One million. What comes to mind with those two words? Dollars, viewers, iPhones?
What about a remarkable documentary that tells the story of one young man–along with eleven of his best friends– and his trek from Georgia to California in search of a dream?
That young man is the subject of the documentary, Darius Goes West. His name is Darius Weems and he has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the single biggest genetic
killer of children on the planet. Darius and his friends hope to sell one million copies of his DVD, Darius Goes West, on his website between now and his nineteeth birthday in September 2009 DVDs to raise money for Duchenne research and to spread the word about the disease.There is no marketing company for the film. A little unconventional, yes, but the lack of a middleman allows $17 of every $20 dollars made from video sales to directly fund Duchenne research (the remaining $3 is funneled into making more DVDs). Children afflicted with Duchenne seldom live past age twenty, a fact that Darius is well aware given that his own brother died from the same disease at age 19.
The story of Darius’ amazing quest was shared with the Hammertown family by Joan’s daughter, Dana, whose friend, Saskia Larraz (creator of the lovely Czech glass jewelry that Hammertown sells) told her about a local family with a young son, Charley, who also has Duchenne’s. They live near our Gt. Barrington store, in the Berkshires. You can read their story here.
One of Hammertown’s core values is community service so when we hear of a cause or an issue that really resonates with us, like a local family affected by Duchenne, we want to share it with our readers.
We do this because we believe that we are all in this world together. We need each other. Darius’ and friends’ message echoes this. The portion of Darius Goes West that can be seen here via YouTube isn’t merely a trailer; it is the beginning of your exposure to a movement centered around community and love that twelve amazing young men believe passionately in. And, by the end of the video, you will too.
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