Like many
of the Kindness Activists I come across, I found Chad Taylor's kindness on Facebook. Sure, it is easy to see negativity, hatred,
and trolls on Facebook, but if you look closely, you also see kindness. I saw him post this message and I KNEW
I needed to ask for more details:
“It's THAT time of year. I have some money set aside
to help out some families who may have a hard time affording Christmas. It's
not a lot. Not even as much as I had last year (times have been a bit hard here
too), but it may help out two or three families. We all know of SOMEONE out
there that's having a harder time than we are.
If you know of a family that needs help, please send
me a private message (no need blasting their business on here) and nominate
them. Let me know why and how
they need help. If I think they're a good fit, I'll find a way to get the money
or whatever they need to you and YOU can be the bearer of good tidings. I'd
prefer it if I was able to just help from the background.
I'm going to keep it open until Friday and I'll make
my decisions then. If you have a little extra that you'd like to put toward the
cause, please let me know that too. Last year I had 10 families nominated and
could only help five. The more the merrier!”
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| Here is Chad, the instigator of the kindness! |
And before you think to
yourself, “Well sure, he probably has loads of money, it’s easy for people like
that to splurge on others…” - that is wrong.
He is NOT a wealthy guy. But,
like he told me, “I’m pretty poor actually.
But there is always someone who has less. As I’ve gotten older I have seen that
December is a really hard month for a lot of people for A LOT of reasons. It’s only now that I have my own bills to pay that I realize
what an impact even a small financial donation can have for a family that has
nothing. That’s why I have to save
all year for it. $20 here and there can
add up after a bit.”
I saw back in 2015 that Chad
made the same offer on Facebook, and I asked him about it at the time and then
completely forgot to share it. So now I
am making sure that his message of kindness gets out there so that YOU can hear
about it, be inspired, and start saving a bit every month yourself to prepare
to help someone out in 2017. Now is the
perfect time to start getting ready for next year’s holiday season!
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| $20 here, $20 there = a terrific holiday season for strangers, thanks to Chad! |
I asked Chad what gave him
the idea to purposely save up to help others out every year, and here is what
he said, “It started about 8 years ago. I had a
few single mom friends who would have trouble affording Christmas for their
kids. I’d take them to ToysRUs and make sure each of their kids would be able
to have two individual gifts and a communal gift. It got to the point where I
had to start saving for it. Eventually
their lives improved (not due to me) and they didn’t need help anymore. So, four years ago, I took the money and
started helping strangers with it instead. It was something small that I could
do to make someone’s holiday a little easier. We all need help this time of
year.”
Just reading about that makes me smile
so big! It is such a deliberate,
purposeful, yearlong act of kindness. He
saves and saves all year long, and then when it is the right time, he shares. He doesn’t have children, and feels that the
gift portion of the holidays is really for the kids, so is happy to help them
have presents to open. I love it so
much!
Like all
Kindness Activists I have talked to, Chad had a great kindness role model. His was his dad. Chad said, “The desire to share came from my dad. He grew up in a group home
and since then has always made sure to help out people whenever he can. He made
a donation to a group home this year of a lot of toys so each of the kids can
have a Christmas, even though he didn’t really have the ability to do so. It’s hard not to want to live up to that when
you see it your entire life.”
I
AGREE, and that is one of the basic premises of this entire Kindness Activist
project – that when people see, hear about, or read about acts of KINDNESS
(like Chad’s), they, too, will want to “live up to that” kindness and emulate
it. Not everyone has a kindness role model like
your father, Chad, but YOU are a great example for many people of how to be
kind!
Now
get this: Chad told me that he, “only
had $500 so wasn’t able to give as much as I wanted” to help people out this
year. The word ONLY does not belong with the amount $500. $500 is a ton
to save to give to strangers!! This year
he had 10 specific requests come in from his query, and for the first time one
person pitched in $50 to add to what he had saved up for the cause. Chad wondered, “Maybe people WANT to help, but they don’t
know how. I’ve never asked for donations to help feed the fund before, but
every little bit helps.”
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| Chad "only" saved up $500 to give to strangers this year. $500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
The
10 requests he was given this year ranged from people without resources to
provide their kids Christmas, to medial costs and burial expenses for a family
member, to vet bills for a dog hit by a car.
Each of the 10 requests received something from Chad. Isn’t that fantastic?? If you would like to join in the effort and
help out one of the causes, that would be amazing. You can make donations to 3 of the causes
that he supported directly:
Chad
is not looking for accolades for giving aid to these strangers, in fact, he
makes the donations to the causes in the name of the person who recommended it,
not in his own name. I sought Chad out
and had to add lots of “pretty pleases with cherries on top” to convince him to
let me write about his awesomeness. But I
just think he is so inspirational, and I want more people to hear about his
kindness. He explained it well, “I think
my main thing is that the focus is more on the act of giving than who is doing it. I’m a background guy, so having
a spotlight put on something that I’m doing makes me a little anxious, BUT if
it can inspire someone else to do the same thing than it makes it a little
easier. Finally I would probably just
say this: the main thing I’ve learned from all of this is that giving shouldn’t always be an impulse
decision. Just like we save up to buy a new toy or do something for ourselves,
if we plan out our giving in advance, it makes things a bit easier to
swallow. Most of us have a “rainy day” fund. Who’s to say that the rainy day it
goes toward has to be our own?”
Chad,
thank you for letting me share your story of kindness. The concept of a “rainy day fund” to help
OTHERS and not just ourselves is so brilliant.
My wish for this holiday season is that your kindness inspires others to
plan ahead, save, and SHARE.
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