Something awful happened two weeks ago. Jennifer Perillo, a well-loved and highly-respected member of our community, lost her husband Mikey in a split-second when he died of a heart attack. As the news about Mikey spread throughout the community, Jennie’s closest friends received hundreds of calls, e-mails and direct messages on Twitter asking what to do. No one knew how to help, who was organizing or where to find information. We all felt helpless.
In the days following Mikey’s death, as we grieved for Jennie and her two daughters, ages 3 and 8, we all scrambled frantically to answer the question: “What can we do for Jennie?” We were too stunned by this tragedy to think clearly and organize ourselves. Ironically it was Jennie who filled that void. She gave us a way to show our love and support for her and the girls. She asked us to honor her husband by making his favorite: peanut butter pie.
And thousands did. It made the front page of CNN.com and Food Network. Submissions were flooding in so quickly that Tastespotting and Foodgawker dedicated entire pages to Mikey’s Peanut Butter Pie. In a show of support, the restaurant Blue Smoke in New York City put Mikey’s Peanut Butter Pie on their menu for two weeks. And Todd and Diane, in their inimitable way, made a beautiful video that made this a movement. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of blog posts. Our Twitter streams were filled with pictures of that gorgeous pie accompanied by heart-felt words of love and support for Jennie and her girls. It was astounding.
Chef John from Food Wishes said it best: “If there’s a stronger, more generous & caring online community than food bloggers, I don’t know what it would be.”
Wow, we sure proved that, didn’t we?
We’ve long known that a community this generous needs its own non-profit, this launch has been months in the making. So as Jennie’s friends start #afundforjennie, we are simultaneously launching Bloggers without Borders, this charity that will galvanize our fundraising efforts for bloggers, their readers and people around the world when opportunity arises. We need this.
Much more information to follow here. For now, let’s focus our efforts on #afundforjennie.
Yours for Good,
Maggy and Erika
9 Responses to We Are Bloggers without Borders
Leave a Reply
Follow Bloggers without Borders
The food blogging community is so wonderful. Thanks for organizing this.
Shauna of Gluten Free Girl is auctioning off a dinner in your home for six made by her and Danny (and many other bloggers are doing auctions as well). This is part of what I commented to her appeal for donations and auction bids:
I wish so much I could bid! But financially that is impossible right now. I can’t donate a large sum, but I donated what I could right now. It is true that every little bit counts. If a thousand people gave 25, that would be $25,000!! I think it is more powerful when we of the working class come together and use our strength in numbers than if a single rich donor wrote a large check (of course both would be nice! ^.^). Many people giving what little they can also reflects the value and beauty of “gathering” that you wrote so eloquently about last post!
There is a great book that really altered my thinking on where the power lies when it comes to money and community, called Bridging the Class Divide. The power of the blogging community is like this I think – beautiful, organic, passionate and about the things that directly impact our daily lives, families, and homes.
I lost nine friends and family in 2010 and early 2011. It was horrifying. Unreal. Shattering. I don’t think the pain ever quite goes away. It was tempting to make my life smaller, to hunker down, to endure. And I did for awhile. But I think the key to surviving is to make my life _larger_. An analogy I once heard was: when my heart is small being pierced by toothpicks will feel like trees punching through my heart, but if I expand my heart to the size of the universe then trees will feel like toothpicks. It isn’t easy. It’s incredibly difficult and takes moment to moment focus and discipline and a profound dedication to self-care. And lots of sleep. And lots of food. And lots of love from a community like this one. Reading your blog, not just the cooking but the heart, was part of what helped me during that time.
————————
Thank you so much for setting up this organization and helping Jennie and her family. I am truly touched by these beautiful acts of compassion. Sending much love,
Yuri
What a wonderful idea!
http://www.simplysweeter.blogspot.com
This is a great idea. I’ve linked to you in my blog.
http://www.bloggerswoborders.org/2011/08/project-summary-a-fund-for-jennie/
I couldn’t get the HTML for your badge or I would post it on my blog. Maybe you could send it to me. For whatever reason, I couldn’t get it to display. Who knows why?
I’ve had an idea about auctioning some of my completed quilts to raise money at various times. This will give me a way to do that. Thanks for coming up with a wonderful idea.
I am so impressed and blown away by this movement – hats off to such an amazing and caring community of like minded people. I am very very inspired tonight – thank you. I will make a contribution.
Condolences to Jennie.
When Jennnie is ready, there is a great support foundation called the Soaring Spirits Loss Foundation. It was started by a blogger that lost her husband suddenly and tragically when he was hit by a car. They have a great web site and a wonderful program that helps widows/widowers. Check out their website
Thank you for organizing this. What a tremendous idea.
I was so moved by Jennie’s loss. This is a fabulous idea. You can count this knit blogger in.