Singer/Songwriter AJ Rafael has 18,942 followers on Twitter, 97,921 subscribers on YouTube, and 16,872 fans on Facebook. Needless to say, AJ Rafael is a big deal. Last night, he used the power of his fan community to raise money and more importantly, raise awareness about the tragic Typhoon Ondoy that struck the Metro Manila area of the Philippines this weekend.
All weekend, AJ was a bit frustrated with the media and citizens of the interwebs for their disinterest and lack of mobilization for the cause, expressing his concern through tweets. He decided last night to take matters into his own hands. He told all of his followers that he’d be doing a live uStream show to bring awareness to Typhoon Ondoy and hopefully raise some cash for the cause. He had over 1500 people log-on and tune in to the show which lasted for several hours! Together, they were able to raise $56,997.06 pesos or about $1,202.98 USD in just a few short hours. See our friends at HypnoticAsia.com recount the evening’s event! (jk, not just our friends, I also write for hypnoticAsia.com!)
Not only was he able to raise a good chunk of change (and growing!), but the related hashtag: #HealPhilippines shot up to #1 on the trending topics and lingered there well into the early hours of the morning. It definitely helped to gain international support for the efforts from international celebrities like DJ Isak of Arirang Radio in Korea, international singing sensation Charice Pempengo, YouTube stars JR Aquino, Jesse Barrera, Randolph Permejo, Cathy Nguyen and more!, and Janelle So – host of Kababayan LA on LA 18, all through the power of Twitter!
It still fascinates me what people can accomplish when they come together, especially as strangers through Social Media. I posted a short article on the uStream show on hypnoticAsia in the early afternoon and it was RTed nearly 100 times and the word began to spread like wildfire! It would’ve taken days to organize and publicize a benefit concert that would have probably earned just as much and costed 100x’s more, but with a simple uStream show done from home, things worked out perfectly!
You can STILL donate to #HealPhilippines by visiting AJ’s blog! We’re also still willing to round up your food and clothing donations to send over to the victims of Typhoon Ondoy!
You can catch AJ Rafael talking about the uStream show and what more can be done live today on Channel LA 18 on the Kababayan LA show at 4:30pm PST. In the meantime, here’s a video of AJ’s latest performance of “Soldier”, dedicated to the victims of Typhoon Ondoy, taken by hypnoticAsia.com at the Harvest Moon Festival in Arcadia, CA this past weekend.
Photos & Video Courtesy of: HypnoticAsia.com