At least a hundred people ascended on Hanging Rock Camp this weekend with the mission to party, raise money for charity and “chive on.” This is the second year that a group of people who follow the websites and social media sites of The Chive and OK Chive have gathered together along the Illinois River. Hailing from Tahlequah, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas, and various other places, this community of “Chivers” bonds immediately, even if having never met before, because they all choose to, as the saying goes, “Keep calm and Chive on.” “Chive is a group of people who love people and love to help people,” said Donivan Riddle, administrator for the Tahlequah Chive social media sites. “We’re a group who won’t ever judge you; who will hold an event, make you pay to come to it, and take that money and give it to charities.” What started as a photo-heavy entertainment website in 2008, TheChive.com has developed into being a member of Resignation Media’s “global lifestyle brand in entertainment, apparel, music, charity and beer, all while staying true to the warm-spirited, charitable nature of its audience,” according to its website. Each day, an average of 3 million people visit the site, which gets 170 million monthly page views. Site visitors are greeted with galleries of photos featuring humor, “beautiful women, groundbreaking photography, and art from all over the world.” In the beginning, brothers John and Leo Resig would scour the web looking for trending and unique photos and videos to feature on their site, hoping to gain site hits and, therefore, money from advertisers. Now the site, and its smaller official and unofficial chapter sites, encourage Chivers to submit multimedia.
“We are more than just crazy pictures,” said Riddle. “You don’t apply or sign up to be a Chiver. You just are, if you help, volunteer or love to have fun – whether your idea of fun is to crochet, hike, help, have a few beers by a fire, wear a creepy horse head, dress like Harry Potter or however you see as fun. Just be you.”
Riddle’s talk of hosting events for charity and volunteering is the spirit of Chive that grew unintentionally from the Resig brothers. In 2011, the story of a possible shutdown of a rural ambulance service prompted the sharing of the story and a call to action to the Chive community. Since then, the official nonprofit has raised over $3.3 million in grants and $1.8 million in “flash charity funding,” according to chivecharities.org. This weekend’s OK Chive float trip will raise money for the local charity Rise Up Inc., to help African communities improve their schools.
“The biggest part with us is the charity,” Austin Reed said about he and his wife’s involvement with The Chive. “We like paying back to the community and having fun.”