Alyssa Milano & Milo Make A Difference For Children At St. Jude

Alyssa Milano would like to raise $50,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in honor of her son Milo’s first birthday. I often joke with Richard that I don’t know if anyone actually reads the text we write here on Bit Rebels. I know how it is…We scan the Internet looking for shareable content, but many times we don’t actually read through it completely. If you choose to read one article in its entirety today, please, let it be this one. C’mon…I don’t ask for much. I’d hug you for it if I could.

When I first heard about this, it reminded me of something I want to bring to your attention. Several months ago, Forbes published a very thought-provoking article which still lingers in the back of my mind. It was called 2012 Time “Person” Of The Year Prediction: The Slacktivist. It was an article about the rise of the slacktivist, which is a combination of the words “activist” and “slacker.” It’s how the majority of us in social media can be described, and I realized after reading that article that I’ve been a giant slacktivist myself.

If you are a slacktivist, it means you will retweet tweets about good causes, you will encourage people in social media to sign petitions, you might put a ribbon on your avatar in support of a cause and leave a message on Facebook about it; however, you won’t actually get involved. In other words, slacktivists only participate in a very minimal way, which doesn’t require much effort.

Alyssa Milano has been a friend of ours here on Bit Rebels for a long time. I first got to know her on Twitter back in 2009. Back then, most celebrities didn’t interact with their followers, but Alyssa was different. She was a trailblazer in that sense, and she allowed me to interview her for a 2009 article about how she uses Twitter. In my opinion, she is the celebrity who showed all the others how Twitter can be used to connect with fans. I remember when she did a fundraiser for Charity Water a few years ago. I tweeted about it and told a few people about it, but I didn’t actually get involved. I was being a slacktivist.

This time around, I’m getting involved. According to their website, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital‘s mission is to “find cures for children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases through research and treatment. And no family pays St. Jude for anything.” You can read the whole touching story about why Alyssa chose to do this on indiegogo. She writes, “For Milo’s first birthday, all I wish is that St. Jude can continue to provide this invaluable service for children…and for their parents who, without a doubt, would do absolutely anything for them.”

What you may not realize is that it takes less than 2 minutes to donate one dollar (or more) to this wonderful cause. Not only will you get that warm fuzzy feeling because you will have done your good deed for the day, but you will also be changing a child’s life for the better. If you are a recovering slacktivist like me, this will go a long way in your attempt to make a difference. If you have happy and healthy children at home, do it in their honor. Do it for your family and say a little prayer of gratitude because so many people don’t have a family in their lives. This is our chance to all come together and help those who are less fortunate. Let’s show people who doubt the power of social media what it’s really all about and what we can all achieve when we work together. We can do this!

But this is the thing…Her goal is $50,000, there are only 5 days left, and at the time I’m writing this, she’s $27,674 short. If we all add one dollar today, she would be able to meet this goal for sure. So, if you can, click on the link below and contribute a dollar (or more). Again, if I were there with you, I’d give you a great big hug to THANK YOU for your kindness and generosity!! XOXOXO