When used correctly, social media can be a powerful tool to reach thousands of people at any given moment. Put a little celebrity power behind that and you can do a lot of good.
That was the idea behind the celeb-driven, "Love Army For Somalia," which wanted to literally fill up a Turkish Airline plane with food and water, and immediately deliver it to aid people affected by the Somalian famine.
This movement actually all started with the Twitter hashtag #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia, as Vine and Snapchat star Jerome Jarre urged his following to help aid Somalia in their time of crippling famine. In his video, he passionately talked about the people of Somalia losing their means of water, food, and livestock:
?MAINSTREAM MEDIA WON'T TALK ABOUT IT !!!
REVOLTING !!!LET'S MAKE NOISE !!!#TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia ? pic.twitter.com/iiyQrzyLC9
— JÉRÔME JARRE (@jeromejarre) March 15, 2017
From there, social media activist Chakabars Clarke got involved, along with YouTube celebrity Casey Neistat who posted a video entitled, "We have 10 days to get a Million Dollar$," as he let his following of 6.7 million YouTubers know that there are over 6 million Somalians currently affected by the terrible drought, and need help.
The reason they wanted to team with Turkish Airlines is because it is the only airline that flies into Somalia. Fortunately, Turkish Airlines immediately showed their support for the movement, saying they were ready to go:
Ready for take off to help Somalia ❤ ✈ @jeromejarre @redhourben @chakabars @eljuanpazurita #LoveArmyForSomalia #TurkishAirlines4Somalia pic.twitter.com/srVkpDYi09
— Turkish Airlines (@TurkishAirlines) March 17, 2017
Then the big guns came in, as actor Ben Stiller, yes, the guy from Meet The Parents, offered his Stiller Foundation as a vessel to raise the money, as they all vowed total transparency with the money, and that the food would directly help the people of Somalia.
If you have 2 minutes and 20 seconds check this out. #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia pic.twitter.com/r0u3xh5spG
— Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) March 15, 2017
After it was all set up, the help began to pour in from over 68,000 people, even celebrities such as Calvin Harris, NFL player/activist Colin Kaepernick, and countless YouTube personalities, as the GoFundMe campaign reached over $1 million in less than a day.
As of this writing, the campaign is three days old, with over $1.8 million raised, and will continue until March 27, as they support continues to rain down.
As Stiller said in his video, everyone needs help. Although it's hard to focus on everyone who needs help, this is a vast movement with legs on it, and being a part of it could directly help millions in need.
If this is something you think you want to support, you have some time. Look into it, if it's for you, this looks like it could be something really special.
