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Lots of people say they want to help end world hunger. But how many would give up their homes to do it?
Rusty Dornin introduces us to a family who really impacted their world -- by putting their mansion on the market to help others. "well we have such a great house"
WHEN 15 YEAR OLD HANNAH SALWEN BROUGHT FRIENDS TO HER HOUSE IN ATLANTA...THEY'D OFTEN BE STUNNED. "they would walk into the house and say "wow! you live here?" FOR NINE YEARS THE SALWEN FAMILY LIVED IN THIS 1912 ATLANTA MANSION. 5 BEDROOMS... 8 FIREPLACES.... A KITCHEN TO DIE FOR... AND EVEN AN ELEVATOR IN HER BEDROOM. BUT THEN ONE DAY THE TEEN SAW A MERCEDES STOPPED ON THE STREET NEXT TO A HOMELESS MAN "
I said to my dad, if that guy didn't have such a nice car then that guy could have a nice meal."
AND SO BEGAN THE AMAZING TALE OF WHAT THE FAMILY CALLS HANNAH'S LUNCHBOX. "we stopped and paused and thought about what are the things in the world that could really make a difference." HER BROTHER JOSEPH EXPLAINS THEIR DREAM ON A YOUTUBE VIDEO HE MADE FOR A CONTEST. "we dream of selling this house and moving into one half it's size and donating half the proceeds to the hungry and needy people of Africa."
AND MOVE THEY DID INTO A HOUSE LESS THAN HALF THE SIZE OF THEIR 6500 SQUARE FOOT MANSION WHICH IS STILL FOR SALE. NEXT THEY HAD TO DECIDE WHO WOULD GET HALF THE PROCEEDS FROM THE HOUSE SALE. 800 THOUSAND DOLLARS. "we decided as a group we were most interested in hunger."
AFTER A YEAR OF RESEARCH, THEY DECIDED TO PICK THE HUNGER PROJECT. CHARITY OFFICIALS SAY THE MONEY WILL BE USED TO HELP THESE VILLAGERS IN GHANA BUILD SCHOOLS AND CLINICS, TOUCHING THE LIVES OF NEARLY 20 THOUSAND PEOPLE.
WHILE THIS HOUSE WAS A DREAM OF LIFETIME FOR JOAN SALWEN. "hard to give up." "yes hard to give up." BUT IT WAS HER IDEA TO SELL. "it was a challenge it was a test almost to see how committed are we?
I mean how serious are these kids about what we should do... and they all nodded and there we were"
IT'S A TOUGH MARKET TO SELL ANY HOUSE--LET ALONE A NEARLY ONE POINT EIGHT MILLION DOLLAR ONE. IT'S BEEN ON THE MARKET FOR MORE THAN A YEAR. "roughly six or seven hours in the villages."
THIS WEEK THEY WILL LEAVE FOR TO GHANA. A FAMILY OF FOUR, READY TO GIVE AWAY HALF THEIR AMERICAN DREAM TO HELP TRANSFORM THE LIVES OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF OTHERS. RUSTY DORNIN CNN, ATLANTA
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