S: Is for Stories from the Heart!
Selfishness is a rare quality in this day and age. With the recession forcing people out of their homes, one family joyously gives theirs up for people they don't even know. The Salwen family of Atlanta, Georgia, decided to sell their house and give half the proceeds to charity. This all came about because 15 year old Hannah watched a homeless man who needed a meal while a man who had a fancy car drove by. From that came what the family dubs "Hannah's Lunchbox." It started as family discussions about what was needed versus what was enough. Hannah's father Kevin, an entrepreneur, is on the board of the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity is no stranger to community work, but he said this family conversation was life-changing. "We stopped and paused and thought about what are the things in the world that could really make a difference, a little bit of difference in the world," he said. They talked about selling their cars but it was Hannah's mother, Joan, who came up with selling their 6,500-square-foot house, donating half the proceeds and then moving into a house half the size. For nine years, the family has lived in a historic 1912 mansion near downtown Atlanta. With five bedrooms, eight fireplaces, a kitchen that would make any cook jealous and even an elevator. It was a challenge, giving up the house. "It was a test, almost, to see: How committed are we? I mean, how serious are these kids about what we should do? And they all nodded and there we were." So in May 2007 they put the house up for sale. Then came who would get half the proceeds, which would amount to more than $800,000. 
They spent six months researching charity organizations before deciding on the Hunger Project, an organization dedicated to helping end world hunger through people helping themselves. When the Salwen house sells, the money will be channeled through the Atlanta Community Foundation over a six-year period and end up in Ghana. This will give more than 30 villages to enable people to meet all of their basic needs on a sustainable basis," he said. "They will be able to grow enough food, to build clinics and schools, and the villagers will be doing the lion's share of the work." In the United Stated the average salary is $45,800 in Ghana: $1,400. Hannah and her family's ability to make a difference will make a profound difference in the lives of tens of thousands of people." Hannah's 13-year-old brother, Joseph, was so impressed with his big sister's ideas that he made a three-minute video of the family's project. The video won the grand prize in the 2008 "My Home: The American Dream" contest, sponsored by Coldwell Banker and Scholastic Publishing. Sadly to say the Salwens' house has sat on the market for more than a year. It's a tough time to sell any house, let alone one with an asking price of nearly $1.8 million. The family has kept this quiet until now. "We didn't do it for the fame or the glory," said Joan Salwen. "This was something Hannah sort of yanked us into." The family recently moved to a house less than half the size of their mansion four blocks away. Lately the family has spent a lot of time around the kitchen table talking about an upcoming two-week trip to Ghana. The Salwens will spend six or seven hours a day visiting the villages where their money will be put to work. "We as Americans have so much," said Salwen, a former Wall Street Journal writer. "We love the concept of half. We are going from a house that's 6,000 square feet to a house that's half the size, and we're giving away half the money."And we do think everyone can do something if they think through half."
Generosity comes in the guise of many forms but this is one family we can take a clue from and that is a F.A.C.T.
