Earn To Give – An Entrepreneurs Solution To “Charity”.

The Story (from Minesh):

 It was an evening (23rd December 2011) where me and my very good friend Harry Singha (pictured with me on the left) were doing our yearly  contribution at YES Group’s basket brigade. The simplest way to describe this fantastic concept, as first thought of  by Tony Robbins, is a simple packing of a basket of food, delivered 2 days before Christmas on the 23rd of December  every year to families who are highlighted by friends and local authorities as needing the extra help.

The basic premise of this magical movement is that the food you deliver is delivered anonymously, now as you know,  when someone gives you a gift, your natural response is to do something nice back for them. But what if they don’t  know where the gift came from? What if the gift came from the “Universe”. What if, finally, a stranger does care.  Where is this “natural response” to return the gift sent to?

Back into the world.

And so the positive energy is sent travelling throughout the universe in a never ending cycle.

So, back to our last delivery, we’re sitting in my car, outside Harry’s house and I said, you know, the problem with what we’ve done is, in some cases, people EXPECT the food AND they’re already in warm houses. Which removes the true magic of what we’re doing. In it’s success, the movement has grown so big, that it’s virtually impossible to deliver all the baskets ANONYMOUSLY.

So I asked, how could we go right to the SOURCE. Affect a person where the pain is SO GREAT that this “random act of kindness” would make them SHIFT.

And Harry suggested something called the “Rucksack-a-thon” which he’d seen wide-spread in the USA where people who care pack rucksacks of food, blankets and essentials and deliver them, anonymously to homeless people.

And this caught my attention. Because, there is NO WAY a homeless person could “know we were coming”.

So I said, “that sounds awesome, we should do that, NEXT YEAR”. And then froze. Next year? You mean a whole 372 days later? But we could help people NOW…

So I said something crazy, to which even Harry said “what?”.

I said, “8 Days. 1st January 2012. New Years Day. That’s when we do it.”

He thought about it, with a “do you even KNOW how much work it takes to organise something like this! you’re CRAZY” look on his face, and then said, “Let’s Do It.”.

But this was going to be with a twist. Remember, you’ve got TWO entrepreneurs here thinking of a “Charity” concept here. And if you know me, you know I HATE the idea of “Charity” in the conventional sense.

So we decided to really approach this from an angle of Conscious Capitalism. Look. Business, Investing and all our project have been amazing for us. And businesses, if they operated from an idea of Conscious Capitalism, where we earn so that we can give and make the world better… would speed up the process of saving the world by an infinite amount.

So, without hesitating, instead of thinking of “charity donations” etc etc, me and Harry both committed to fund the whole day ourselves. As a thank you and give back for how awesome the world has been to us.

After this we got to work.

Our main objective was to create bags which included:

Food (Subway Sandwich, Crisps, Chocolate and a Drink)
Blanket
Gloves
Socks
A Book
A Message.

Instinctively we knew that this could be bigger than what we could think right now, so we went about creating a model that anyone could follow.

- Instead of rucksacks and negotiating discounts, we went into Tesco’s and picked up their durable bags.
- We went into major retailers and bought everything that was needed, something ANYONE could do.
- We created a simple Facebook group and invited friends who wanted to take part and help.

And this was magic.

We then, met up, early New Years Day at our offices in Canary Wharf, with everyone who came  along to help (still so grateful for every single one of those people who came) and built this bags.
Once the bags were ready we loaded the cars and we drove into the heart of London.

Parked up, split up and went to, after Harry with all his years of experience doing and running  projects like this coached everyone in safety and the process of approaching people so that it  went smoothly, deliver the bags.

Now, what you’ve got to understand is this:

- NO ONE expected we were coming.

- NO ONE knew what was in the bags.

- NO ONE knew who we were.

But the main point of this, wasn’t the giving of the bag with 1 meals food supply in it.

It was the Message. Our message read: On New Years day this gift is for you. “You don’t know who we are, but all we ask is, one day, when you’re in a position to do similar, all we ask is that you do the same for someone else. We want you to know that we care about you.”

And with this simple message, we talked, found out their story, on the day where you’d expect people to have family to turn to, but they weren’t there, we gave them something to smile about, something to THINK about. And left.

You know they say, before anyone is successful, a simple SHIFT in mindset occurs. From what is, to what can be. And I believe with this message, with this movement, if we can just, for a SPLIT SECOND, change the focus of someone’s consciousness, to what can be, we’ve accomplished our mission.

BUT – I’D FAILED TO SEE THE REAL MAGIC.

We had literally created a BLUEPRINT for a conscious capitalism model for small business. I mean WHO COULDN’T  DO WHAT WE JUST DID?

The real magic hit me a day later, at a friends Birthday party where someone who had been on this day with me saw  what we spent on drinks and said “you know, what we spent in there, could have equaled 9 bags for homeless people”

A shift in perception had not only taken place in the person we’d handed the bag to. WE, in process of doing, taking part  in this, had also seen a HUGE shift in perception.

The fundamental idea that “Money Can Be Used For GOOD” was now impregnated into everyone’s minds. And for me, that was the main gift. In this world where money is looked at as evil, we found a way to change that thought process.

So I spoke to Harry, decided we should do this regularly, and decided to call it: Earn To Give.

We get together, every few months, with a few people, and do exactly what we did on that day. The difference is, by taking part, you also learn and discover how you can do this in your town, your city, all by yourself.

This is what it’s really about, the community. You might be wondering “why are you publicly writing about this if it’s supposed to be anonymous?”

The answer is SIMPLE.

We saw so much change in ourselves doing this, hearing people’s stories, connecting with people who others walk by without batting an eye lid, in-fact treating them like they’re dirt that I personally had a whole new found respect for money and more importantly OPPORTUNITY.

So, if me writing about this publicly, gets people doing it, I’m willing to make that sacrifice, because the lessons here go deeper than for the person receiving the bag.

 For you, an investor an entrepreneur, a business person, this will CHANGE the way you think, about money,  about people, and about LIFE. And all these lessons will make YOU a better person. And to me, you are  someone who can help make this change me and Harry both envisioned in the world.

Every time I invite friends, family and colleagues to come on this journey with us, because there is NO OTHER  FASTER WAY for you to change the concept and idea of “Money” in this conditioned world that I’ve found.

My vision is that one day, every University Student does this once a year. That would change the course of our  world in a few short years.

This is why, every year, we get together, we do this, we follow the same model, people come from all over  the world and they join us, 10 bags, 20 bags, 30 bags, 100 bags, doesn’t matter, it’s you, coming, learning,  taking it away and doing 10 in your city that changes the world.

That’s why I do it. And I want you, as part of the Gold For Life Community & Mastermind, to join  us. Remember, this is NOT a Charity. This is an idea of Conscious Capitalism that will change the  world.

NEXT OFFICIAL GOLD FOR LIFE – EARN TO GIVE DAY ANNOUNCED: SATURDAY 5th JANUARY 2013
(request details by email: Support@GoldForLife.com) 

Click HERE For Facebook Event Page

 Thank You, Minesh Bhindi.

See Maria & Mark getting ready to hand these bags out on the FIRST ever Earn To Give event (1st January 2012):