Perhaps this is crowdfunding at a new level. A man in Ohio raised a staggering $55,000 in a joking crowdfunding appeal to help him make a potato salad. He held a party on Saturday that promised “peace, love and potato salad.”
Crowdfunding is a way of getting funds for a project by getting loads of different people to donate a small amount of money each. This is all done online.
The party, known as PotatoStock 2014, occurred in Columbus. The venue had bands, beer vendors, food trucks, not to mention potato salad. A total of 3,000 pounds of potatoes were used in the event.
Zack Brown initially appealed for $10 on Kickstart to help him buy ingredients to make a potato salad. However, his goal eventually shifted as his appeal generated attention from around the global, raising thousands of dollars.
Brown has recently partnered with the Columbus Foundation to help support numerous charities that fight hunger. The account opened with $20,000 in post-campaign corporate donations will continue growing after adding the proceeds from PotatoStock 2014.
Lisa Jolley, the foundation’s director of donors and development, told The Columbus Dispatch:
“His fund will have potential way after this potato salad is forgotten.”
Brown told the newspaper that he will try “do the most good that I can.”