In the summer of 2007 our middle son was a new cadet at West Point, and my wife Marie and I were following an online forum where senior parents answered the questions the freshman parents had.
A-Day was coming up, the ceremony that closes out Cadet Basic Training and marks a new cadet’s move to full member of the Corps. A ball was scheduled to celebrate it.
A mother posted on the forum that she had saved just enough to make the trip to the academy for the ceremony, but she did not have a thing to wear and wished she did.
Marie and I talked about her post. We hoped somebody would come through for her.
Another mother replied. She had a red dress, and the first mother was welcome to borrow it.
Why it stayed with us
Somebody had a need. Somebody else had exactly what was needed. A forum put them in the same room and the whole thing happened without money changing hands.
What struck us was how unremarkable the exchange was, and how little of it the internet was doing for people who were not trying to buy or sell something.
The connective power was already there. It just was not pointed at this kind of help. That is the idea MeetaNeed has been carrying ever since.
Where this story comes from
Firsthand account from Ernie and Marie St. Gelais, who steward MeetaNeed. On a sourced story this block carries the original publication and a link to it.
