Not long ago, [Shay] Kelley was just like any other 20-something. She was “living the life of luxury” with running water, a roof over her head and a job paying the bills as a sales representative for AT&T. 

She moved from Illinois to Jackson, Miss., when the company relocated her job. Not long after moving to Mississippi, the AT&T branch she was working for went belly up. Then her car got stolen. It wasn’t long until she found herself sleeping on park benches with nothing but a suitcase in hand, her dog at her side.

“I was furious. I was yelling at God. ‘Why did you do this to me? Tell me what I’m supposed to do and I’ll do it,’” Kelley said.

A few weeks later, she got an idea. From that moment, she says, she knew what she was meant to do.

Shay journals her trek in her Project 50/50 website and blog. “If we have, we give… and we make donations to both organizations and individuals in need. We are actively seeking opportunities to give, rather than simply responding to a request. We want to fill up the 8-foot bed of the truck and empty it at least once a week. We believe in giving without judgement or stipulation, for the sake of love and generosity. We give without strings attached, and we do it daily.”