Franz began working on PeopleRipple.com in 2005, mostly in coffee shops and sometimes at home. Fueled by coffee and a desire to change the world, Franz later recruited the help of his family and friends.
In 2006, the team expanded to include his twin brother Hanz, an Air Force Medic , his sister from another mother, Amanda, his self-improvement aficionado best friend, Jordan , and his graphic artist, surfing-buddy, DJ Rafa . Hanz, Amanda, and DJ Rafa, with their experience working with Nonprofits , and Jordan, with his extensive knowledge of personal development, contributed their time, energy, and expertise during the project’s early phase.
In January 2007, Franz asked his friend Tom to help with building the website. Tom, who has lived a low impact lifestyle for decades, liked the idea and told his friend Rob about it. Since Tom and Rob were geeky (the cool kind of geeky) programmers who also wanted to do something to make a meaningful difference in the world, they signed on. They worked tirelessly, living on a diet of hot pockets, skittles and mountain dew, developing the PeopleRipple.com website.
Franz next shared the idea with his friend Jim, who has funded and personally worked with projects that provided basic necessities to impoverished communities. Jim liked the mission and vision so much he joined the team. In fact, Jim couldn’t contain his excitement and soon recruited his accountant and friend, Beth , his golf buddy, Eric, and his twin sons, Nolan and Nathan to help with the project.
The way PeopleRipple.com came together illustrates the way PeopleRipple.com works; People inspiring other people to take action, to do what they have the ability to do, to achieve a greater purpose. And that’s exactly how PeopleRipple.com is going to change the world; One Person at a Time, One Small Action at a Time.
After years of organizing, building, meetings that lasted for days, PeopleRipple.com Private Beta Version launched in May 2008.
And the Make A Difference Hug Drive (‘The MAD Hug Drive) was launched on September 12, 2008. This is the first national campaign to get people to take small actions that ripple to create a big difference.
The story continues…
Posted by franzc 
