Special Delivery - YOUR DINNER! (Kindness Activist Funds Update)

Ready for another report on how some Kindness Activist funds have been used??  Let’s do it!!

 

One thing we have been doing lately is treating people to dinner deliveries!  It’s been really fun. 

 

The idea started one evening when we had to go out after work and do something, even though it was cold and really dark.  I didn’t want to go out, but we had a commitment that we had to follow through on.  Well, I figured it I wasn’t in the mood to go out, there were likely others in the same position…  And since we were out anyway, we might as well fill some dinner orders!!

 

So, I posted in a neighborhood Facebook group that we would pick up dinner for someone and drop it off to them.  I gave a choice of some fast food restaurants in the neighborhood (Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and Burger King).  And I specified that we were not necessarily going to pick the first person who responded (because, you know how it goes, some people are fortunate enough (or addicted enough…) to be on their phone 24/7, and they respond first to everything!!

 

For two people who eat fast food only a handful of times a year, we sure have bought a lot of it lately!

The first time we did this we bought and delivered meals to a single mom and her 2 kids and boy oh boy, were they excited!!  The second time we delivered meals to a mom of one who was also babysitting a niece, and to another woman.  And tonight we made 3 deliveries – a woman who just had hand surgery and her husband, a family of 4, and a woman who was in the mood for fast food!  We did all of the orders one at a time tonight (we only have 2 cup holders in the car and we don’t want to spill…).  By the third time thru the Wendy’s drive-thru the man sort of recognized us 😊 .

 

I share this idea with you because it is so easy and it has brought so many people such joy!  It is a fun use of Kindness Activist funds.  It nourishes people and makes them happy.  And hey, we had to be out in the cold anyway!!

 

Total Kindness Activist funds spent on getting and delivering meals to people:  $168.73 (fast food has really gotten expensive!)

 

Yesterday I saw this message posted in a different Facebook group: “Hi neighbors who would like to support our neighborhood Title I school, Hoffman Boston elementary.  Our school and school community does not have the resources to pay for the teachers to have dinner today, parent/teacher conference day. Teachers will not have time to pick up dinner themselves and will be working around 12 hours today (after teaching our children all morning and early afternoon).

If you would like to contribute, consider bringing a dish by between 3-4 PM to the school or alternatively (and preferred) you can use the link below to donate via Pay Pal or Venmo and your donation will be used to support the school and with dinner tonight.”

 

Well, I have had a hard week at work, so making a dish to deliver was not in the cards.  But thankfully, because of amazing donors of items and shoppers at the Kindness Yard Sale and other donations that have come in, I was able to contribute money to help buy dinners for teachers.  Because let’s be honest here – teachers have some of the hardest jobs on the planet. Tiny humans are entrusted to them, and not only do they have to ensure those humans are not injured, they have to TEACH THEM THINGS, HARD THINGS!!  And teachers in America do not get paid enough for the work that they do. 

 

So yeah, donating to this meal for teachers was a no-brainer.  (And I heard today that enough food and funds were collected for all teachers to eat, and some even got seconds!)

 

Total Kindness Activist funds spent on pitching in to help ensure that teachers got a good meal:  $125

 

Sticking with the food theme – we paid for another stranger’s groceries at the Trader Joe’s check-out.  This is such a fun way to surprise someone!  The store was really crowded, so I just stayed at the register stand after we paid for ours (pretending to play with our bags or something…) until the cashier finished ringing up the woman behind us.  “May I pay??” I asked.  “Ummm, what?  Really???  Umm, sure!!” she replied. 

 

Her smile lit up the store, and she was still muttering to herself about the magic of it all as she wheeled her cart out into the parking lot.

Random Trader Joe's photo from what feels like another lifetime - the year I reviewed one Trader Joe's product every single day of the year and visited TJs stores all around the country

Total Kindness Activist funds spent paying for a stranger’s groceries:  $27.04

 

Danyi, a woman in our community is an amazing artist.  But she is a refugee and does not have the means to buy art supplies.  What I love about her work is that she turns anything (and everything) into art!!  She makes art out of old lightbulbs!  Art out of cardboard!  Art out of bubble wrap!  Art out of lampshades!  Art out of rocks!! 

 

And while she can and does find objects like that on the side of the road or in garbage cans, the ink and paint she needs to transform them must be purchased.  And that takes money.

 

Recently she told me that she would really like some nice INK to paint with.  She had secured some silk somewhere, and she needed good quality ink to turn it into art. 

A recent creation by Danyi, painted on part of a box

 

Because of the privilege of being the caretaker of the Kindness Activist funds, I could grant that wish!  Just a few clicks and a couple of days later, 2 jars of nice ink arrived and were gifted to her.  I can’t wait to see how the silk pieces turn out!

 

Another piece by Danyi painted on a box

Total Kindness Activist funds spent on ink for an artist:  $38.26

  

Now for the last accounting story for today.  A member of our community recently asked if anyone had any adult coloring books.  She was collecting them to give to someone who would be in the hospital a while. 

 

I reached out to see if there were other things that might be needed, and learned that the requester is a nurse in a prepartum care unit at a local hospital.  Here’s what she told me, “I am a labor and delivery nurse at VHC, I specifically take care of our antepartum patients who are high risk pregnant patients who can stay anywhere from a few days to weeks and months on our unit in this hospital.  So, this would be for a mom who we are keeping pregnant for many weeks.  I asked this mom yesterday what she would like to do to stay busy and she said she enjoys coloring. I thought we had some coloring books on the unit but found none, so thought maybe our community might have some I could use on the unit/to give to this patient.”

 

Once again, see how easy and fun it is to find ways to spread kindness???  I went to the store $5 Below because I knew they usually have good coloring books.  I stocked up on coloring books and a lot more – candies (after confirming it was ok for the mom to eat sugar), coloring pencils and pens, a journal, and lots of other goodies.  Then, I wrapped them all individually (I figured if this mamma was stuck alone in the hospital, maybe opening some gifts would brighten up her day!!).

 

But I got to thinking – imagine how hard those nurses work…  Like teaching, nursing is a tough profession and, if I may be so blunt, does not get the respect that it deserves.  So, I grabbed Starbucks gift cards for the nurses in the unit and wrapped each with a pretty ribbon and a little note thanking them for their hard work. 

 

Total Kindness Activist funds spent on gifts for a pregnant mom and nurses on the unit:  $172.67

 

That’s it for tonight’s stories.  I will update on how the funds are being used again soon.  In the meantime, I hope we run into each other in the wild!!  Maybe YOU will get surprised with free groceries next time you go shopping…  Or hey, if these examples of spreading kindness have inspired YOU (or as I like to say, have made a kindness ripple…) then perhaps YOU will go out into the world and spread some kindness soon!!  I would love to hear about it if you do!  Please email me stories of how you are spreading kindness at:  KindnessActivist@gmail.com  .  Thanks!