Dear Hive:
Today is my 55th birthday so I ask for your indulgence by reading all the way through.
I was recently asked by a friend what’s the mission of BUZZ.
Well, I answered, to produce a TV show that highlights and helps nonprofits.
That’s the “what,” he replied. But what is the “why?”
Why, indeed?
To help nonprofits do more and better? Sure.
So that the lives of more people and more communities are enhanced? Yep.
Selfishly, to create something meaningful and be my own boss? Absolutely.
But the more I contemplate this question, the more I think the answer revolves around promoting a worldview in which we value “profit” not by how much noise or fame or power or influence or money we generate, but how much good we do.
In their purest forms, nonprofits are the best expressions of this. They shelter the homeless, heal the uninsured, rebuild communities hit by disaster or poverty, teach kids to dance and paint and sing, rescue abused animals, re-home immigrants and resettle refugees, promote local business, help adults with disabilities and veterans with PTSD, preserve history and culture, care for nature, and on and on and on.
Sure, the folks working for them deservedly earn a paycheck, but that’s part and parcel of living in this world we’ve constructed. Just like it costs money to create each episode of BUZZ ($2500-$10,000).
But the motivation behind this work isn’t the scale of your wallet but the size of your heart.
So today I invite you to journey more deeply into this worldview. Do something more for that nonprofit you care about, and reply here with the name of the org.
Or let me know which of these nonprofits that have recently reached out to me deserves some buzz:
- 3 Balloons
- Renaissance Music Academy
- Camp Easterseals
- EnCircle
- Friends of Washington Park
- Camp Bethel
- She Leads Tomorrow
- Renovation Alliance
And if you’re inspired, donate to my work so we can bring them to the screen.
A scripture passage increasingly dear to me comes from the Gospel of John: “We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.”
It’s still daylight, friends. There’s a lot of goodness in the world, but a lot of work to be done as well.
Let’s get buzzing!
Michael Hemphill
BUZZ Creator
