Let's get a laptop in the hand of every K-12 student in Indiana. They're doing it in Ethiopia, Borneo and Haiti

I donated $400 to the One Laptop per Child Initiative on New Year’s Eve last year. It was the last day to participate in the “Buy One Give One Program.” I donated to this 501(c)(3) rather than purchasing a new Dell Laptop because it did my soul good to know a child in Afghanistan would receive a laptop with meshed networking capabilities.

I slowly became disillusioned with the project because I never received an email with a projected ship date. Toward the end of February, I sent an email to the foundation outlining my disappointment in their silence. Open lines of communication between any not-for-profit and its donor base is vital. Donors will forgive mistakes and errors, but not silence or cover-ups.

When I received my laptop on March 28, 2008, I fell in love again with the, “get a laptop in the hands of EVERY child” mission, and all was forgiven. I was thrilled to discover John Blue from Truffle Media also participated in Buy One Give One and he showed me how they mesh. I proudly carry mine and show it off whenever I can!

I share this story today because I received an email “thank you note” on Nov. 16th that I wanted to share. Viral marketers should be taking notes on this one:

...“Thanks to your donation, tens of thousands of children in the emerging world are now learning with their XO laptops. They are recording their own stories, and discovering new ways to create and explore. Soon this new generation will emerge with the power to change the world.
On November 17th, this year's Give One, Get One campaign will launch. You can help make it another success.”....

http://www.laptop.org/
http://support.laptop.org
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/G1G1_2008

There is an incredible Flickr site documenting the mission’s progress and I encourage everyone to check it out.

I voted for you, Mitch my man, and I want to know why students in Indiana don’t have one of these? If you want to keep our state competitive globally, you need to get laptops in the hands of every K-12 Hoosier. It is easier than you think; just ask me!

If you join the discussion here, I will print the entire dialog and promise to get the message to Mitch.

Don't go to this site unless you have 20 minutes to poke around.

Be sure to hit the FAQ Section. Very funny. A lot of creativity mixed with hard work.
When I encounter random "user-generated" brilliance on the Internet, I feel good about our future on earth. You don't ever see dolphins coming up with this stuff =)

When we start taking ourselves too seriously, we always get ourselves into trouble. Voltaire said, God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.


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