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Random Acts of Kindness Week 1 of 52 - Join Us!


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Most of these "52 Week Challenge" things start around the New Year but what better time of year than Thanksgiving to start a challenge like this?

 

This year we're going to do a Random Act of Kindness A Week for 52 Weeks Challenge.

 

It doesn't matter how big or how small your Random Act of Kindness is over any given week. The idea is to just improve somebody's life, mood, spirits, week, or day in some way, no matter how big or small. Happiness is contagious. By doing nice things for other people, you're bound to make not just them feel good, but yourselves, too! And by involving the kids, the whole family, you'll be making THEM feel good, and teaching them to do good, too...it's a win/win!

 

It doesn't matter who the recipient is. It can be a friend, a relative, someone in your own household, a complete stranger, an animal friend. It can be someone truly needy, or truly deserving, or it may be one of those weeks where it is just someone you allow in front of you on the checkout line. Just DO something to brighten somebody's day each week.

 

I hope you'll join in on this challenge and post to the threads I'll be posting each week to let us all know what you did!

 

This way, we can both pool ideas and give each other some well-deserved recognition, and to share fun stories of how people reacted and so on. :)

 

What will you do this week?

 

ETA: Week 1 runs from Sunday, November 20 to Saturday, November 26

Edited by NanceXToo
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I'm not sure what all counts; but this morning, I sent an email to my agency commending another foster parent. I hope it will bring a smile to the face of her worker and various others.

 

Could y'all help me think of one? I wanted to do something nice for my boys' bus driver and aide. They are very sweet women and have been very helpful for my kiddos, esp the little one who is generally a bit challenging (severe understatement if you were to ask his teacher). Anyway, just not sure what a good idea might be.

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Pamela,

I am sure the email will be appreciated!

 

In fact, something similar may be much appreciated with the bus drivers, too! I know people do little gifts and such over the holidays with teachers and bus drivers and all, but how many people take the time to write a sincere letter of appreciation, both to a person...AND to a person's boss/supervisor letting them know what a great job that person does? Probably very few! Maybe something like that would be just the thing!

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So, last week, my homeschool group visited a local food pantry. I had set up a tour for our group to go in and see what it was like, and to learn about what they do and so on.

 

Each family who came, including mine, also donated some food while we were there, which, of course, was an 'act of kindness'...but doesn't count for this challenge since it was before this challenge started! (As a heads up, though, we were told that they get lots of donations around the holidays, but very few over the summer, in case you as a family or you as a homeschool group want to keep that in mind)! (Getting off track here, on the flip side, very few people donate blood over the busy holiday season, in case you want to consider that this time of year :D).

 

Anyway...while we were there, we met an older woman named Shirley who said she has been volunteering there for 12 or 13 years, since her husband died. She was really nice and she gave the kids snacks, and told us how she puts 20 or 30 hours a week into volunteering at this food pantry, and told us about the kind of work she puts into it and so on. She is SO dedicated to it!

 

I think I would like my family's first "random act of kindness" to be for Shirley. I will get back to you on what we end up doing exactly, I have to talk to my 11 y/o daughter about it first to see how she feels about it, which I will do when she wakes up, but she's got a gift certificate to Friendly's she won in a hula hoop contest a while back that never got spent and I think it might be nice to "feed" the woman who feeds so many others, and I have a feeling my daughter might be willing to give up her gift certificate. And if she's not, that's okay...I will find another way of going about it. :) But my idea is to send some sort of handwritten card or letter thanking her for what she does and including some sort of gift certificate type thing. If my daughter doesn't want to give up hers, I have a couple of other similar things lying around for like free desserts and such at this place and that (I don't know why we accumulate these things but somehow we do lol).

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My husband and my youngest DD are out right now helping a friend move to their new home. I'm home watching the boys (one is sick or I'd be going, too). Her husband leaves right after Thanksgiving on a business trip to Germany for 2 weeks and Mexico for 1 week. They are hoping they'll be mostly moved before he leaves. We only have a mini-van, but hope to bless them with whatever help we can provide. :001_smile:

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My husband and my youngest DD are out right now helping a friend move to their new home. I'm home watching the boys (one is sick or I'd be going, too). Her husband leaves right after Thanksgiving on a business trip to Germany for 2 weeks and Mexico for 1 week. They are hoping they'll be mostly moved before he leaves. We only have a mini-van, but hope to bless them with whatever help we can provide. :001_smile:

 

That is nice of them to help your friend move! I hope that your son feels better soon!

 

I am leaving a new blue mug with two of the Land O Lakes hot chocolate packets , (mmmm dark chocolate and butterscotch) for my postman - he deserves it as I often forget to get my mail except for once a week. I'm sure he gets frustrated with me.

 

Blessings,

Angela

 

That sounds and looks soooo delicious! :D I am sure he will appreciate it!

 

I wanted to edit my post to put a picture up, too, of the letter my daughter wrote and the picture she drew, but it wouldn't let me add an attachment to an edited post, so I will just add it to this one! This is the letter she typed to Shirley at the food pantry, and the picture she drew on the back of the letter! We'll be mailing the letter/picture and the gift certificate out in the morning!

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I wanted to edit my post to put a picture up, too, of the letter my daughter wrote and the picture she drew, but it wouldn't let me add an attachment to an edited post, so I will just add it to this one! This is the letter she typed to Shirley at the food pantry, and the picture she drew on the back of the letter! We'll be mailing the letter/picture and the gift certificate out in the morning!

 

Your dd's cursive handwriting is just beautiful! What style is that?

 

My dd and I had made a homemade apple pie and gave one to our neighbor. We don't know them very much, but we thought it would be nice.

 

When I worked at a pizza restaurant, one day two ladies came in to pick up an order. Then they asked if they could see several of the order slips that had been called in and that we were working on. They choose one of them and paid for it. They said to tell the person that it was a random act of kindness and to pay it forward. When the lady came in to pick up her order, she was certainly surprised!

Edited by ~AprilMay~
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I ground some of my fresh garam masala and made extra to give to a new nurse on the unit (who is from India) and some to one of the social workers who had a really, really bad week last week. I hope it cheers her up tomorrow.

 

This morning I crawled out of bed well before sunrise and dragged myself into work to "cover" for someone for a couple hours so he could take his wife and kids to the airport. It was **cold**.

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We made Thanksgiving cookies this afternoon. My dd8 is currently delivering them to our elderly neighbors. We also took their grocery list to the store this morning and did their shopping along with ours. We do this at least once a week, so I'm not sure that it actually counts as a random act of kindness.

 

It definitely counts! It counts more because you don't wait for a challenge like this to be a wonderful person lol.

 

My dd and I had made a homemade apple pie and gave one to our neighbor. We don't know them very much, but we thought it would be nice.

 

When I worked at a pizza restaurant, one day two ladies came in to pick up an order. Then they asked if they could see several of the order slips that had been called in and that we were working on. They choose one of them and paid for it. They said to tell the person that it was a random act of kindness and to pay it forward. When the lady came in to pick up her order, she was certainly surprised!

 

That is a nice thing to do for a neighbor you don't know well! It seems so often around here neighbors don't know each other well and just don't care to! That's really cool about the pizza place!

 

I ground some of my fresh garam masala and made extra to give to a new nurse on the unit (who is from India) and some to one of the social workers who had a really, really bad week last week. I hope it cheers her up tomorrow.

 

This morning I crawled out of bed well before sunrise and dragged myself into work to "cover" for someone for a couple hours so he could take his wife and kids to the airport. It was **cold**.

 

I hope it cheers her up, too! Definitely nice of you to get out of bed hours before you had to to cover for somebody else!

 

Fantastic idea! I will try to keep up with this.

 

I plan to have the kids help make some treats to deliver to the small fire station up the road.

 

And thanks for the mail carrier reminder. Just last week I was thinking about leaving goodies for her.

 

I am sure the fire department and the mail carrier will both appreciate it! They are on my eventual to get to list, too!

 

Fabulous idea! Looking forward to participating!

 

Welcome, and looking forward to hearing what you come up with! :)

 

Oh! :lol: Well, I guess that explains why it's so perfect!

 

Haha! Yeah! It's a really nice computer font though! LOL!

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Yesterday, at church, I told a young lady (she's about 15yo) that she looked very beautiful (which she did!). She had obviously tried to look nice and had her hair up in a twist with a lovely kind of hair decoration (not sure what it's called). She is just beginning to bloom and thought it would encourage her to know that someone had noticed the extra pains she had taken with her hair.

 

I think I'll do something for my mail carrier today. We live on a dirt road tucked near the back of our subdivision. She is not required to bring my packages to my door and all the other carriers before her just left notices in the box. It is extremely helpful that she takes the extra time to bring packages to my door as I don't always have an easy way of getting out to the post office.

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I ground some of my fresh garam masala and made extra to give to a new nurse on the unit (who is from India) and some to one of the social workers who had a really, really bad week last week. I hope it cheers her up tomorrow.

 

I want some of that! Does it help that I know what it is?

 

Sorry I am so late writing, but I was early doing. I delivered 3 boxes of food to some people in our community for Thanksgiving. Our church put together 35 boxes (with Turkeys) But my dd and I drove 3 of them to there destinations. She was so good, she carried each of the Turkeys.

 

I have to check with my church, but I want to see if I can contact one of the families again. I was thinking of asking her what she needed that wouldn't be covered by church and gift charities. Toilet paper, paying phone bill or something like that.

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I met a new family who I will now be working with. They have very little for their 3 kids and the mother seems so stressed dealing with 3 kids under 3yo...two with special needs. They had only a couple little toys so I went through my toy bag that I bring into houses and left them some books and toys. I also gave their name to a local charity who will bring them presents for Christmas and will be getting the kids something myself as well.

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Yesterday, at church, I told a young lady (she's about 15yo) that she looked very beautiful (which she did!). She had obviously tried to look nice and had her hair up in a twist with a lovely kind of hair decoration (not sure what it's called). She is just beginning to bloom and thought it would encourage her to know that someone had noticed the extra pains she had taken with her hair.

 

I think I'll do something for my mail carrier today. We live on a dirt road tucked near the back of our subdivision. She is not required to bring my packages to my door and all the other carriers before her just left notices in the box. It is extremely helpful that she takes the extra time to bring packages to my door as I don't always have an easy way of getting out to the post office.

 

Definitely sweet to give people extra compliments. They can leave you smiling. :) So, what did you do for the mail carrier?

 

Sorry I am so late writing, but I was early doing. I delivered 3 boxes of food to some people in our community for Thanksgiving. Our church put together 35 boxes (with Turkeys) But my dd and I drove 3 of them to there destinations. She was so good, she carried each of the Turkeys.

 

I have to check with my church, but I want to see if I can contact one of the families again. I was thinking of asking her what she needed that wouldn't be covered by church and gift charities. Toilet paper, paying phone bill or something like that.

 

That's a great idea. I think people donate a lot of food and stuff especially around the holidays but not so much those other things!

 

I guess ours was helping to fold the big flag at the fire department today. They bought an enormous flag for hanging on the big boom truck at things like 4th of July. Dh made an enormous box to store it in and so instead of rolling it, it was time to get it folded. It took over 20 people to fold it!

 

Wow, huge! That's cool that your husband is the one who made the box for it!

 

I met a new family who I will now be working with. They have very little for their 3 kids and the mother seems so stressed dealing with 3 kids under 3yo...two with special needs. They had only a couple little toys so I went through my toy bag that I bring into houses and left them some books and toys. I also gave their name to a local charity who will bring them presents for Christmas and will be getting the kids something myself as well.

 

Aw, three under three is tough, and two with special needs no less is even tougher. That's sweet of you to get them things with your own money in addition to hooking them up with the charities!

 

I've enjoyed hearing from you all about what you've done over the past week! Still hoping to hear from more of you! :)

 

Week two will start tomorrow, and I will post a new thread for that... so if you've got stories to share from this past week, post them here! Remember, these don't have to be major, life-changing things! They can be minor, smile-inducing things- and for all of us, many weeks they will simply be just that, so don't feel like you shouldn't post because it won't be post-worthy...or else other people won't post because they'll feel the same, and the whole challenge will fall apart....just post, encourage each other, and keep the challenge going.

 

For us, the things that come to mind from this past week are the letter and GC we sent to Shirley from the food pantry, which I already mentioned here in this thread, stopping just short of running some lady's groceries over in a supermarket parking lot while circling around looking for a parking spot, as 2 or 3 cans and jars went rolling under her car as she was loading up and one of her bags broke...my daughter jumped out of our car and gathered them for her and gave them to her...and I helped someone looking into my homeschool group connect with someone else who could give her information on the cyber school she used as this was a single mom who is going to school, working a few odd hours, overwhelmed by the thought of homeschooling her two girls on top of it all, but desperately wanting them out of the public school they are in and wanting to know how she could find out what cyber schools might be good ones.

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I am leaving a new blue mug with two of the Land O Lakes hot chocolate packets , (mmmm dark chocolate and butterscotch) for my postman - he deserves it as I often forget to get my mail except for once a week. I'm sure he gets frustrated with me.

 

Blessings,

Angela

 

Funny update! The postman left me a "thank you" (see pic)...when I showed it to DH he hadn't realized I'd left the mug for the postman and thought he was thanking me for finally emptying the mailbox! :lol:

 

I also made a double batch of my homemade split pea soup and delivered half of it to my friend. She said they enjoyed it.

 

Thanks so much for encouraging us in this way - I enjoy the accountability and it is fun to see what other people are doing for fun ideas.

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Funny update! The postman left me a "thank you" (see pic)...when I showed it to DH he hadn't realized I'd left the mug for the postman and thought he was thanking me for finally emptying the mailbox! :lol:

 

I also made a double batch of my homemade split pea soup and delivered half of it to my friend. She said they enjoyed it.

 

Thanks so much for encouraging us in this way - I enjoy the accountability and it is fun to see what other people are doing for fun ideas.

 

That's so funny, Angela! And very sweet of you to do those things. (By the way, I hope you guys are doing well--long time no see!)

 

My random act was speaking to a worker at a restaurant who seemed somewhat mentally challenged and "invisible," iykwim. She acted like I made her day by way she talked w/me and the things she said. Precious. I love those personal interactions in our hectic, often disconnected lives.

 

My dad's act was to give $100 to a man he knew that could help anonymously w/needy kids. The man took two of the boys shopping for warm clothes and was able to buy what they needed for winter.

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That's so funny, Angela! And very sweet of you to do those things. (By the way, I hope you guys are doing well--long time no see!)

 

 

Good to see you too, Chelle!! We're doing well. It is a dreary, rainy day today but has been gorgeous TDay and yesterday. I took the boys to play at a local Christmas tree farm (we can't have one b/c of allergies & asthma, but the boys like to play there and I get a live wreath to put on our front porch.) I was so glad the weather was agreeable.

 

That's really cool about you making someone feel "visible". I know how upsetting it is to feel invisible and it is so nice when people take the time to notice you.

 

Hope you are doing great as well!

Blessings,

Angela

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Our family went out to dinner the night before Thanksgiving. Our server was a young mother working her way through school. We decided to leave a generous tip with a Happy Thanksgiving note for her. Around Christmas time, I usually keep a few extra Christmas cards in the car to leave for other servers as well.

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I bought my mail carrier a pair of Isotoner mitten/gloves - they look like mittens but you can pull the tops back and underneath are fingerless gloves. That way she can keep her hands warm while driving and still be able to finger the mail easily when it's time to deliver it. I left them in the box on Thanksgiving and so she probably picked them up yesterday. Hope she likes them.:)

Edited by Kathleen in VA
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Good to see you too, Chelle!! We're doing well. It is a dreary, rainy day today but has been gorgeous TDay and yesterday. I took the boys to play at a local Christmas tree farm (we can't have one b/c of allergies & asthma, but the boys like to play there and I get a live wreath to put on our front porch.) I was so glad the weather was agreeable.

 

That's really cool about you making someone feel "visible". I know how upsetting it is to feel invisible and it is so nice when people take the time to notice you.

 

Hope you are doing great as well!

Blessings,

Angela

 

What a fun time for you guys! We have had the same weather--awesome until today! We are doing really well--enjoying the baseball break! Of course, the teens still have twice per week practices, but it's a much slower pace for a few months.

 

I bought my mail carrier a pair of Isotoner mitten/gloves - they look like mittens but you can pull the tops back and underneath are fingerless gloves. That way she can keep her hands warm while driving and still be able to finger the mail easily when it's time to deliver it. I left them in the box on Thanksgiving and so she probably picked them up yesterday. Hope she likes them.:)

 

Oh, man! Those sound great! I will look for those for my mail lady! Thanks for the idea! ETA: Just found them online at Kohl's-$17.50!

 

I love reading everyone's ideas. I was a little hesitant to post at first because I kind of felt braggy (:tongue_smilie:), but I think it's great inspiration to see what all is possible that I wouldn't have thought of.

Edited by Chelle in MO
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AJ,

Love that he left you a thank you note, and that's so funny about your husband!

 

Chelle,

I know exactly what you mean and do think it's both important and kind to go out of your way to make people feel like they aren't invisible! And oh I really hope this challenge doesn't make anyone hesitate to post for fear of coming across like bragging! The idea isn't to show each other "look how great I am!" it's 1) accountability- to keep us going with doing these things. 2) to pool ideas- to give each other ideas we might not have thought of. 3) to show cumulative effect- that while it might not seem like what any one thing you do is a big deal it all adds up and when you add up what we are all doing together we are making the world a brighter place. :)

 

Amo,

Very sweet of you, it can be so tough on the elderly who don't have much and might not have anyone looking out for them!

 

Mom25girls,

Wow! 1,000 cookies! How awesome that you do all that baking for the shelter!

 

Cowgirl,

I am sure your server really appreciated that!!! My SIL is a waitress and it's been such a struggle for her lately. Business slow in general, people not tipping well, etc, and of course they can't even count on minimum wage and really depend on those tips!

 

Kathleen,

Those gloves sound awesome! I am sure she will love them!!

 

Carrie,

Would love to see pics of the ornaments! That is nice of you to give away things that took so much time to make, both as gifts and for the charity event!

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Funny update! The postman left me a "thank you" (see pic)...when I showed it to DH he hadn't realized I'd left the mug for the postman and thought he was thanking me for finally emptying the mailbox! :lol:

 

I also made a double batch of my homemade split pea soup and delivered half of it to my friend. She said they enjoyed it.

 

Thanks so much for encouraging us in this way - I enjoy the accountability and it is fun to see what other people are doing for fun ideas.

 

This is a great idea! I am also horrible at emptying my mailbox, he has had to come to the door a few times as he couldn't fit any more mail in. I think I might steal this for next week.

 

Update, I did another thing today inspired by this board. Some Mormon missionaries came to the door today, and dh sent them on their way. I explained about the missionary thread I read here and then went running after them. I told them that I was a homeschool mom, and belonged to a board with a lot of LDS members. I asked how long they were on their mission for. I told them that we were Episcopalian, and that would not be changing. I said that the gist of the conversation was that the door knocking was the least favorite thing that they did when they had no other work and that they would be much happier cleaning some gutters than knocking on doors. I asked if this was true and got a "it's not to bad, but yes I do enjoy garden work." I said we had a drain project in January and if they wanted to come back my husband would love the help and I could cook them a nice lunch. They seemed very happy and wrote it down in their book. I remembered that they were someone's children and I reached out.

Edited by Northwest_Mama
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Oh, I just saw this! What have I done this past week? Ummmm, we donated canned goods to a home for mentally challenged adults and obtained more specific info so that we can do more for them.... We took some books we bought for younger children and dropped them at the International Book Project warehouse today. They're getting ready to send shipments to Eastern Kentucky and Uganda.... I just dropped a big load of boys' clothing at Goodwill after giving quite a bit away to friends (who in turn passed more on to their friends).... I finalized the reservation for a double physics lab at an area science museum that I set up for homeschoolers in our area....

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On Tuesday, I spent the day cooking a 20 pound turkey to donate to our church's Thanksgiving meal ministry. Thursday, we spent the morning (8am until noon) serving at our church. We were part of a team of people who prepared, cooked, served, and delivered about 600 meals to people in our community. Many of them are low income, homebound or unable to prepare a meal. We had an increase in the number of meals served. Last year was about 425 meals...this year, they expected to deliver about 500 and then open the church to about 100-150 guests to eat there.

It was a great day to spend Thanksgiving. We've done it for the past 6 years or so.

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Regena,

I've never heard of the International Book Project. Going to have to look into it!

 

Toawh,

That's ok, you have to start somewhere and there will be bigger weeks and smaller weeks! The big thing, really, is that you have the kids on board with helping others. :)

 

Jenn,

That's an amazing way to spend Thanksgiving! And every year, too!

 

I am glad so many of you have participated this first week. *I know how busy many of us were with family and holiday stuff. But again this doesn't have to be anything major or time consuming in any given week. You guys have done great. You've made a difference in other's lives and have hopefully inspired others to join in next (this) week and touch even more lives!

 

This thread is now closed. I am going to start the Week 2 thread right now and will be back within a few minutes to edit this post to include the link. Anything you do from today to next Sunday and even updates you want to share from this past week (notes of thanks etc) you can share in the most current thread).

 

ETA: Here is the link to the Week 2 thread, please direct all further conversation there:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3358964#post3358964

Edited by NanceXToo
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