Executive Summary

I’m a 40 year old silicon valley high tech professional, working in Corporate Development / Mergers & Acquisitions, and running/building technology startups.  I'm taking 10 months off from work to pursue my dream of changing lives by giving back to the world community.  My goal is to build 35 permanent houses in Colombia for victims of the violence in order to take as many as 200 displaced people off the street for the rest of their lives and keep an untold number of kids out of a life of prostitution and sexual exploitation.

This blog will serve three purposes:  1) To keep my friends, family, colleagues, and the general public informed as to the progress of the project  2) To serve as a conduit for fundraising for all those who wish to help me change the world.  3)  Offer everyone a way to join me on my quest by signing up for my email progress report list. You can register your email address using the form on the right side of this web page. (I promise not to pass your email address to anyone else).

thanks, -dave

Comments

[Susan Stone Russell]

Hey Dave:

I'm in for a roof! $100 coming your way. I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time and make a HUGE difference! Looking forward to your blog updates. SSR

[Hallie]

Dave-

A friend of a friend shared your work with habitat for humanity with several of us from AIG. I wanted to cheer on your great work and hope that you meet your goals. It is great to see both people dedicated to helping others as well as your corporation's committment to helping that allows you to do this important work.

[Dan Dimitri]

Great pics...it is amazing what a few American dollars can do to change a full family's life. Thanks again for giving us a channel to help too.

Otherwise, how is the beer?

Dan

[Peter Jacobs]

Hi Dave,

Congrats on undertaking a great project that can only make this world a better place. I'm happy to put in for a roof as well.

Would love to be able to get an RSS feed of your blog on my Google or Yahoo Home page. I've enabled that functionality on my blog using tools at Feedburner.com.

¡Suerte y mucho excito durante tu estancia a Colombia!

Don Pedro

[Paul]

Hi Dave,

I'm inspired by your project.

I would like to make a donation through my Fidelity Charitable Giving account. They need to know to which Habitat for Humanity organization they should send the check. Can you please post the address and phone number for the HfH organization that you use?

Kind regards,
Paul

[Dave McMurtry]

Thank you Paul! You can mail your physical check here:

Habitat for Humanity International
c/o Tim Daugherty & HelpDaveChangeLives.org
121 Habitat Street
Americus, GA 31709

If you send a check please send me an email ahead of time with the amount; I'm auditing the funds closely. Thanks for your support... -dave

[Rob Lee]

Way to make a difference Dave. What an extremely noble endeavor. Man, would I love to come down and help out. Keep up the good work buddy!

[Jeff]

Dave,

I wanted to applaud your efforts. My mother taught in Santa Marta for about 6 yrs (’93-’99). Ultimately she had to leave because it was getting too dangerous. She had many close friends who were either kidnapped and/or killed by either guerrilla or paramilitary. I’ve been to Colombia twice and have seen first hand what you are up against and how critical your contribution is to the people. I’ll do my best to donate and spread the word in order to help raise additional funds. Good luck and be safe.

Sincerely,
Jeff

[Kurt Griskonis]

Dave,
I am a fellow Intuit employee and just read about your efforts in SNAP. Wow, this is amazing work you are doing. You have inspired me to contribute to your cause. Best of luck to you down there. Be safe!
Kurt Griskonis
Consumer Tax Group - Intuit

[Dave McMurtry]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. They make me smile knowing I have such great support at home!

-dave

[Michael Ward]

hi dave.. i just came across your video and project.. very impressed. if you would like to communicate your project to a new audience, you could put up a profile on www.i-genius.org and embed your film into your profile. i'm sure the community (focused on social issues) would be very interested to watch your film

for an example of a great profile where he shows his film to the community see http://www.i-genius.com/member/profile.php/id/458

good luck with everything!
mike

[humberto y patricia]

hola dave, gracias por ayudar a un pueblo devastado por la violencia y dar alegria a muchas personas, aqui todos nos acordamos de ti, y queremos saber como estas.
ojala podamos comunicarnos mas seguido...gracias de verdad, eres una gran persona.

[Inemnessurepe]

Snx for you job!
It has very much helped me!