LightShow Pi was created as an open source initiative to help the DIY community experience the fun and joy of creating their own automated light shows using the Raspberry Pi. The amount of interest in this “little” project has been astounding – and I’ve been humbled by all the of amazing contributions of time and commitment people from across the globe have given to this simple project.
One individual that has contributed in a profound way is Tom Enos. I never had the chance to meet Tom in person, I’ve only communicated via email and online chats over the past two years. Tom found out about this project in our second year of existence, and quickly became the most active contributor to the project. He has contributed significantly both on the coding / developer side, as well as on the community side. Tom was passionate about this project, and put his whole heart into it. When anyone posted a question to our community, Tom was nearly always the first to respond! He’d ensure that anyone and everyone had the best experience possible when joining this niche community. Tom simply loved helping others.
Often, individuals would ask Tom if they could donate to the project in appreciation of his work. His response to such requests was always to point them towards opportunities to help and serve those around them. In Tom’s words, here is one such response to a community post:
“… if you want to give then do so, but give it to those that really need it. If you insist on donating to lightshowpi then make a donation to your favorite charity in the name of lightshowpi.org. All that matters to us is that the people that need it most are the ones that get it.
All joking aside, donate to your local rescue mission (none of you can say that you live in a community that does not have one) or any other charity that you think is a worthy cause. You don’t need to do it online, every year, every supermarket I know of has a spot to donate a bag of food, every mall has a spot to donate toys., there is a man ringing a bell for the Salvation Army on every street corner. Buy an extra can or box of something when you go to the supermarket, when you go to Toy’s are Us get that extra little $5.00 toy, when you see the man ringing the bell take that change out of your pocket. For some people it’s not a matter of having a nice Christmas dinner, it’s a matter of just having something to eat.
Don’t forget you don’t need money. Most of your local charities and the people that they help would be most grateful for a few hours of your time. What is one weekend afternoon a month (4 hours) worth to you, the time you would spend at a movie and lunch, I will be it is worth far more to the people in need then it is to you.
The dev team does this because we want to … The people that contribute to the community do so because they want to. So it’s not about the money to us. It’s about the people.
So if you can and are able to give back to the people. Give back to the people in your neighborhood, the community that you live in, the city, province, state, country, world that you belong to.”
Tom passed away at the end of October this year. I’d like to make a donation to the Orange County Rescue Mission (in Tom’s home county) in honor of Tom and his generous nature. I invite you to join me in this effort. I will personally match dollar for dollar all donations contributed through Christmas Day. Further, I plan to make my donation through my work which will match my donations – effectively quadrupling your donation. If you’d rather donate directly, or perhaps donate your time, talent, and / or other efforts, I’d also love to track that as well in Tom’s honor. Please make a comment below and share with us your donation if you go this route!
To make a donation in honor of Tom Enos to the Orange County Rescue Mission which I will match and then re-match through my work’s donation program if donated before December 26th, 2016 (effectively quadrupling your donation):
Donations closed, thank you all who donated! See below for details (updated 12/29/2016).
May you share your light with others through your giving and service.
Rest in peace Tom, you will be missed.
Todd Giles
Saturday, December 10th, 2016
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Thursday, December 29th, 2016
Thanks to all who donated, a total of $850 from 17 unique donors was made. I just sent these donations with my own matching donation of $850 to Orange County Rescue Mission in honor of Tom Enos. Google (my employer) graciously matched these contributions for a total of $3,400 donated to the Orange County Rescue Mission.
Thank you all!
-Todd
