Why This Exists: Doubts, Encounters, and Putting Inspiration to Work

Whenever you set out to build something deeply personal in public, doubt follows right behind you.

Over the past six months of building MeAndJackson.com—and wrestling with whether to launch it—I’ve asked myself every hard question in the book:

• Will people think I’m grandstanding?

• Does this look like it’s just about me?

• Am I too old to be taking on a project like this?

• Who am I to stand up and try to do this?

If you care about integrity, those questions never completely go away. But whenever that internal noise gets loud, I come back to a simple, grounding reality: I know my heart, and I know why I built this.

Over the years, I have been blessed with a series of unusual, memorable encounters with Jackson Browne. For a lifelong fan, those moments were incredible. But holding onto stories just to retell them at dinner parties felt like a missed opportunity. Jackson—a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and one of America’s premier singer-songwriters of all time—has built a life and catalog that stand for something much bigger than celebrity: social conscience, accountability, and showing up for people in need.

It is my belief that leaders like Jackson first want to awaken our consciousness. But the highest compliment we can ever pay an activist is to become activists ourselves.

We will naturally express our activism in different ways than they did. We might approach things from an angle they wouldn’t have chosen, or in ways they don’t 100% agree with—just as others didn’t always agree with them when they took their first steps. But true leaders understand that. They don’t demand copies of themselves; they support the impulse to act because, at the end of the day, they care about the cause most of all.

I realized that if I could parlay Jackson’s bountiful influence and share these encounters in an honest way, I could turn simple storytelling into a live engine for real-world good.

This isn’t about me. It’s about channeling the collective goodwill of people who love this music toward a cause that matters.

People often talk about raising “a lot” of money, as if success is only measured by a giant corporate check. But “a lot” is relative. If a single child gets fed tonight, or one family has groceries on their table this week because of this site, that is everything to them. We are trying to help one person, one family at a time, as many times as we possibly can—not just across the United States, but around the world.

I am not asking you to join this effort because you like me or find my stories entertaining. I’m asking you to join because you already care about your fellow human beings, and maybe this space gives you the slight push you needed to act today.

Every link on this platform connects you directly to WhyHunger.org. We take no cuts, handle no transactions, and claim zero percentage—100% of every dollar you give goes straight to their frontline work. (And if your giving is already dedicated to your local hometown food pantry, give to them today instead. The mission is ending hunger.)

Even with all the self-doubt leading up to this launch, putting this project out into the world brings a real sense of accomplishment. I started it, I built it, and now I need to promote it—not for any self-serving reason, but to do my part to feed hungry people.

If this resonates with you, please share this page with friends and family as something kind of bizarre and unique about the quiet kindness of Jackson Browne. More than that, I hope it encourages you to start your own fundraising effort in whatever way fits your life, your story, and who you’ve become.

And if you, like me, are now past retirement age: know that it is never too late to step up, make a difference, and carry the mantle forward.

Welcome to the site. If you’re moved to help, the link below is waiting.

[Donate Directly to WhyHunger.org]