An Ordinary Man: Curtis Reliford at TEDxSantaCruz

Meet Curtis Reliford, an ordinary man who wanted to do something meaningful with his life. Through his annual cross country trips delivering donated goods from Santa Cruz to New Orleans, Curtis followed his heart to help others and discovered his true purpose in the process.

This TEDxSantaCruz talk is one of 22 surrounding our theme of "Activate" at the third full-day TEDxSantaCruz event held March 8, 2014 at the Hotel Paradox in Santa Cruz, CA.

It took a hurricane to wake Curtis Reliford up to the needs of people here in our own country -- the wealthiest country in the world. He founded Follow Your Heart Action Network, a grass-roots, non-profit organization started after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. In his travels across this country to make deliveries of donated goods to the displaced people of Louisiana, he witnessed the needs of people on Indian Reservations, ghettos, and the poorest communities. It has been a wake up call for him.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)