[UPDATE]

As of this morning (March 27, 2020, 9am), y’all have exceeded the $1000 that I pledged to match! THAT’S AMAZING! Within 48 hours, my community has stepped up and donated money. In fact, you donated $1418!

I’d like to keep matching donations but I don’t have the budget to do it. So at this point, I’m announcing that I stop matching.

For everyone who likes to donate from now on, please do that. I’m happy to send you a face mask or record a video in a tomato onesie! The perk to decide my hair color has been taken. All others are still available.

I’ve attached a screenshot of the donation that I just made. It shows my donation amount of $1418 and my “estimated company match” of $2836. So in the end, we all donated $5672 to the Rainier Valley Food Bank.

Watch out for videos of me delivering face masks, doing stuff in a tomato onesie, etc.

I am humbled and grateful.

Ben

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Here’s my original post.

 

Hi all! 🤗

I joined the Developer Publications team at Apple as a Software Engineering Author one year ago today! 🎉

It’s been such a fun year of growth for me, both professionally, and personally, I have a hard time finding words to describe it. Let’s leave it at this: I’m working with an incredible group of people, I have fun, my work’s challenging, I get paid for what I do, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.

So let’s talk about how others have a hard time, are struggling with paying bills, lost their job, had to close their business, or are facing issues with their mental or physical health because of COVID-19. These last few weeks have been such a contrast to my last year that it’s hard for me to believe. Every time I read the news, I feel a little desperate at first. But when I look at what’s going in on my neighborhood, in my family, my group of friends, or my community here in Seattle and back in Germany, I see a community, helping hands, and solidarity. And I keep thinking: I’d like to do something and help. So here’s what I came up with.

Let’s do something:

If you’re as lucky as I am (looking at you, fellow tech workers), please consider donating. If you already donated to your local nonprofit, that’s awesome! I’m not trying to persuade anyone and I understand that these are difficult times.

Until March 31st, 2020, I’m going to match every dollar you donate to the Rainier Valley Food Bank, up to $1000 total. It’s a local non-profit that helps people who are not as lucky as I am with food deliveries, lunches, and other, life-saving services. Their services are especially important during the current crisis as its neighborhood has been severely impacted. Just send me a picture of your donation to ben DOT scholtysik AT icloud.com or as part of a Tweet to @elektrojunge as proof of your donation. I’ll add it to the list of donations (which will remain private), and donate my match on April 1st.

The best thing is that Apple matches my donation 2:1. If you give $1, I give $1, and Apple donates $2. In the end, Rainier Valley Food Bank gets $4 instead of the $1 you give. And I think that’s awesome!

To make this more fun, I’m offering the following perks:

Perk 1: Donate $50 for a Handmade Face Mask

I’ll send the first five people who donate $50 to the Rainier Valley FoodBank a face mask, handmade by my wife Corinna. She uses several different fabrics and we’ll figure out which print she makes at the beginning of April. They are not medical grade, 100% cotton face masks. I’m not taking on any responsibility regarding their protective features.

The following picture gives you an idea of what they look like:

Perk 2: Donate $100 to Get a Video of Me as a Tomato

Everyone who donates $100 gets a video of me, filmed by my wife using her iPhone 11 Pro, as I do a task of your choice while I wear my tomato onesie. It has to be something I can do at home or in my yard and it has to be something that doesn’t put me into danger. For example, you could make me do jumping jacks, play with my dog in the yard, drink chocolate milk, say hi to your kids,… you get the idea. Yep, I’ll make a fool of myself while I’m a tomato. I’m not sure how long the video will be, but I’ll try to be as serious as possible. Kidding, it’s gonna be hilarious.

This is the onesie that I’m talking about:

(Source: Shinth.com, I’m not affiliated with them.)

Perk 3: Donate $300 or More and Choose My Next Hair Color.

I usually dye my hair blue or purple these days, and used to wear pink a lot in the past. That said, the first person to donate at least $300 gets to decide my next hair color. The only limit is that it needs to be one of the colors by Lunar Tides, a Seattle-based company*. You tell me which one to get, I’ll get it, and dye my hair in the color in the first half of April. I’ll also post pictures on social media. I won’t dye my eyebrows or my beard. Scratch that, if someone’s kind enough to donate $500, I’ll dye my beard, too.

 

*  (I’m not affiliated with them. I just use their hair dye and pay for it out of my own pocket.)