Project 50/50: Girl on a Mission to Help Recession Victims
Posted: Friday, May 07, 2010
by Jennifer Stewart
Stepping out of History
Some people are born to make something out of nothing. Shay Kelley is one of them. First she lost her job in marketing, then her home, then her car.
That was enough to provoke a saint. Kelly took herself into the woods and had a temper tantrum at God. Furious, she shouted at him that she didn't understand why it had all happened to her, why she should end up with nothing, and that she didn't know what she was supposed to do now. She told him he'd better give her some idea of her purpose.
She promised that if he did, she would work like crazy to fulfill it.
Pretty soon she had an inspired idea to travel around the US for fifty weeks one state a week collecting canned food for homeless people, and documenting her journey, photographing the people she met, the places she visited. She decided to dub her project 50/50.
Once you have a plan, it's easy. Kelly waitressed to save up enough money to buy Bubba, a 1988 pick-up, and set off on her journey with her dog Zu Zu and her camera. You can follow the project on Facebook, where Kelley describes her mission as being to alleviate the harm done by homelessness and hunger in the US caused by the recession. She wants to encourage people to be compassionate towards those less fortunate than they.
A devout Christian, Kelly believes that God showed her the way, and that he will do the same for anybody who asks. She wants victims of the recession to remember that God hasn't forgotten them, and hopes that the example of her life will inspire them not to give up on themselves or on God.
Kelly has some remarkable stories to tell, including reuniting a South Carolina mother with her son who was living on the streets of Santa Cruz. She says that some of the most generous people she's met have been the homeless. People who know what it's like to have nothing.
That was enough to provoke a saint. Kelly took herself into the woods and had a temper tantrum at God. Furious, she shouted at him that she didn't understand why it had all happened to her, why she should end up with nothing, and that she didn't know what she was supposed to do now. She told him he'd better give her some idea of her purpose.
Pretty soon she had an inspired idea to travel around the US for fifty weeks one state a week collecting canned food for homeless people, and documenting her journey, photographing the people she met, the places she visited. She decided to dub her project 50/50.
Once you have a plan, it's easy. Kelly waitressed to save up enough money to buy Bubba, a 1988 pick-up, and set off on her journey with her dog Zu Zu and her camera. You can follow the project on Facebook, where Kelley describes her mission as being to alleviate the harm done by homelessness and hunger in the US caused by the recession. She wants to encourage people to be compassionate towards those less fortunate than they.
A devout Christian, Kelly believes that God showed her the way, and that he will do the same for anybody who asks. She wants victims of the recession to remember that God hasn't forgotten them, and hopes that the example of her life will inspire them not to give up on themselves or on God.
Kelly has some remarkable stories to tell, including reuniting a South Carolina mother with her son who was living on the streets of Santa Cruz. She says that some of the most generous people she's met have been the homeless. People who know what it's like to have nothing.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Jennifer,
Thank you so much for bringing this story to light! What an inspiration this woman is. We are all victims of this recession in one way or another, but we all have the capacity for bigger and better within us. Sometimes it takes something like the recession to shake us up to a new realization of possibilities. To wake us up to expand our horizons, and maybe try something we had no idea of before.I believe you're right, Kim. The new is often scary, but contains much more for us than we realize until we shoved into it!
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