Recently Brad Meltzer’s new novel, The Book of Lies, arrived in stores. As you may have heard, it touches upon one of Meltzer’s biggest passions: the creation of Superman.When the author was researching his book, though, he discovered something even more disturbing than anything he had read in a comic book. The Cleveland home where Jerry Siegel created the Man of Steel was in terrible shape. In hopes of restoring this historic landmark and to show how ordinary people can contribute to any cause, Meltzer has launched the website OrdinaryPeopleChangetheWorld.com. So far an impressive team of writers, artists and Superman fans has latched on to the cause, including Stephen Colbert, Alex Ross, Neil Gaiman, Tim Sale, Richard Donner, Mike Mignola, Jim Lee and Dave Gibbons. They have contributed an array of auction items, including artwork, a walk-on role on the NBC show Heroes, the chance to “name the next villain in Ed Brubaker’s creator-owned comic book” and lots more.

• If you don’t have tons of cash, you can also help by buying a variety of Chip Kidd-designed T-shirts and merchandise or simply donating via the site. All proceeds go to the restoration efforts.

• Click here for more information and to watch a heartwarming video that explains and shows Meltzer’s tour of the Siegel house.