Etsy, Ryan Devlin & This Bar Saves Lives

So here’s something kind of neat.

The other night, as I was watching my latest Netflix addiction, the Etsy App dinged a notification on my iphone. It was a conversation from a guy named Ryan in California asking about one of my Etsy listings. When he asked how long it would take to ship, I instantly thought, “oh, no, it might actually sell”.

I do realize that selling things is the point of Etsy, but he was asking about one of my most treasured finds from my personal collection. Honestly, it was something I thought I’d never part with, but after months of enjoying it, that nagging voice now known so well hit me. “It’s time to let it go for someone else to enjoy.”

Yeah, well, I ignored that voice for months, but then finally listened and listed it for sale . . . mainly to prove to myself that I could let it go. So the next day, when the Etsy App “ca-chinged” (meaning sale), I cringed. I knew my little treasure wouldn’t be mine for much longer.

So here’s the neat part . . .

Turns out, Ryan is Ryan Devlin.

Ok, maybe you don’t know who Ryan Devlin is. I didn’t until the other day after printing out his shipping label. Sorry, Ryan, but I haven’t watched much TV or box office movies in years except for the occassional (I mean constant) late night Netflix binge. The only reason I now know is because of the shipping address he provided: Ryan Devlin in care of “This Bar Saves Lives”.

Hmm. “This Bar Saves Lives”? With a name like that, how could I not google it?

Interesting. Ryan happens to be a pretty famous actor. Two seasons as Bill Portman on “Grey’s Anatomy “. . .

Two seasons on “Brothers and Sisters” as Seth . .

and as Mercer Hayes on “Veronica Mars” with Kristen Bell (his co-founding partner) . . .

and on and on in TV shows and in the theaters. His latest project is the MTV reality show: “Are You the One”. Pretty cool.  But — even more cool than his achievements in the fierce acting world — is the company he started: This Bar Saves Lives.

Apparently, after traveling to Liberia and witnessing firsthand the devastating effects of severe childhood malnutrition, he couldn’t shake the memories. So he came up with this simple idea after hearing about a life saving nutrition packet called Plumpy Nut. Sell a healthy snack bar and donate a life-saving nutrition packet to a starving child. So much easier said than done. Most of us speculate on humanitarian ideas. He made it happen. And it all began as an email to a hopefully helpful friend, which he captioned: “just a little idea on how to save the world”.

The link below tells his story far better than I can . . . please watch it . . . Ryan’s the cutie in the middle. The link takes you to his website, but then scroll down and click on  “Our Story” to watch a short video:

http://www.thisbarsaveslives.com/

So far, nearly 600,000 of these life-saving nutrition packets have been donated due to his (and his team’s) efforts. That’s awesome.

I never even heard of Ryan until a few days ago, but I can just tell . . . he’s pretty awesome, too. If I had to let go of one of my favorite treasures, so glad it found its way into good hands.

So, where can we buy these bars? Buy a bar to give a packet from Whole Foods in the West, at Starbucks in Denver and Baltimore and online.

Thanks for reading! 

~ Mary