The Power of Half

By John Ballard

As I was waking up this morning the first story I heard on the radio was a feel-good piece about a local family. The story got my day off to a great start and I knew I would have to get it out in a blog post. This is no longer "breaking news" but the idea deserves wider exposure. This turns out to be an easy post, copy and paste, thanks to their orderly, targeted approach to philanthropy.

It all started when 14-year old Hannah Salwen, idealistic but troubled by a growing sense of injustice in the world, had a eureka moment when a homeless man in her neighborhood was juxtaposed against a glistening Mercedes coupe. "You know, Dad," she said, pointing, "If that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal."

This glaring disparity led the Salwen family of four, caught up like so many other Americans in this age of consumption and waste, to follow Hannah's urge to do something, to finally just do something. And so they embarked on an incredible journey together from which there would be no turning back. They decided to sell their Atlanta mansion, downsize to a house half its size, and give half of their profits to a worthy charity. At first it was an outlandish scheme. "What, are you crazy? No way!" Then it was a challenge. "We are TOTALLY doing this." Each week they met over dinner to discuss their plan. It would transport them across the globe and well out of their comfort zone. Along the way they would inspire so many others wrestling with the same questions: Do I give enough? How much is enough? How can I make an impact in the world? In the end the Salwens' journey would bring them closer as a family, as they discovered, together, that half could be so much more.

Warm, funny, deeply moving and wholly uplifting, The Power of Half is the story of how one family slammed the door on the status quo and threw away the key.

Yes, they have a web page.

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This is from an interview with Kevin Salwen found at the Amazon link.

Q: In these trying economic times, how can we expect people to even think about giving more?

KS: These are difficult times indeed. But The Power of Half is a book of hope and optimism. The American Dream has always been about parents wanting their children to have a better life than they did, but it usually has been measured by social standing and assets. Joan and I wanted a better life for our children too, but our American Dream focused more on their inner selves than on their assets.

The Power of Half tells the story of a family that decided it can make a difference in making the world better--even, to use Hannah's words, if it's a small difference. We love the quote by Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop: "If you think you're too small to make a difference, you've never been in bed with a mosquito." The "secret sauce" for our project is that we did it together and over a sustained period of time, unlike many volunteer or giving actions, in which individuals head in different directions or work together sporadically. That unity brought our family a heightened awareness of one another's perspectives and energized us not only to want to do more work in the world but also to understand one another better.

At this time when people need to cut back on their spending, the time invested in family becomes even more critical. The Power of Half shows how working together builds a stronger family. True happiness comes from community, and family is the most core community we have.

HS: One other thing. Doing a power-of-half project doesn't require a ton of money. We decided to sell our house because it was a sacrifice we felt we could live with. But the power of half works just as well with lower-cost or no-cost "halves." We always explain to people that they can choose the clothes in their closet, the time spent playing video games, or the price of meals eaten out. Readers can choose their own "half"--it's all about the process.

Q: Why did you choose to support Africa instead of a project closer to home?

HS: We spent a year as a family deciding exactly how and where to use our money. It was a process, by the way, in which we kids had exactly the same say as the adults--after all, we were giving up our house too. It was interesting because my brother, Joseph, wasn't exactly excited about this idea from the beginning. He became our family skeptic, and we knew that once we proved something to Joe, we really had it right.

KS: While we had been--and remain--quite active in Atlanta (we volunteer often at the food bank and Central Night Shelter, and I have been on the Atlanta Habitat board for six years), after a series of family votes we decided to do this project in Africa because

• � we view the world as a single community, a place where the luck of where you're born shouldn't be the biggest determining factor in whether you receive help


• there is no safety net in rural Africa--no Head Start, no food stamps--to fill critical gaps


•  we wanted our project to completely solve a problem with a group of people, and since our money goes further in Africa, we learned that we could help entire villages build their futures


• we wanted something exotic, something that would take us out of our comfort zone. It was so helpful for our kids (and for us as parents too) to be "the other" for a little while, to recognize what it feels like to be someone born without the privileges we enjoy.
  

Q: Any other reasons The Power of Half is particularly relevant now?

KS: These times are extraordinary for so many reasons, particularly the competing moods of fear, change, hope, stress. Parents are feeling those emotions even more strongly (and it's even more acute with divorced or single parents). With our senses heightened, so many of us are rethinking our lives. The Power of Half offers readers inspiration and new tools to bring their lives a healthier focus, all wrapped up in an entertaining family tale.