The power of a blog

NOTE: I’m not asking anyone to donate to these charity drives, I’m just showing how a blog can help do something great, and can become more than just a blog.
When I started this blog I started with the intent of simply having a place to post my thoughts and ideas about Paladins and WoW in general. I don’t keep to a schedule, as it’s difficult to come up with meaningful posts five days a week, and I don’t really like filler screenshot posts. I have a few subscribers, but for the most part I am simply one blog among the many – and I rejoice every time I get a comment or see one of my posts cross linked.

So where’s the power? It’s not here yet, but a man I admire (and truly respect) has taken a similar intention, and over five years has turned it into something powerful.
Some years ago, Elden started a blog about being a Fat Cyclist. It was a place for him to talk about his life, his kids, and his love of cycling. When his wife developed breast cancer, it continued to be an outlet for him – and it allowed him to reach a huge cycling community. Even though Susan has passed on, Elden keeps the blog going, and continues to raise money for Livestrong and other charities.

Now I don’t know how much money he’s raised overall, but in 2009 his Livestrong team raised over $800,000 to fight cancer. He’s currently working with Johan Bruyneel (famous cyclist, leader of the Radio Shack team where Lance is currently riding) on a fund raiser for both Livestrong and World Bicycle Relief (helps kids in Africa by giving them bicycles to ride to school).

Here’s the amazing part

Having started this drive on Friday, Elden and Team Fatty have already raised $45,000 (as of 8 AM Mountain Time) for these two programs, and have 4 more days left in their fundraising drive. This all coming from what was intended to be a joke letter to Johan, and Johan tossing down a challenge.

This all started from one mans quest to help his wife fight cancer, and his desire to reach out to the world and share his life. If you’re interested in reading the original letter you can find it here, and here is the link to the charity drive challenge.

Edit: I haven’t even posted this and the raised amount is already close to $60,000. I can’t believe the generosity of some folks. It’s a shame that Euripedes from Critical QQ didn’t run into any of these people during his bus trip. He might have saved himself a few hours in the cold.