Morris Gage is one of the nicest guys I know.
He’s a good friend of my dad’s from upstate, NY — and he was a huge influence in the development of the soccer teams at my high school back in the day.
He also makes the best hot chicken jerky I’ve ever had. My coworkers agree — last Christmas we gathered money together and tried placing an order for some of Mo’s jerky.
We were amazed that he turned us down: “Sorry guys, but I just do this for a hobby… and your order would take me about 2 weeks. Work is really busy now.”
That was the last I heard from Morris about his jerky… until 3 weeks ago.
Morris sent me an email saying he heard about what we were doing for our Filipino friends and that he wanted to help. He offered to make $150 – $200 worth of jerky for us to sell to our friends and coworkers, giving 100% of the proceeds to our typhoon victims fund.
The jerky arrived and we sold $120 worth in the first day. That $120 puts us over the $2,500 donation mark which is awesome.
We still have $150 worth of Mo’s jerky to sell… so in total Morris’ contribution will net us $270 for the typhoon victims. This is really generous, because it cost him money to make it… ship it… and of course, all the time he put into it.
I just want to give a big thank you to Morris and to also let anyone else out there know that if you have a talent or a hobby you can certainly put it to work for a great cause and make a difference.
Becky illustrated this with her painting giveaway (which drove awareness), and Morris illustrated it with his jerky sale (which raised funds).
Those two are the perfect examples of “offline donors” and I just want to say ‘thanks’ again and encourage others to get involved too.
-Greg
P.S. I mentioned I still have some of Mo’s Jerky. If you’re in Austin and you want some, it’s $15 a bag and worth every penny. Remember, 100% goes to a good cause… and this is the best stuff you’ll ever eat.
I have to warn you though:
1) It’s hot and spicy (awesome)
2) Morris doesn’t do this as a business (although we’re encouraging him to)… so when you get addicted to it and it’s all gone you’re out of luck.
