My Project 50/50 encounter

Several months ago, my friend Darediva on Twitter posted a photo of a gorgeous young woman with a beautiful dog, posing in front of an old pick-up truck. Curious, I followed the link to the woman's Twitter page, and from there to her blog, and was immediately fascinated by her story. The woman was Shay Kelley, and her Twitter handle was Project5050. Shay was spending the year living in her truck with her dog, Zuzu. Together they were traveling to all 50 states in 50 weeks, and in each city they visited, Shay would go door to door collecting canned goods, clothing, hygiene products, and whatever else people were willing to give. Then she'd visit local homeless shelters and camps to distribute the items, also stopping to help individuals she encountered along the way. Shay was doing this all on her own, just because she could.

Now, I've been known to hand out homemade breakfast tacos to homeless people on my way to work in the morning, and to purchase bags of groceries for the homeless folks I see regularly on my drive to and from the office, and I always keep at least a five-dollar bill handy in the car to give to panhandlers, but Shay's project was something else.

This year she is doing it all over again with her new husband, Shane Patrick, at her side. I was fortunate enough to meet them yesterday when they swung through Austin. When I saw that they were coming to town, I started collecting items for them in the hopes of filling up their truck for them. I didn't quite achieve that goal, but did manage to amass a pretty good-sized pile of stuff for them, including clothing, food, toiletries, and first aid items. The final pile looked like this:


I had a little help in the way of donations from friends, family, and co-workers. Shay and Shane were pressed for time in Austin, but managed to stop by my office briefly to pick up the goods. I helped them load up the truck and got a chance to say hi to Zuzu in the process.

Here is Jethro the truck, with Zuzu lying in the shade underneath (she's hard to spot in this photo, but she's there!):



And here's what Jethro looked like after we added my donation pile to the back:



Shay and Shane immediately assembled the donations into 35 hygiene/first aid kits and food bags and then gave them all away at the park and the library. It just amazes me that as quickly as you can donate to their project, they can just as quickly turn around and find someone in need. I was honored to be a small part of their journey this year and hope to do the same if they come back again next year. In the meanwhile, I'm going to put together a couple of care packages of my own each week for the homeless people I encounter on a daily basis.

I didn't get to spend much time with Shay and Shane, as they had to hurry out of Austin for a speaking engagement at a church in Temple that evening, but they left a strong impression on me nonetheless. I've been captivated by their story as they've shared it online, but meeting them and chatting with them in person was even better. They are truly beautiful human beings, full of love and generosity, who literally will give the shirts off their backs if they find someone who needs those shirts more than they do.

I encourage you to visit the Project 50/50 website to read about their journey, and if you are so inclined, please click on the "donate" button at the bottom left of the page to help support their work. Spread the love.