One thing that I find so admirable in people is the ability to be vulnerable. It is not easy opening up, showing your “less than perfect” side. Especially these days. It seems like everyone has filters on their Instagram photos and, if you believe people’s Facebook statuses, the whole world has happy marriages and perfectly adjusted children.
That’s why, when someone is willing to open up and be vulnerable, I take time to embrace it.
One underused part of the Little Yellow Free Pantry is a special request box. There are instructions on it in English and Spanish that say if you have a special food need, write your name, phone number, and what you need on a little card and leave it. There is a pen in the box, too (though it often finds its way home with visitors and has to be replaced).
I check that little box religiously but rarely find any notes in it. But Monday I did! I opened it to find a card, folded in half, that said:
GUS (phone number)
Vegan.
Thank you!
(big heart drawing)
You can bet it wasn’t long after I found it that I gave Gus a call! He was surprised that someone was actually getting in touch with him. In fact, he was sort of speechless. I explained that I found his note and just needed his shopping list. He stammered, unsure of what to do.
So, we talked a bit. I asked if he lived in the area. Nope, he told me, he just happened to drive by the pantry when he was making some deliveries. He explained that times are tough right now – he is between jobs. He was almost out of gas when he noticed the pantry and stopped. He said he is fasting for Lenten. He is eating a vegan diet for the month and eating fish on Fridays. I commended his efforts and again asked for a shopping list. But he could only sputter out a couple of items. I think that is when I told him how much I respected his vulnerability. “You know, not many people are brave enough to put a note in that box,” I told him. “And I am really glad you did. I love when people are honest and up-front about what they need. That’s what this whole project is here for.” He confessed that it hadn’t been easy to write the note. He said he stood squarely in front of the pantry as he wrote it, so that no one passing by could see him.
After we talked a while more, I said, “Listen, Gus. You need some TIME. Let’s hang up. You think about what you want! Text you list back to me at this number, and I will shop for it!”. The silence made it feel like he was pinching himself to see if this was really happening. I asked if he had enough gas to come to pick the groceries up, and volunteered to deliver them if he didn’t.
A few hours later his very carefully crafted shopping list popped in. He is using an app to plan his meals, so the items he was requesting were very specific:
Half an avocado
A 1 inch piece of ginger root
Half a bunch of radish
1/8 a cup of pine nuts
And the like. Well, Gus, you were brave, you were vulnerable, you deserve much more than HALF AN AVOCADO! So, I loaded up 2 heavy bags of items that I had in pantry storage and we headed out to buy the rest (and more healthy things that were not on his list but he deserved).
Let me tell you, finding Nutritional Yeast Flakes was not easy! But the 2nd store had them, so we were good to go! We drove over to Gus’ place and met him. What. A. Cool. Guy! David and I both got a great feel from him. He was thankful and kind. He assured us if there was anything he didn’t need he would share it with others. I sure am glad he stopped to write a note – I am glad we got to meet him!
Nutritional Yeast Flakes, baby!!
Kindness Activist funds spent: $127.85
A neighbor recently posted in a Facebook group that she was looking for glow sticks for a “glow party” for a first grade classroom. Well, she had me at GLOW STICKs, and I was ALL IN AT GLOW PARTY!!! I mean, what even IS a glow party?? I wasn’t sure, but I knew I wanted to be invited!!
I told her I would hook them up then ran out shopping. I panicked a bit when I couldn’t find glow sticks, but a clerk helped me (first she took me to the GLUE STICKS and I had to explain, no GLOW, not GLUE…). I stocked up on all of the glow stuff I could find in 2 stores (blow necklaces, glow sticks, glow balls, glow wands – anything that had “glow” in the title went in my cart!) and dropped them off at the requestor’s home.
She contacted me after the glow party and told me that it went really well. She said, “We really appreciate your going out and buying the glow in the dark things! The kids voted on a “glow in the dark blanket party”, which is not something either of us teachers had ever heard of! And of course, we were going to do the party the next day. The lead teacher is nicer than I am, I would have either limited theme choices to stuff we could do overnight or postponed the party until Monday. You really “saved our bacon”. “
1st grade GLOW PARTY!
The lead teacher sent this
note to the students’ parents: “The Glow
in the Dark – Compliment Party. Mrs. A
and I were able to get some glow in the dark necklaces, bracelets, and
balls. Mrs. A. found an organization
that provided our class with numerous items that the class enjoyed in the effort
to celebrate their dedication to learning and kindness. We even played a glow in the dark ball
game. How fun! The students used their flashlights and glow
sticks to read today. Some used their
blankets as tents while others held them.
The classroom looked very creative.”
Glad to do it, first graders! Everyone should get to celebrate with a glow party (and teachers in the US should not have to spend money out of their pockets to make special events like that happen).
Kindness Activist funds spent: $47.22
Another neighbor recently asked for an armoire in a group.
She didn’t get the armoire, but she got a whollllle lot more.
She was looking for the armoire to solve a vexing problem, one that was delicate and probably a bit difficult to admit in public. But it turned out when she admitted it, when she was willing to be VULNERABLE, people came out of the woodwork not only with suggestions and ideas, but with, “Us, too! We have the same issue!!”. All of the sudden she was not alone, plus she had creative ideas on how to try and solve the problem.
I did not have ideas to help her, but I DID have Kindness Activist funds, and time to go get her a special treat. I left this on her doorstep:
Sometimes when you are down and having a hard day, you just need some flowers. And chocolate. And maybe wine. They won’t make the difficulty go away, but they WILL remind you that there are many good things in life.
Kindness Activist funds spent: $27.41
And finally for this report, my partner David was approached at the gas station by a woman who asked for $10 to help fill her tank. She had an old truck, which was probably a gas guzzler. At first David said no. But as he filled up his own tank, he had a change of heart. Gas is really expensive right now, and people who were already living paycheck to paycheck are obviously getting hit the hardest.
He went up to the woman and asked if she needed the gas to get to work. She said yes, she is a security guard (her logoed shirt confirmed that). He said he would be happy to put $10 in her tank, and proceeded to do so.
When he pulled out, the woman stayed at the pump. She was asking others to pitch in $10, too. I hope she got enough to fill that truck up. And I hope she made it to work on time.
This was such a good example to me of how when everyone pitches in, things can get done.
Kindness Activist funds spent: $10.00
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