Day 59 (The 11th Hour)

Hello folks. I've a bit of grim news today. Try as I might, with a large existing social media network and everything, I still can't drum up the same buzz that the first version of The Benevolent Beard got. Maybe it is because you guys aren't down with WINGS, or because Invisible Children and Doctors Without Borders are that much sexier, or maybe it is just because you needed more of a choice than just donating to a single charity.

Or maybe, times have changed since 2009, and this isn't exciting anymore. Maybe there are hundreds of other non-profits using exciting, viral methods to raise funds. Or maybe you really would rather have that latte than donate $3.

Whatever the case is, we have about 36 hours till The Beard is done for good. We are still $300 from March's goal, so it would take a Herculean effort to pass it up, but if you have it in you, I say "GO FOR IT!"

This really isn't about The Beard. It isn't. I am actually quite excited of the thought of shaving it off tomorrow, because I think I look better without it. This is about a group of people doing a little something that can make a HUGE change in the lives of people that don't have it as well as you. It's about having just 7% of my social media fans and followers donate $3 to change the life of someone they don't know, and in turn work to changing an entire country that they might have never been to.

Look, Guatemala has the world's 3rd highest rate of chronic malnutrition in children under 5 years old. 50% of kids here are malnourished to the point of stunted growth. That is more than anywhere in Africa - behind only Afghanistan and Yemen. Guatemala has the highest fertility rate in Latin America, around 4 children per woman, which doesn't even show the women that live in rural areas, which average 8 kids per woman in certain communities. What happens to all over those kids? They perpetuate the poverty in Central America. They don't eat well, they don't get educated, they perpetuate the cycle in the next generation and keep an entire country from blossoming.

So the money from The Beard, which has raised $700 so far, goes directly to educating these people on how to make better life decisions, and giving them the access to resources to do so. WINGS works with men, women, and even children to make sure that they are at least armed with the knowledge to help pull them out of poverty.

So again, I can't put up this fight every month, begging people to donate to a good cause. The purpose of this project, from the onset, was to have people take a second to think about the change they CAN make with just a tiny bit of effort. That's all.

And a huge thank you to those of you that have donated at any point to the Beard. It has definitely been an interesting experience.

One love!

To donate, CLICK HERE and put The Benevolent Beard as the honoree.