May 9, 2011 by Geoff Wood
Ames Harry Potter. That was the first name called out when Google's PJ Anderson and Drew Rowny asked a room full of elementary school students to name a children's character. Anderson and Rowny traveled from Silicon Valley to Ames last week to honor Nathan Hidajat for being chosen as a regional prize winner in the Doodle 4 Google contest. They kicked off the ceremony with a demonstration of Google … read more
May 4, 2011 by Geoff Wood
Ames Once again, young Nathan Hidajat has made the local technology news, this time as a regional finalist in the "Doodle 4 Google" competition. In March, the internet giant invited students in grades K-12 to submit a drawing along the theme of "What I'd like to do someday..." Hidajat's entry, which related directly to the charity: water campaign that we've covered on this site, was originally published on his site March 11 with this description: "What I’d like to do someday … read more
April 29, 2011 by Geoff Wood
Ames Back in February, we shared the story of Nathan Hidajat, who decided before he turned 8 that he wanted to give up his birthday for charity: water after watching the video of Scott Harrison on stage at Big Omaha 2010 (see our post Ames 2nd Grader, Nathan Hidajat, raises $1k for charity: water in 7 days). Nathan met his original goal — raising $1,000 — in a mere seven days. Not content to stop there, he's raised and met new goals several times since. … read more
February 13, 2011 by Geoff Wood
Despite the fact that here at Silicon Prairie News we're very much in the midst of preperations for Big Omaha 2011 one of our favorite parts of Big Omaha 2010 keeps showing up in the news. We ran two posts this week telling the story of Nathan Hidajat, a second grader in Ames, Iowa who was motivated to give up his 8th birthday to help provide clean and safe… read more
February 10, 2011 by Geoff Wood
Ames Yesterday, we posted about Nathan Hidajat, a second grader in Ames, Iowa who gave up his 8th birthday in a fundraising effort to help charity: water, a charity that works to provide clean drinking water to people around the world who don't have access to it. Nathan decided to give up his birthday after seeing a video of Scott Harrison, charity: water's founder, presenting at last May's Big Omaha. Nathan's father, Robert, answered a few questions for us by email yesterday about how… read more
February 9, 2011 by Geoff Wood
Ames Not many can deny that Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water, is a moving speaker. Harrison's story of personal renewal, his dedication to providing clean drinking water to those who don't have it, and his ability to redefine how we look at philanthropy has moved people all over the world; from the 500 people in the room at last May's Big Omaha to President Obama who mentioned the organization's efforts in a recent National Prayer Breakfast. read more