Life can make us feel like we’re really small, sometimes.

Where the money went.

Big people go and do big things and make big money and drive their big cars to their big houses filled with big-boobed wives and all the winnings of their big, big deals. The guy beside us gets the promotion. The woman behind us in line scores the winning ticket. The sun rises and falls and we just keep on marching along with our little hearts stuck inside our tiny chests and we wonder: Am I only this? Only?

When an earthquake struck Haiti almost two weeks ago today, I don’t know how those people must have felt. All I know is that, after that, all I could see were their very delicate and fragile bodies, suffering and in need of help, relief and peace. After watching the rotating images of desperation and pain for two days, I began to feel a rumbling. It was nothing I’d call small. I thought: I can’t watch this. I can’t do this. Right now, I am big enough to do something for someone who needs me. Right now. I am large.

Amazingly, the second I thought this, every giant mountain-mover I never knew I already knew, just showed up and cleared the path. Jesse Scaccia and Hannah Serrano, your editors at Altdaily, were first. They partnered with me to put together Love for Haiti: A Concert to Benefit the Survivors of the Crisis in Haiti. Next was DJ Cornbread, followed by DJ BEE and DJ Oh!Boy and finally DJ SMedium, all armed and talented and ready to spin a jamming show. After that? Bobby Wright from The Granby Theater showed up, looming, giving us space, resources, staff and support. Rob Shapiro from The American Red Cross of Southeast Virginia was right behind him, bringing along his community, his clout and his charisma. It grew and it flew from there until it was bigger than every one of us. The volunteer count climbed to 20 and the seconds ticked by and turned into minutes and by the time the event took off on Thursday night at 6 PM, there was no stopping it. We were going to do something big. And we did.

Merci for the flier, DJ Cornbread.

We managed to raise close to $5,000 in four hours on Thursday night. On a cold, dark and rainy night, with no parking and no reason to want to go anywhere but under a cover, people came out by the hundreds and donated money to support something larger than all of us: Life and The Human Condition.

If you did or didn’t make it, I still want to thank you. I want to thank you for being part of this blessed community full of people who are brave enough to live large and do something to make an impact to help someone else. It’s amazing how huge our hearts are. It’s incredible how powerful we are, when we remember we’re not that small, after all. It’s unbelievable to see how enormous we get when we all gather together. Jesse, Hannah and I are touched to the point of no return. We think your love is like a bomb and we are just totally smashed apart in the fallout.

I want to take a moment and thank every person and entity that showed up to help us get this event off the ground. I can say, personally, that it is the single most satisfying thing that I have done in a very, very long time. You’ve changed the size of my life. Thank you.

BIG DADDY THANKS GO OUT TO:

• Altdaily.com
• Bobby Wright and The Granby Theater
• Dana Ruzicka
• Rob Shapiro and The American Red Cross of SEVA Volunteers
• Laine Rutherford Photography
• Eric Fadden Photography
• Jessica Riehl Photography
• The Amazing and Spectacular Raffle Girls
• The Handsome and Dashing Doormen/volunteers
• Jen Terranova
• DJ Cornbread
• DJ SMedium
• DJ Bee
• DJ Oh!Boy
• Signs by Tomorrow
• Jamie Krapf and JSK Interiors
• The Space Above Yoga
• Yorgo’s
• Amanda Stephens Artwork
• Kim Kent Pottery
• Body and Soul Pilates
• Changes City Spa
• Green Irene Consulting
• The Gym Downtown
• Anytime Fitness
• One Life Fitness
• Aloft Chesapeake Hotel
• Aloft Richmond Hotel
• Espeto na Brasa
• Signature Management
• Baxters
• Snappers
• Nicole Pandeloglou
• Gypsy D
• Provisions
• PDS ODU Soccer Camp and Mari Dawson
• Deb Malenda and Mary Kay Cosmetics
• Gratitudes Massage
• Dr. Scott Birckbichler Chiropractic
• Bean There Café
• Moe’s
• Hi Ho Silver
• Lia Sophia Jewelry and Mariah Johnson
• Isis Rising World Dance Troupe
• Gordon Biersch
• Red Star Tavern
• Pasha Mezze in Ghent
• Chesapeake Arboretum
• Virgina Espresso
• The Chesapeake Bay Foundation
• Virginia Stage Company
• Seven Venues
• Stuntkid
• Wavy TV 10, Fox 43, WVEC, WTKR, Paul Shugrue, The Daily Press and Sinclair Communications for spotting us, again and again!

Instant anti-karma.

Special thanks do NOT go out to the City of Norfolk for having my car towed, but they DO go out to Wilson who works the processing center at the towing garage and made a point to treat me like a real angel when I went to pick up my car the next day. Special thanks go out, in addition, to any person who sent an email or a Facebook message offering to volunteer or just send us support and cheer. You were with us all the way and you are, in fact, a part of the final success of the event.

It takes courage to reach out and accept the responsibility of being large enough to make a difference. It takes courage and it takes heart. But when we do it, we realize. We’re not tiny. We’re not small. We’re giant. We’re large. And? We’re certain that across that mighty ocean there are people feeling: Hampton Roads is sending Love for Haiti.

We love you.