HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Who would have thought Conan O'Brien's Twitter stunt last week would turn inspirational?
On Friday, the unemployed late-night host announced that his newfound Twitter presence would only have one follower – randomly chosen 19-year-old Sarah Killen from Michigan.
"I've decided to follow someone at random," O'Brien said after choosing the woman affectionately known as LovelyButton. "She likes peanut butter and gummy dinosaurs. Sarah Killen, your life is about to change."
Just as O'Brien predicted, the stunt shot Killen into the spotlight. Not only did her followers jump from next to no one into the thousands, she also turned up on MTV, among other places for interview requests.
More importantly, O'Brien's selection turned out to be an inspired choice that has led to random acts of kindness. First, Killen set up an online donation page for the Michigan Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure for breast cancer, which so far has resulted in nearly $3,000 in donations.
When Killen said she was planning to get married in September despite being strapped for money, a woman stepped forward and offered to design her a custom wedding down. The donor, New York-based Kelima K, asked only one thing in return: that Killen spread awareness for her favorite charity, Children's Hunger Fund (CHF). Since the plea, traffic to the charity site has spiked to levels just shy of the days following the Haiti earthquake in January.
"To see so many people wanting to help because of what Sarah said is simply astounding," said CHF Communications Director Fred Martin. "Through none of our own doing, the door has been thrown wide open for us to show the ongoing needs in Haiti."
Kudos to Conan for making an excellent choice. As for LovelyButton, she's setting a fine example that some "true" celebrities could actually learn from.
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