It was a pretty late work evening last week and I was in the middle of trying to knock out a few client deadlines while getting invoices sent out and doing all the things a business owner needs to do to stay afloat.
A friend of mine messaged me on Facebook and asked if I could help support him and another mutual friend of ours on a project they were pursuing. Normally I may have procrastinated responding to such a message until I was not buried with work – but I gave it a quick glance… then I could not pull myself away.
My two friends (both of whom are photographers and videographers) are raising funds to travel to South Africa to create a documentary about Caracal Cats which are sadly being exterminated by local ranchers.
Granted; I know nothing about Caracal Cats. Did not even know they existed, much less were being killed off. So that is not what drew me into their mission.
It was that they both were doing something that mattered to them. Something they considered to be of significant importance. They were not doing this for money or recognition. But to share with the world information that they felt people needed to hear.
As such as developed a Kickstarter page to raise the necessary funds to send them to Africa to create this documentary. If you are not familiar with Kickstarter – it is fantastic. You set a goal for what you need for a project; people sponsor you in a dollar amount of their choice. If you hit the goal you set; everyone is billed the amount they committed to at a pre-set deadline. If you do not hit your goal, no one is billed.
For my friends John and Josh; they set a goal of $5,000 to earn before March 12th. I’ve already pledged my commitment to them. Perhaps you would be interested in doing the same?
Link for information on the Caracal Cat Documentary Project
Whether you chose to pledge or not, I encourage you to take a moment. To put down the regular work. Pause. Think about doing something which you personally feel matters.
Thank you.
James Patrick
www.jamespatrick.com
