The surge of crowdfunding websites has brought about a new wave of innovation and charitable drives. We've seen products like the Oculus Rift rise up from nothing thanks to a highly successful Kickstarter campaign, ultimately being bought out by Facebook for a cool $2 billion last year. Many have used personal fundraising sites like GoFundMe to help pay for expensive medical bills that would have otherwise put them in turmoil. I have friends and relatives who are actively using the venue to help alleviate the costs of reoccurring cancer treatments and to help children with disabilities.
This past week, the "Relentlessly Gay" GoFundMe campaign appeared out of nowhere and took the media world and social networking sites by storm. As the story goes, a widowed mother found an anonymous note on her door from a neighbor scolding her home decor (a line of colored glass jars), which they perceived as "relentlessly gay" and a threat to their "Christian" area. In retaliation, Julie immediately established a GoFundMe campaign asking for $5,000 to make her home more colorful. Five days later the campaign has raised a staggering $43,500 and shows no signs of stopping.