The following is an email I received at work. I know none of you know this guy, but take it from me, he is an incredible person. He is one of the reasons that make Rackspace a great place to work. If you can spare a few bucks, this is a great cause.
-- Ed Leafe Begin forwarded message: > From: Alex Darke <[email protected]> > Subject: [rackerlgbtq] 13 years / Be the Difference > Date: July 29, 2014 at 10:35:41 AM PDT > To: <[email protected]> > Reply-To: <[email protected]> > X-Originating-Ip: [10.12.227.232] > > 13 years ago today, I packed up a week's worth of clothing, a laptop, and a > handful of books and came to San Antonio, TX. > > That was, pretty literally, everything I owned at that point. The start up I > had been working for, just trying to hang on "one more day for the big pay > out", had bankrupted me and brought me to a point of debt that was beyond > crippling. I couldn't even afford to get here from Boston. It was a humbling > and humiliating experience to have to say to Charles: "I can barely afford > ramen and tomato soup to eat, much less a bus ticket. So if you want me... > well..." > > They didn't bat an eye. One week later, I started my first day at Rackspace > on August 5th, 2001. The life I have today seems like a dream compared to > where I once was and I don't kid myself: I have it because someone was > willing to take a chance on me. At the hardest and darkest parts of my life, > there was always SOMEONE. From the very beginning, when I was a homeless > teenager and a manager at a local Burger King hired me despite the fact I > couldn't give a street address... everything I have today can be traced back > to "Someone" taking that chance and holding out their hand rather than > turning away. > > In June of next year, I'll be going back to California to ride 545 miles by > bicycle, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, over 7 days. I'm doing this to > fund raise on behalf of HIV/AIDS organizations. The reason that I am going > back, and will continue to go back, is quite simple: HIV/AIDS is not done, so > neither am I. I've seen first hand the very real and tangible good that the > fund raising I do translates into. I'm riding again because when *I* needed > it, there was always someone there. How could I NOT help pay that back? And > so, that brings me to the request part of this email. > > In honor of my 13th year at Rackspace, standing on the front lines of support > for that entire time, I'd like to ask you to consider donating $1 for every > year I've been with the company. $13 is not a lot. It's a lunch bill. You may > wonder how much of a difference that can make. However, if every person at > Rackspace were to donate that lunch bill to my ride, I'd sweep past my fund > raising goal three times over and we would have raised enough to underwrite > the cost of a medical team for 2 months for 300 patients or the salary of a > counselor who can see 40 clients a year. > > For taking a moment to donate the cost of your lunch to me, we can, together, > be that someone. Someone who made a difference. Who turned someone else's > life around at a time when they needed it the most. Someone who mattered when > it really counted. > > Part of the challenge of this for me is getting this email in front of the > eyes of as many people as I can. I can't spam ALLSTAFF, after all. :) So if > you feel comfortable sharing with your teams, friends, family members? Please > do. $13 is not a lot, but a lot of $13 can make a world of difference and > change lives. > > http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/alexdarke > > Thanks for your time, your consideration, for reading to the end, and most of > all... for taking a chance on me 13 years ago and helping me to have the life > I have today. From the home I own to the man I married... Rackspace has had a > fundamental and profound impact in my life and where it has ended up. I could > not be more grateful for that fact. > > Alex "Wall of Text" Darke --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/signed text/plain (text body -- kept) application/pgp-signature --- _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://mail.leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://mail.leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
