The "93 Dollar Club" Story
How a "random act of kindness" turned $93 into $110,000 for the
hungry
On August 11th, 2009, Jenni Ware found herself stranded
at the Menlo Park Trader Joe’s checkout line - her wallet was gone. Her already hectic day had just taken a
turn for the worse. Carolee
Hazard, a complete stranger, approached the distressed Ware and offered to pay
the $207 bill. Jenni gratefully
accepted and promised to repay her.
Once home, Carolee posted on Facebook what had transpired, adding that
she was “vacillating between feeling really good and very, very stupid”. Friends reassured her that she had done
the right thing and good karma was sure to follow.
The next day a check arrived from Jenni for $300, with a
note thanking Carolee for her generosity and trust, and recommending she get a
massage with the extra money. Uncomfortable with keeping the $93 “tip”, Carolee turned to
her Facebook friends and asked what they would do with the money. Several people suggested giving it to
charity, which Carolee decided to do.
Touched by Jenni’s honesty, Carolee matched the $93 and turned to
Facebook for suggestions on where the $186 should go. One person tossed out Second Harvest Food Bank, since the
events had occurred at a grocery store.
Another friend, inspired by the story, matched with $93 of his own
money. So did another. And
another. And another.
Carolee & Jenni reconnected after a week and Jenni
learned that the massage money had become $2,000 through the spontaneous
generosity of Facebook friends.
Jenni then posted the story to her Facebook page, her friends began
making donations as well. The
total donations soon swelled to $10,000.
Children donated 93 cents of their allowance. One single mom, working 20 hours a week while in grad
school, offered $9.30, because she couldn’t afford $93. The media picked up the story and
donations poured in. Many chose to
give $93 to local food banks in Massachusetts, Washington and other states.
In the months since Carolee and
Jenni chance meeting, the 93 Dollar Club has raised over $112,000 to benefit Second Harvest Food
Banks of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Every dollar becomes 2 meals, so the money raised so far
will provide over 224,000 meals. With help from posting and re-posting on Facebook,
the "pay it forward" story has traveled around the globe and
continues to move people to spread goodness and help fight hunger, not only in
Silicon Valley, but around the country and world.
