Random Acts of Kindness Day

Today is Happy Random Acts of Kindness Day. This day is recognized for doing random kind gestures for your fellow man. Here are a few I wanted to share with you from myself and some of my friends:

Anonymous- I live next door to a church and I mow the park they have in the back because it attaches directly to my yard.

Debbie- My neighbor is out of work and her daughter is dealing with a high risk pregnancy.  So we ask to clear her drive way and side walk and also to see if she needs groceries or anything from the store.

Holly- I do bake sweets for some of my neighbors throughout the year, as well as take them over specialty food I might fix (like cabbage rolls, fried green tomatoes), we (my girls and I) also take care of our elderly neighbor’s driveway and sidewalks during the winter months, and take their trashcans to the curb so they don’t have to.

Richard- This customer had not stayed up with technology and needed some help … So I jumped in and helped her set up an e-mail account for here and assisted her in filling out her application.

Anonymous- Every time it snows in my neighborhood my snow blower is on the move. For as long as I’ve lived in this neighborhood (15 plus years), each time we get enough snow to use the snow blower, once I get my driveway done which is just over 100 feet long, I’m on the move to my neighbors. The couple across the street have their son and daughter in-law living with them with their infant daughter so I do their driveway, their neighbor who has a disability so I do his driveway, another pair of next door neighbors are elderly so I do theirs, my back door neighbor lives alone and has a huge wrap around driveway so I do hers. Pretty much anyone within walking distance from me that doesn’t have a snow blower knows that when it snows, eventually I’ll be around with my snow blower. It’s not hard work as the snow blower does all the work. For me it’s more therapeutic than anything. It gives me a chance to unwind.

Shari- I buy an abundance amount of snacks so when my nieces and nephews come to visit, they can eat them. I love my babies!

Melody- I babysat my best friends 4 daughters so she could surprise her mom with trip to see a NBA game!

Rick- This past Saturday, my wife, Barb, and I had a bit of time to kill, so we went into the nearest store, a Big Lots and bought a few items.  We were second in the checkout line behind a young lady who was short on cash for her very last item, a bag of sugar.  So immediately my wife and I said to the cashier, please add that last item to our bill.  The lady was incredibly appreciative.   After ringing up our items, the cashier asked if we had Big Lots discount card that would allow her to take 20% off our bill.  We said no, we didn’t, and immediately the man behind us in line, said here, use my card!  He said let’s pay this forward! ???? The cashier accepted it and we got our discount.  Needless to say, those multiple random acts truly made for a blessed weekend!

Nancy- When we lived in Holland our American Women’s Club held a charity auction. My friend (a young, financially strapped newlywed) had her heart set on one particular item, a pink Chanel bag, which quickly surpassed her limited budget. I waited through a few more rounds of bidding and then jumped in, only to find myself competing with the President of our club. I eventually ended up with the winning bid. My friend, without a shred of envy, turned and said to me “I’m so happy you got that! When they presented me with the bag, I said “Oh, it’s not for me. Give it to this little lady right here.” The look on my friend’s face in that moment of realization was worth far more than whatever I paid for that bag. I would happily do that all over again. And I still see that bag- pressed into service as a diaper bag twice over now- in pictures with her husband and two little girls.

Heide- My husband Mike had gone with 16 other people (Protestants and Catholics) from our church at Wright Patterson Air force Base to Houston, Texas for a few days in January 2018 to rebuild houses damaged by hurricane Harvey.  He also clears snow with the snow blower from our neighbor’s driveways.  I bake cookies for St. Vincent DePaul once a month.

Karrie- I went through McDonalds to get me an “iced tea half cut with no ice”.  The car behind me was full of kids maybe 7 and younger.  The female driver appeared to be troubled.  When I paid for my tea, I decided to pay the order for the car behind me. The cost didn’t matter to me.  It was like $25 or something. Those kids yelled out the window thanking me and the drivers face was full of smiles. I would tell this story in my orientations. During one of my orientations while telling that story, a woman mentioned that she was the girl driving the car that day.  She said it was her nephews birthday, and she took all the kids through McDonalds for happy meals.  After leaving there, the money she saved from my RAOK, she took the kids to Dollar Tree to have the kids pick out $25 worth of toys.  She and the kids loved it.

These are wonderful random acts of kindness. It doesn’t take much to be nice to someone so keep spreading kindness today and every day.