Exit
with a government-subsidized
home for runaway children called
Transit. The Lewis boys met a Nigerian girl who was sent by her
family to work for a pimp who’d
abandoned her when she reached
the city. Lewis arranged for the girl
to contact her brother. By the time
they left, Transit was arranging for
her to reunite with him in Nigeria.
“When we went to leave she
came up to me and said, ‘what
would I have done if you hadn’t
been there J.D. You saved my
life,’” he recalls in a strained voice.
The premise and execution of
TwelveinTwelve is not without
its opponents, however.
“A few people have been critics,
saying, ‘don’t be fooled this was
just a frivolous vacation.’ It was
not a vacation!” he says, affronted,
recalling the 12 hour work days in
the opal mines and remote hospitals of the Australian Outback and
the year spent living mostly in huts
with no electricity or water.
“The purpose of the trip was to
touch a few lives and make a difference wherever we could,” he says.
BACK IN CHARLOTTE
Lewis has been busy — when
Huffington caught up with him,
he had been back stateside for
GREATEST PERSON
OF THE WEEK
HUFFINGTON
10.07.12
about a month, and was making
plans to start helping some
of the organizations from his
post in Charlotte.
“A number of them are like,
‘Okay! You’re home, let’s get going!’ And I’m like, whoa it’s a lot
of work — I’m putting together a
team of people who are helping
me organize a foundation.”
It’s all about having
the passion to want to
do it. People have these
excuses for why they don’t
go out and live, but that’s
all they are: excuses.”
Lewis plans on choosing 12
organizations from the countries
he visited to address their most
pressing needs. He was also
given the chance to speak at the
DNC to raise awareness about
his campaign.
For those who long to pick up
and go on a trip like the Lewis boys,
he has some advice.
“It’s all about having the passion
to want to do it,” Lewis says. “People have these excuses for why they
don’t go out and live, but
that