Longtime listeners of the Tom Woods Show will surely remember Gret Glyer, creator of the DonorSee app.
That app allowed people to help others in need, and then — in the spirit of transparency implied in the app’s name — donors would see the effects of their donations. They might receive a video of someone seeing for the first time, or someone opening a little business thanks to the donor’s modest infusion of capital.
Not to mention, it cut through the bureaucracy that eats up so much in donor funds. When I emailed my list about him back in 2016, my subject line was, “How to help the poor without paying for the aid agency CEO’s chauffeur.”
So in that way, and in Gret’s commitment to the free market rather than state-led development as the key to lifting people and nations out of poverty, DonorSee was a shot across the bow in the world of international philanthropy.
Glyer himself moved to Malawi — the world’s poorest country — for three years in order to be of service. He created DonorSee after moving back to the United States.
When I first got to know Gret in 2016, he was a mere lad of 26. Very smart and impressive, and of course passionate.
After his first appearance with me, he wrote: “Hi Tom! I just got back from my time in Haiti. I am proud to say that aid from DonorSee reached the vulnerable people of Les Cayes faster than any of the major aid organizations! Your podcast was such a big hit, and has really helped to get DonorSee kickstarted.”
Naturally, as someone concerned about the developing world, Gret was excellent on the lockdowns, which he described as a death sentence for the people he served.
He wrote in an email to me in 2020: “I’ve been following this situation closely. Countries like Kenya, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Liberia, Sudan have locked down their citizens. For them, lockdowns are a death sentence. 85% of these countries live hand-to-mouth. They only make enough money in a day to feed their families for that day…so what do you think will happen when they are prevented from earning for weeks and months at a time? They were already living on the knife’s edge of survival before this!”
I was glad to be able to make introductions for Gret, and to get his app covered by National Review, which got him a lot of extra reach in the early days.
Here is a recent picture of Gret with his wife and two children under age 2:
And now for the devastating news.
Gret was shot to death in his home while in bed during the early hours of Friday morning.
Authorities have no suspect or motive at this time.
I am shocked and devastated at such a cruel and senseless injustice.
Here is one of Gret’s more recent appearances with me. You can see he was a sweet and sincere guy: https://tomwoods.com/ep-1940-helping-the-poor-without-the-state/
And if you feel so moved, here is how you can help Gret’s wife and children (DonorSee set up a fund): https://www.gofundme.com/f/gret-glyer
Read the original article at TomWoods.com. https://tomwoods.com/devastating-news/
Thomas E. Woods, Jr., is the 2019 winner of the Hayek Lifetime Achievement Award from the Austrian Economics Center in Vienna. He is a senior fellow of the Mises Institute and host of The Tom Woods Show, which releases a new episode every weekday. Visit https://tomwoods.com