Random Acts of Kindness

I was inspired earlier this year by a blog post I saw on Pinterest that featured a lady taking her 2 children around their community and performing random acts of kindness. Some of the acts were big and costly while some of the acts were small and simple but all were beautiful lessons and experiences that she shared with her children. When I initially started my own random acts of kindness (in November) I had hoped to complete 15 noteworthy acts,  as of today I am only up to 10. 

Here they are in no particular order: 

1.) Donate supplies to our troops. There is a website called www.anymarine.com that enables the commanding officers of deployed US Marines to reach out to anyone who wants to participate and help supply our Marines with things that they cannot get on deployments. I picked a small group of Marines that are currently located in a very remote area of Northern Afghanistan. These Marines were in such a remote location that it was hard for them to get their hands on hygiene products regularly. The regiment had 10 men and 2 women and I hope that my small care package brought them a little relief. Semper Fi. 

2.) Donate to the Good Will. This was the easiest (and cheapest) of all the acts I performed. I dropped of 7 bags of clothing and linens to the Good Will in Statesboro at the end on November. 

3. Purchase a stranger's lunch. When Lori and I get tired of our usual lunch joints we go to the Huddle House on Tobacco Road for something that is guaranteed to give us an upset stomach. There is an older lady that eats lunch at this particular Huddle House everyday, we see her every time we go and she is usually reading a novel while she eats. I had our waitress add her lunch to my check on this day and we creeped out before she realized that we paid for her lunch...

4. On Thanksgiving I brought the firemen at the Blythe Fire Station a few loaves of cinnamon bread from the bakery in Waynesboro. This bread is basically crack and it was a challenge for me not to eat it on my way there! They were all very excited and appreciative of this small gesture. 

5. I also left a treat for Mr. Bill (our mailman) the day before Thanksgiving.

6. Donate to By His Hands Ministry. The church that Drew and I attend is Waynesboro First United Methodist Church. WFUMC has a food bank program (By His Hands Ministries  that helps people in need in our community. 

7. Donate toys to MCG. MCG takes new toy donations year round to give to the pediatric patients of the hospital. Hopefully these toys will help a sick child feel a little better... 

8. Junkie and Pal. This is going to seem like a bizarre act to some... but...  as a lover of all things furry (except wolves) I wanted to reward 2 sweet dogs that I see everyday on my way to-and-from work. I have named the dogs Junkie and Pal (I'm not sure of their real names). Junkie is a golden retriever that lives at an equipment repair shop in Keysville (he is always sleeping near an old junky truck which is why I named him junky). He was without a companion for several years but within the past 6 months another dog has joined him (Pal). I have stopped in the past to give them some scraps left over from lunch but this time I delivered them both 2 giant bones this time. 

Here is where they live (I forgot to get a picture of the dogs!). Note: the man that owns the shop takes really good care of Junkie and Pal!

9. Mail a gift card to a stranger. A week before Christmas I drove around a neighborhood in Waynesboro and wrote down the address of a family (or at least I assume a family lived there) that I thought could use a little pick-me-up around the holidays. Inside the envelope was a Walmart gift card. It wasn't much, but hopefully they bought something fun with it.. like chocolate!

10. Toys for Tots. For almost a decade now my mother and I have been actively donating to the local Toys for Tots drives in the CSRA. Normally we go to whatever local Walmart that is having a toy drive that day and fill up a  buggy or two with toysto donate to our community. This is one of the best experiences that my mother has ever shared with me. This year my Gma, Bev, got in on the mix as well.

 

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7