7 ms·

Tell HN: Thank You

476 points by atdrummond 4y ago

On Christmas Eve I made a post trying to ensure that all of our fellow users were at the very least safe and fed over the holiday weekend. Thanks to your help, I was able to distribute to over 40 people/families nearly $8000 worth of food, hotels and cash. I will try to ensure we do this type of thing more often; while I was surprised by the level of need in the community, I was even more impressed by the desire to help fix it. Thank you everyone.

trollied 4y ago
No, thank YOU. Amazing.
sillysaurusx 4y ago
The post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34122118 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34122118
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
zohvek 4y ago
Thats fantastic. Thank you atdrummond.
carabiner 4y ago
Who are you?
- atdrummond 4y ago
  Nobody - but I think anyone has the capacity to make another person's day a little bit better.
  - edoceo 4y ago
    Nah, you Somebody now. Inspiring.
  - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
    I find it incredible that you even put a phone number on your HN profile. Wow.
    - vertis 4y ago
      Not the OP, but it can go both ways I guess. I believe in being contactable and subscribe the the patio11 approach. If you email me as a human, I'm going to read it and if I don't reply it's probably because something interrupted me while I was reading it so email again. I'm happy to be challenged on anything I say and own it when I'm wrong, so see no need to be anonymous.
  - keybored 4y ago
    #humble
sourcecodeplz 4y ago
Well done giant. I followed your thread and was impressed also by how many others also offered their assistance. Very happy to be part of this community.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
photoGrant 4y ago
I'd be happy to contribute to something yearly in order to help during the holidays, this community means a lot to me despite knowing mostly no-one and having made no real connections over the years. But you've all helped me grow and learn significantly.
- tailspin2019 4y ago
  The Hacker News Holiday Fund
syuil 4y ago
I just checked out that post. Amazing. The world needs more people like you.
NickC25 4y ago
Incredibly commendable and a genuine show of humanity in times when one can look around the world and see a complete lack of it. Well done, you're a top individual. Wish the world had more people like you.
oars 4y ago
In my mind, I have an image that the median HN user works at a startup or FAANG company, getting paid a generous salary and living comfortably enough to not need to worry about these basic needs. Thank you for highlighting that there are others out there who down on their luck (to put it mildly), with many things out of control. For example, the user who posted from Ukraine really struck a chord with me. Who would've thought last Christmas that this one would be so different for Ukrainians? What you have done is amazing. HN is truly a fantastic community. I wish everyone a wonderful and happy holidays.
bloopernova 4y ago
I feel bad that my immediate thought wasn't "what a wonderful gesture" but instead was "how many of those in need were scammers?" It's weird to me that I like to think of myself as a positive person but come up with that sort of thing.
- atdrummond 4y ago
  Most people frankly went out of their way to assuage that concern with their initial e-mail to me. And even if one or two wasn't 100% legitimate... I'm OK with that "hit rate". Helping those truly in need makes those necessary mistakes worth it.
  - bloopernova 4y ago
    That's good to hear, thank you. Thing is, I'm totally OK with some "inefficiency" in public programmes like healthcare or food security. And thank you for being a good person and doing something when most people just wish that someone else would take care of it.
- epicureanideal 4y ago
  Maybe it would be useful to have some kind of organization where people down on their luck but truly through no major fault of their own could anonymously register and receive some assistance. I think more people would be more generous if they didn’t think it was largely going to scammers. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t help everyone, just saying that it would be probably much easier to get more support for this.
- keybored 4y ago
  If a person was out to scam people by looking for handouts that they don’t need, the last place they would be prowling would probably be a message board for individualist tech entrepeneurs and wage worker technologists who don’t believe that it’s possible to make less than 80K USD as a programmer (stereotypes).
- vertis 4y ago
  A while back I spent some time working with homelessness charities in Australia as part of a corporate sponsorship. It was, to say the least, enlightening. Australia has a very robust framework for dealing with homelessness and so a much deeper understanding than a lot of countries. I used to have this perception that you had to be on drugs, etc to end up homeless and it's just not true. There is such a broad set of circumstances that can lead to homelessness and for women in particular the leading cause is domestic violence. But not having a support network around you (or if you have some then it's couchsurfing, which is a form of homelessness), is very easy. Plenty of people don't have strong support networks to fall back on. Scammers exist, but we can't let that stop us from helping the many many people that need support (even more with the cost of living crisis).
Kelamir 4y ago
Thank you too! With the war in my country, we're barely meeting ends, and couldn't prepare for Christmas. I wasn't sure about asking for help, but we've been struggling for a while, and even the holidays weren't looking to be any cheer for us. Although I doubted that we deserved it - there are many people who have it much worse, forced out of their houses, - I still reached out. I don't know if it's right of me to do so, but I surely am glad to see my family having better holidays. I feel depressed about life, following news, and the world feels ever more grim. Just two days ago I found out that a developer of one of my favorite games "Stalker Clear Sky", died in Bakhmut, fighting on the front lines... And there are suicide drones and rockets flying by my location occasionally. We have regular electricity shutdowns. But this helps. We've bought Christmas presents for my brother, got food to last the days, and we'll have a good celebration for New Year, what with a cake, meat and other foods of value. It's a kindness that makes me feel better about the world and people out there. Thanks :))
- vertis 4y ago
  We don't talk about it much on HN but I for one follow very closely and have given several thousand euros over the past year. This is not to pump myself up (it's the least I could do), but rather because you need to know that Ukraine isn't alone. Stay strong.
  - Kelamir 4y ago
    Thank you, vertis :)
  - atdrummond 4y ago
    Thank you for this.
  - leandot 4y ago
    Same here, and I know others who do the same, you're not alone! Stay strong!
    - Kelamir 4y ago
moralestapia 4y ago
It was a very nice gesture, thank you for this!
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ghiculescu 4y ago
Did you cover the $8000 yourself? I would contribute to that.
- atdrummond 4y ago
  I covered the majority. One person sent me a decent sum; I’ll share their name once they tell me it is OK to do so. Feel free to email me if you want to. I have some requests for help trickling in still and probably have it under control but I won’t say no to assistance.
  - vertis 4y ago
    I sent you a message on keybase. Happy to contribute as well.
    - atdrummond 4y ago
      Sent you an email - I am locked out of my KeyBase for 5 days for doing an account reset.
  - ghiculescu 4y ago
    I sent OP $1000 Sharing this here in the hope it inspires others who have the means to do the same.
    - vertis 4y ago
      As did I.
joshxyz 4y ago
Hi, I just wanna confirm this guy is for real. Sent him a lengthy email about my situation a while ago and he immediately responded. Thank you very much @atdrummond, I'll share these blessings with the people here. Happy holidays everyone!
nothrowaways 4y ago
Awesome, that's thoughtful. Much more impactful.
orsenthil 4y ago
Thank you to HN friends for keeping me entertained and motivated. Thank you.
40amxn40 4y ago
[dead]
darawk 4y ago
Where was the original thread on this? I'm not sure how I missed it. Would have been (and still am) happy to contribute.

Tell HN: Thank You

476 points by atdrummond 4y ago

trollied 4y ago

No, thank YOU. Amazing.

sillysaurusx 4y ago

The post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34122118 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34122118

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

zohvek 4y ago

Thats fantastic. Thank you atdrummond.

carabiner 4y ago

Who are you?

atdrummond 4y ago
Nobody - but I think anyone has the capacity to make another person's day a little bit better.
- edoceo 4y ago
  Nah, you Somebody now. Inspiring.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
  I find it incredible that you even put a phone number on your HN profile. Wow.
  - vertis 4y ago
    Not the OP, but it can go both ways I guess. I believe in being contactable and subscribe the the patio11 approach. If you email me as a human, I'm going to read it and if I don't reply it's probably because something interrupted me while I was reading it so email again. I'm happy to be challenged on anything I say and own it when I'm wrong, so see no need to be anonymous.
- keybored 4y ago
  #humble

sourcecodeplz 4y ago

Well done giant. I followed your thread and was impressed also by how many others also offered their assistance. Very happy to be part of this community.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

photoGrant 4y ago

I'd be happy to contribute to something yearly in order to help during the holidays, this community means a lot to me despite knowing mostly no-one and having made no real connections over the years. But you've all helped me grow and learn significantly.

tailspin2019 4y ago
The Hacker News Holiday Fund

syuil 4y ago

I just checked out that post. Amazing. The world needs more people like you.

NickC25 4y ago

Incredibly commendable and a genuine show of humanity in times when one can look around the world and see a complete lack of it. Well done, you're a top individual. Wish the world had more people like you.

oars 4y ago

In my mind, I have an image that the median HN user works at a startup or FAANG company, getting paid a generous salary and living comfortably enough to not need to worry about these basic needs. Thank you for highlighting that there are others out there who down on their luck (to put it mildly), with many things out of control. For example, the user who posted from Ukraine really struck a chord with me. Who would've thought last Christmas that this one would be so different for Ukrainians? What you have done is amazing. HN is truly a fantastic community. I wish everyone a wonderful and happy holidays.

bloopernova 4y ago

I feel bad that my immediate thought wasn't "what a wonderful gesture" but instead was "how many of those in need were scammers?" It's weird to me that I like to think of myself as a positive person but come up with that sort of thing.

atdrummond 4y ago
Most people frankly went out of their way to assuage that concern with their initial e-mail to me. And even if one or two wasn't 100% legitimate... I'm OK with that "hit rate". Helping those truly in need makes those necessary mistakes worth it.
- bloopernova 4y ago
  That's good to hear, thank you. Thing is, I'm totally OK with some "inefficiency" in public programmes like healthcare or food security. And thank you for being a good person and doing something when most people just wish that someone else would take care of it.
epicureanideal 4y ago
Maybe it would be useful to have some kind of organization where people down on their luck but truly through no major fault of their own could anonymously register and receive some assistance. I think more people would be more generous if they didn’t think it was largely going to scammers. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t help everyone, just saying that it would be probably much easier to get more support for this.
keybored 4y ago
If a person was out to scam people by looking for handouts that they don’t need, the last place they would be prowling would probably be a message board for individualist tech entrepeneurs and wage worker technologists who don’t believe that it’s possible to make less than 80K USD as a programmer (stereotypes).
vertis 4y ago
A while back I spent some time working with homelessness charities in Australia as part of a corporate sponsorship. It was, to say the least, enlightening. Australia has a very robust framework for dealing with homelessness and so a much deeper understanding than a lot of countries. I used to have this perception that you had to be on drugs, etc to end up homeless and it's just not true. There is such a broad set of circumstances that can lead to homelessness and for women in particular the leading cause is domestic violence. But not having a support network around you (or if you have some then it's couchsurfing, which is a form of homelessness), is very easy. Plenty of people don't have strong support networks to fall back on. Scammers exist, but we can't let that stop us from helping the many many people that need support (even more with the cost of living crisis).

Kelamir 4y ago

Thank you too! With the war in my country, we're barely meeting ends, and couldn't prepare for Christmas. I wasn't sure about asking for help, but we've been struggling for a while, and even the holidays weren't looking to be any cheer for us. Although I doubted that we deserved it - there are many people who have it much worse, forced out of their houses, - I still reached out. I don't know if it's right of me to do so, but I surely am glad to see my family having better holidays. I feel depressed about life, following news, and the world feels ever more grim. Just two days ago I found out that a developer of one of my favorite games "Stalker Clear Sky", died in Bakhmut, fighting on the front lines... And there are suicide drones and rockets flying by my location occasionally. We have regular electricity shutdowns. But this helps. We've bought Christmas presents for my brother, got food to last the days, and we'll have a good celebration for New Year, what with a cake, meat and other foods of value. It's a kindness that makes me feel better about the world and people out there. Thanks :))

vertis 4y ago
We don't talk about it much on HN but I for one follow very closely and have given several thousand euros over the past year. This is not to pump myself up (it's the least I could do), but rather because you need to know that Ukraine isn't alone. Stay strong.
- Kelamir 4y ago
  Thank you, vertis :)
- atdrummond 4y ago
  Thank you for this.
- leandot 4y ago
  Same here, and I know others who do the same, you're not alone! Stay strong!
  - Kelamir 4y ago

moralestapia 4y ago

It was a very nice gesture, thank you for this!

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

ghiculescu 4y ago

Did you cover the $8000 yourself? I would contribute to that.

atdrummond 4y ago
I covered the majority. One person sent me a decent sum; I’ll share their name once they tell me it is OK to do so. Feel free to email me if you want to. I have some requests for help trickling in still and probably have it under control but I won’t say no to assistance.
- vertis 4y ago
  I sent you a message on keybase. Happy to contribute as well.
  - atdrummond 4y ago
    Sent you an email - I am locked out of my KeyBase for 5 days for doing an account reset.
- ghiculescu 4y ago
  I sent OP $1000 Sharing this here in the hope it inspires others who have the means to do the same.
  - vertis 4y ago
    As did I.

joshxyz 4y ago

Hi, I just wanna confirm this guy is for real. Sent him a lengthy email about my situation a while ago and he immediately responded. Thank you very much @atdrummond, I'll share these blessings with the people here. Happy holidays everyone!

nothrowaways 4y ago

Awesome, that's thoughtful. Much more impactful.

orsenthil 4y ago

Thank you to HN friends for keeping me entertained and motivated. Thank you.

40amxn40 4y ago

[dead]

darawk 4y ago

Where was the original thread on this? I'm not sure how I missed it. Would have been (and still am) happy to contribute.