STARY Has Launched Two Charity Events in 2020
2020 was full of challenges because of the pandemic. The whole world witnessed a lot of pains and tears. Fortunately, more than 100,000 authors and over 100,000,000 users are still here with STARY.
To offer supports and deliver love to people in need, STARY launched two special events in the past year.
Fight with Covid-19, #We Are Together
In the spring of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic became a serious global health threat. A lot of people have suffered during the outbreak. Healthcare workers stomached enormous risk and pressure. Some of them were STARY authors as well.
The #We Are Together online activity was launched to spread positivity during this hard time. In just three weeks, more than 2.5 million people participated and shared thousands of pictures and encouraging words in the activity across different platforms. Meanwhile, special gift packs have been delivered to the STARY authors who were working on the frontline as a gesture of gratitude.
Help People Affected by Typhoon Ulysses
A series of super typhoons hit the Philippines in 2020. Thousands of people lost their homes. And many Filipino writers had to stop writing. The Filipino writers are irreparable members of the STARY family. When they got bogged, STARY users sent a great number of heart-warming comments and videos from all over the world to support them and encourage them to continue writing. At the same time, STARY has donated $10,000 to STARY’s Filipino writers and two local NGOs in the Philippines.
STARY and Writers
Creating is not all plain sailing. Like many writers have experienced before, writing is sometimes full of winds and rains for many Filipino writers.
JannDG, a Filipino author of STARY, could not even afford a library card when she was a little girl. She first discovered her passion for literature when she borrowed books from neighbors. After growing up, she learnt to cope with poverty by writing. She did not give up writing even in the loneliest and most difficult moments. Especially after witnessing the traumatic scenes from the pandemic and being trapped on the second floor due to the flood, she still proudly said that she was not alone and survived the terrible days. STARY provided her the right place to be herself.
It was hard for shimmeringpurple to think if she and her family can continue their lives when Typhoon Ulysses came. Because She is only a student who has no money, and her older sister has lost her job due to the pandemic. And writing is the only thing she can do to earn an income. When her family was packing to evacuate from school, she still faced her cellphone and type for the new chapter. Her persistence allows her to gain income and support her family. Nowadays, even after the typhoon is gone, she does not have any electric power. “I can see that STARY did not just help authors for their stories to earn, but also help for their lives,” she said.
Just like JannDG’s and shimmeringpurple’s stories, sometimes writing contributes to personal identity; sometimes writing is the source of income for daily life. These stories are just the tip of the iceberg. Every detail among these stories indicates that STARY has the social responsibility to help writers’ efforts and dreams be met.
In the brand-new 2021, STARY will still stand with writers and make this world a better place with writing.
