Fumble: Making #WhoDat More than a Hashtag
#1 Thing You Need to Learn from This Post:
The New Orleans Saints have helped stir deep emotions across America with their Super Bowl victory, but the NFL and NOLA charities missed a huge opportunity to engage more people in the rebuilding of New Orleans.
A More Detailed Exploration:
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The #whodat hashtag has become a rally cry on Twitter, just as the expression that inspired it has in real life and elsewhere online. Last night, the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts to cap a fairy tale ending to their inspiring season.
With all the emotional tugs on the post-Katrina journey the city has endured, no one had the presence of mind to focus the empathy and compassion that it created. Sure, the NFL is donating the Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl Champions gear to WorldVision for use in Haiti. But, why not donate a portion of the New Orleans Saints commemorative gear to a handful of worthy NOLA charities?
Or, why didn’t anyone direct viewers to an online destination showcasing the great progress made by NOLA charities with the help of previous donations? Even those of us cheering on the Colts would have been hard pressed not to do something more for these true champions.
Three NOLA Charities Worth Supporting
Since the NFL or any one else didn’t, let me highlight three charities worth supporting as endorsed by Sloane Berrent, aka The Causemopolitan:
St. Bernard Project – As the very deserving CNN hero of the year in 2008, this great organization is rebuilding houses in the St. Bernard Parish. They have amazing outreach programs and are creating tangible good.
Roots of Music – Music education, tutoring, and empowerment for students in low-income schools in New Orleans can make a powerful difference. Music education can lead to high school placement at the top music high school here, which can lead to college scholarships. Founder Derek Tabb was a finalist for 2009 CNN hero of the year.
9th Ward Field of Dreams – Brian Bordainick, the 24-year-old founder, stumbled upon creating this project when his Teach for America assignment in the 9th Ward was at a school still in FEMA trailers years after Katrina with no public fields. This has become quite an inspiring story and their goal is to break ground on March 1 for a football and track facility to be finished by the fifth anniversary of Katrina on August 29, 2010.
Good points, Scotty. Why can’t nonprofits/communities get their act together on things like this? Do they lack resources, experience, vision or all of the above?
It’s interesting because there is one thing that could have transformed the #whodat hashtag and that’s the presence of a major brand. What if Coke, Starbucks or Absolut had gotten behind it? Really. They would have tied their brands to the rallying cry of a nation.
That is everyone except you, Ms. Jen, Mitch and Wood’ock. And I’m convinced giving the latter a signed picture of Jo-Pa would have had him calling you heretics and marching in with the rest of us.