A hundred years ago if you had a quilt all sandwiched and ready to go, you called your friends and had a bee. While you served mint tea and gingersnaps, each lady leaned over the frame with her favorite needle and quilted. Ten stitches per inch was standard. Twelve was better. I once bought an antique with fourteen. Young children played underneath and kept the eyes threaded. 

If a farmer's barn burned down, he asked his neighbors to show up, which they were wont to do, and hoist lumber into the sky. Before sunset, the barn was solid. 

Many hands can do what one pair finds daunting. 

Those events are less frequent these days outside of Amish country. But there is crowd sourcing. If someone hopes to produce a film, or fund a family that wants a pool, or pull a single mother out of poverty, there are a slew of social media avenues to explore. I have chipped in more than two cents to a few myself, and seen the numbers climb. 

My mind wanders to an app that could garner support for marriages. What if you could invite friends to write an affirmation for a couple who have forgotten why to keep trying? Or post pictures of the four of you on the beach, before wrinkles and cynicism set in? Who might show up with a romantic dinner, whisking off the kids to a movie? What friends would willingly order books, or films that could quietly arrive in the mail or Netflix queue? 

Because many hearts can do what one finds daunting.