Cross website.

Financial donations for the metro storm relief may be made online at The Salvation Army website or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY or sending a check to the following address:

The Salvation Army
2445 Prior Ave
Roseville MN 55113

Make sure to designate "metro storm." LINK

Related Links
Minneapolis tornado kills 1, devastation widespread
Photo gallery of Sunday's storms.

Haiti: Photos from the ground, by AIDG's Catherine Lainé

Catherine Lainé of the sustainable tech non-profit AIDG, who was featured in this Boing Boing Video interview on Friday, is in Haiti and has begun uploading photos of what she's witnessing there, as connectivity permits.



House are FLATTENED. Coming in to Port Au Prince, about 1 in 20 had collapsed, then 1 in 10. In Delmas 33 where we were earlier, it's 1:5. People are sleeping outside in makeshift settlements b/c either 1) their house was destroyed 2) their house had significant damage and is visibly unsafe or 3) they are not sure of their home's structural integrity and with all the aftershocks, they are taking no changes. Everyone has lost someone close to them or someone they knew... you can hear gunshots at night though. Daytime seems really safe.

She's uploading images to the AIDG Flickr stream. Unlike the Associated Press, hers are all licensed as Creative Commons images and may be freely re-blogged. Some images may not be properly tagged yet (her access to internet and electricity is sporadic in Haiti), but she's told us that is her intent. LINK: Boingboing, Via: Youtube

Deep-fried Disaster

WLWT-TV5 report on the dangers of deep-frying a turkey that has not been properly thawed. Greenhills Volunteer Fire Dept. assisted in this demonstration. LINK: Youtube