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Hi all,

It's come to my attention that someone has made claims that the Jonathan's Card project is a viral marketing campaign sponsored by Starbucks. I've also seen comments on Facebook and Twitter from people who have suggested that this is some sort of scam, or that I'm hoarding free coffee coupons, etc... These sorts of responses are a small minority of the feedback I've received so far, but I feel they need to be addressed.

Let me be 100% clear:

The Jonathan's Card experiment was completely my idea, Starbucks had absolutely nothing to do with it, and until recently, I was scared to death that Starbucks might sue the crap out of me. Furthermore, I'm not making any money from this project (quite the opposite, in fact) and I'm currently working out how to donate the hundreds of free coffee coupons that have been earned. 

I am deeply hurt by accusations that I've been acting out of self-interest or on behalf of Starbucks, partly because it calls my integrity into question, but more importantly because it threatens to destroy the good feelings that have been built up by thousands of people who have participated in this wonderful experiment.

I'm not sure how I can convince skeptics that I'm on the level, but out of respect for everyone who has believed in and been touched by this project I feel obligated to open myself up to whatever scrutiny doubters would like to subject me to.

While doing so might be disruptive to my friends and family, I feel strongly that I owe it to believers everywhere to take a stand against cynics who are too jaded to believe that anyone would ever do something nice for others for the simple reason that it feels good.

Sorry for the rant... thanks for listening,

j