Once upon a time there was a guy named Dom.

Dom needed some stuff, to help make his life a bit better – to help him get around a bit more. Dom asked his friends to help him out.

But Dom wasn’t content to just make his life better. He wanted to make others’ lives better too.

This weekend, Dom and his friends on Twitter raised over $800. Dom is going to get what he needs to make his life better. But he’s also done something remarkable. Of that $800, he’s selflessly given $300 to 12for12k’s May Charity, the Hospice of Peel.

I am truly humbled, grateful, and overwhelmed, that someone could work so hard to bring his community together to help, that the community would in turn come to his aid, and that after all that, he would in turn, do something so selfless to give back.

Thank you Dom – you’re a truly special person. Your community loves you…don’t ever forget that.

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My friend Dominick Evans is a remarkable guy. He’s always first to offer to help out a friend, give advice or make someone smile. He’s kind, generous, sincere, and caring. He’s one of the happiest, most positive people I know. If I’m having a down day, I spend a bit of time chatting with Dom and I always feel better. I consider him a very good friend.

Dom and I have never met face to face – though we came close back in March when I was traveling through Michigan on a road trip. In fact, Dom and I have never even spoken to each other – our entire friendship has been text-based – via Twitter, email and Instant Messaging. People in the offline world often wonder how online friendships can really work. How is it possible that you can become attached to someone you’ve never met in person?

I have a theory about this – I believe that in fact, people become closer to one another more quickly in the online world. Why? Many times, people who are getting to know each other in the physical world rely on one on one interactions. They run through the whole series of typical “get to know you” chatter – what do you do for a living? Do you have kids? What’s your dog’s name? You’re allergic to bees – fascinating! Information is gleaned from each other in small bits and chunks, it’s filtered, and eventually you decide are either good friends or you’re not.

In the online world, things are a bit different. First, it’s not really one on one, at least not to start. Social media is many people talking to many people. Sure, conversations branch off, but what you’re seeing is not only how a particular person acts with you, but how they are with everyone. All at once! Not only that, but you are able to cut through the get to know you stuff pretty quickly. I can go to someone’s blog or Twitter feed and get a pretty good idea who they are, what they do, and sometimes I can even find out if they’re allergic to bees. So, with the “get to know you” bits out of the way, I can start to delve into the real meat of getting to know someone. I can learn quickly what drives them, what kind of values they have, what their passion is. They do the same with me. And the friendship becomes much closer, much faster.

Dominick has Muscular Dystrophy and is in a wheelchair. He is not out to make people feel sorry for him – far from it. Dom absolutely does not let his MD hold him back. He’s an aspiring filmmaker, a devoted parent and partner, a fantastic writer, and he accomplishes more in a day than many of us do in a week. But, there’s an issue. In order for Dom to get in and out of his bed, he needs a special machine called a Hoyer Lift. The one he has is falling apart and it’s frankly become dangerous for him to use. As a result, he isn’t able to get up out of bed that often right now.

A Hoyer Lift costs around $800 US. That’s good chunk of money when you’re trying to work to support a child and a household like Dom does. There are no government subsidies to cover the cost either. So Dom is reaching out to his community – holding a Tweetathon this weekend to raise that $800 so he can get the lift he needs. There are prizes to be given away and everything!

But there’s more. Dominick and his partner Ashtyn have decided that just getting Dom’s lift isn’t enough. They have also decided to help out 12for12k’s May Charity, the Hospice of Peel, by donating 15% of all the money they make to 12for12k. Who just got goosebumps? I did. You see, here’s the thing about Dom. He’s not just trying to improve his own quality of life. He’s trying to improve everyone’s quality of life. He isn’t just thinking of himself and the fact that he’s in a wheelchair – he’s thinking of the greater good. And for that reason, if nothing else, I think you should dig in your pockets as far as you can afford to today and give Dom his lift.

Thank you.

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Check out this video from Amber MacArthur – yet another reason to get behind 12for12k – for the price of a couple of lattes, you too can get involved! www.12for12k.org

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OK.

I am so NOT a video post kind of person. (Ironic, considering I work in video). But today, I just felt that I wasn’t able to say what I needed to say in text. So here you go. I hope it’s clear.

Making a Difference from Sue Murphy on Vimeo.

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CityNews in Toronto did a great story on the 12for12k project last night, featuring none other than creator Danny Brown – check it out here, and don’t forget to head on over to 12for12k.org to get involved!

CityNews Online 12for12k story

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Once in a while, someone comes along with an absolutely outstanding idea.

Today, that someone was Danny Brown.

For those of you who don’t know him, Danny is the owner of Press Release PR, a PR consultancy specializing in social media. I’ve gotten to know Danny pretty well over the past several months (although we’ve never met in person!), and we were even co-conspirators on this blog post for David Henderson a couple of months back.

His idea is called “The 12 for 12,000 Challenge in 2009″. The basic idea of Danny’s genius concept is this; if he can find 1200 people to give just $10 a month to one charity a month for 12 months, then $144,000 can be raised. It’s so simple, but I think it could just work – and then some.

The plan is to use the power of social media to spread the word to as many people as possible, and get them all to jump on board and commit to giving their $10 a month for the year. And, as he says on his blog:

The beauty of this challenge is that the decision is entirely down to you and how you participate. If you feel that a particular charity doesn’t fit you, simple – don’t donate that month. (If you wish to donate double to a preferred featured charity, that’s entirely up to you again).

So really, it’s a win win situation. You get to give in the way that best suits you, and 12 terrific charities benefit.

It’s the strength in numbers concept at work here that is really the brilliant part. Imagine if each person in your Twitter network signed up. Then each person in THEIR Twitter network signed up, and so on. The results could be astronomical!

For the full rundown, go to Danny’s blog post “The 12 for 12,000 Challenge in 2009″ and learn how you can get involved. I’ll keep you posted on the latest here too.

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