An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes an article from FastCoExist:
When debt-troubled businessman Michael Spackman put his private New Zealand beach on sale, Kiwis started a crowdfunding campaign to buy it back for the public… The crowdfunding campaign raised $1.7 million in donations from around 40,000 people. Even the New Zealand government contributed $254,000.

The BBC reports that the campaign “snubbed a businessman who offered them money in exchange for private access to part of the beach,” with the campaign’s creator calling this an example of technology’s power to unite people for a common cause. “Sometimes you can feel powerless, so for us, it’s been a marvelous experience… There’s been a real feeling of coming together.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – New Zealand Crowdfunds .7 Million To Buy A Private Beach