\u201cWhat do you want to do?\u201d\u009d her mom responded. \u201cSell our house?\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Warning! Never suggest a grand gesture to an idealistic teenager. Hannah seized upon the idea of selling the luxurious family home and donating half the proceeds to charity, while using the other half to buy a more modest replacement home.<\/p>\n
Eventually, that\u2019s what the family did. The project \u201d\u201d crazy, impetuous and utterly inspiring \u201d\u201d is chronicled in a book by father and daughter scheduled to be published next month: \u201cThe Power of Half.\u201d\u009d It\u2019s a book that, frankly, I\u2019d be nervous about leaving around where my own teenage kids might find it. An impressionable child reads this, and the next thing you know your whole family is out on the street.<\/p>\n
At a time of enormous needs in Haiti and elsewhere, when so many Americans are trying to help Haitians by sending everything from text messages to shoes, the Salwens offer an example of a family that came together to make a difference \u201d\u201d for themselves as much as the people they were trying to help.<\/p>\n