‘The Power of Half’: How to share what you have with those in need

For the birds, or at least for bird watchers
5/26/12
Uncorked book club enjoys new authors
5/26/12
Dayton Visual Art Center’s auction by the numbers
5/26/12
Wowed by the power of a brain
5/26/12
“Coupon Kid” gets “Extreme”
5/26/12
> More lifestyle headlines

By Daryn Kagan, Contributing Columnist Updated 5:01 PM Monday, November 15, 2010

My neighbors did something crazy.

Not paint-their-house-hot-pink crazy or throw-wild-loud-parties crazy. Something even crazier.

They sold their house.

Sold their house? So what, Daryn, you say. Millions of people across the country have done that, or at least are trying to in a difficult economy. Before you go calling me crazy, let me tell you the reason why Kevin and Joan Salwen sold their house.

They did it to give away the profits.

Yep. Give away hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Salwens’ story starts with their teenage daughter, Hannah. She’s what you would call a “challenging” child. Not because she doesn’t do well in school or breaks curfew. No, Hannah is challenging because she asks questions that can make adults uncomfortable. Questions like, “How much is our family really doing to make the world a better place?” “Could we do and sacrifice more?”

Instead of sending Hannah to her room until she turned 18, her parents decided to get brave and really look at that challenge. That’s what led to the seemingly preposterous idea of putting the house up for sale, giving half the profits away to charity and moving into a house half the size.

Talk about radical! If the Salwens were really going to do this, they were going to have to do some things foreign to many families today. They would have to come together as a team, communicate and — get ready for this — spend time together.

I decided to invite myself over to get the scoop on their plan.

“We started with the big questions,” Hannah told me. “Like would you rather help a large number of people a little or a few number of people a lot?”

“We started to understand each other’s values really well,” Kevin chimed in. “I started to understand what’s important to the kids, and they started to understand what’s important to Joan and me.”

There was plenty of time for these powwows. The house took two years to sell! Yet, sell it did. The family decided they could have a big impact working with the Hunger Project in Ghana.

Why go international?

The family has already been doing a lot of charity work here in the United States. “It was more a matter of ‘and’ helping around the world rather than ‘or,’ ” Hannah explained.

Everyone can’t walk down the street to visit with this amazing family, but everyone can read their story in their book “The Power of Half.” In it, Hannah and Kevin share their family’s story.

Even better, they explain that they believe everyone has the power to do something like they did.

Of course, most of us can’t swing selling our big ol’ house and giving away the profits.

“The trick,” Kevin explains, “is deciding what in your life you have more than enough of. It has nothing to do with the size of what you do.”

It sure is an interesting exercise to try out.

Could I give up half my vacation budget? Half my clothes? Half the Starbucks budget?

The payoff?

Kevin says the project took so much collaboration, he found his family traded stuff for togetherness. That’s a deal I bet many families would love to make.

Once their old house sold, the Salwens found their new smaller house right here in the same neighborhood. That sure is good news for me, since I’m twice as sure as ever that these are just the kind of crazy people I want living nearby.

Read more about the family at http://thepowerofhalf.com

Share your inspirational stories

Daryn wants to hear your stories of hope. Send your stories to Life@  DaytonDailyNews.com.

Please include your name, hometown and a phone number where you can be reached. Please include “What’s Possible” in the subject line.

Daryn Kagan is the creator and host of DarynKagan.com, an online community that features a daily webcast of inspirational stories that show what is possible. The former CNN anchor and news reporter is the author of “What’s Possible! 50 True Stories of People Who Dared To Dream They Could Make a Difference.”

Share this article