The camera that traveled a 1,000 miles...and found its way back home

Just recently, I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a post from a friend of mine, Jodi. She had shared a few photos of people I didn’t know with this caption: “I’m conducting an experiment of the power of Facebook. My son found a camera while camping in Oregon, and I’m sharing a few photos from it to see if we can use the power of Facebook  to find the owner.” 

Now, Jodi lives in Northern California, only about 10 minutes from my house. Oregon is a whole state away.

Within four hours, the owner messaged Jodi on Facebook and told her it was his camera. He was from Boise, Idaho, and had been camping in Oregon when he lost it. 

Coincidentally, my family and I were planning a trip to Boise (crazy, right??) about a week later, so we decided to have some fun and hand-deliver the camera to its rightful owner. 

Here’s Jodi telling her side of the story:

We drove out to Boise, Idaho on a Sunday, and the next day drove to Nampa to meet up with Max, the owner of the camera. 

Max had asked that we meet him where he works; he’s a pediatric nurse at a clinic called The Nampa Family Justice Center that provides heath care for foster kids. I immediately thought: what a coincidence! The fact that we adopted four of our kids out of foster care was not lost on me. 

We walked into the facility, and I let the receptionist know I was there to see Max. A few minutes later, he walked out and warmly greeted our whole family, then took us back into a patient room. We sat down to chat:

I learned a lot about Max in that chat. He told me he has been a professor at Boise State University for 10 years. He had been working for a few years at Nampa Family Justice Center.

He’s worked in pediatric oncology, and is finishing his PhD this summer. Part of the goal of the clinic he works in is to empower foster parents to be able to take care of hospitalized foster children.

He’s a pretty amazing man. 

Then we got to chatting about the camera. 

Max, his girlfriend Karen, and his 11-year-old son Nate, were on a camping trip with five other people in Minam, Oregon. Their trip started on the Wallowa River for the first day, then flowed into the Grande Ronde. Max had brought his waterproof Canon camera. On day three of their trip, after floating down the river for some time, Max realized the camera must have fallen out of his pocket. He was so bummed it was lost, because that night, a bear came right up to their campsite, and he couldn’t get a picture. But, what was gone was gone...or so he thought. 

Max and his entourage finished up their trip along the Snake River and went their separate ways back home. 

Three days after returning from their trip, Max got a call from his friend, Dave, who told him to go check out some lady’s Facebook page who had pictures of him on her wall, and was trying to locate the owner of the camera. 

And the rest is history. 

And so, that is how one little Canon camera traveled more than 1,000 miles: from Boise, to northeastern Oregon, down to Sacramento, and back out to Boise again. 

You see? Good things can happen on Facebook!

Many thanks to Jodi for her willingness to take the time to conduct a social experiment, and to Max for his openness and service to the foster children in his area. 

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This article was written by Shanti Landon, a certified life coach and the creator of the popular food + lifestyle blog, Life Made Full. She is mom to five kids and the author of two ebooks: 30 Days to a Life Made Full and 10 Minute Prep Freezer Meals. Shanti started her blog in 2012 after her husband, Chris, was diagnosed with celiac disease, and their family switched to a mostly Paleo diet. Shanti loves running, coffee, pretty much anything chocolate, and watching funny dog videos on Facebook. Oh, and she lets her dog get away with more than she allows her kids. You can catch up with her (and keep tabs on her freakin’ adorable Labradoodle puppy Huck) on Instagram,Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest as well as YouTube.”