A Muffin

Today started, then ended, with a muffin. 

 And in between – oh in between! In between there was singing and twisting and laughing… 

But first – the muffin. 

This morning as I was rushing to get ready for work, I saw a young woman walking down the sidewalk. I noticed her coffee cup – wasn’t sure if it was from Starbucks or the local coffee shop down the street. I watched as she paused at the Little Yellow Free Pantry, opened it, stood a moment, then closed it and left. I was curious… I didn’t see anything in her hand – maybe she didn’t take anything? 

Before jumping in my car, I went to peek at the pantry. The woman had left a muffin. A beautiful, fresh muffin from the coffee shop. I marveled at how such a simple act could make me so happy. It wasn’t like she put $100 in the pantry. It wasn’t like she had cooked some fancy meal and left it. But she had actually done more than that… She had THOUGHT AHEAD. She had planned. When she ordered her coffee, she ordered a gift for a stranger – a muffin. And she placed it lovingly in the pantry so that someone ELSE could find it and have the treat. That, to me, is kindness. 

Fast forward a couple of hours. I rushed home from my assignment to find David outside in the sunshine hanging the handmade posters about the Little Yellow Pantry’s 1st birthday party all along our fence. They looked glorious! But there were chairs to move. Plastic animals to blow up. Cookies to plate. Drinks to bring outside… It was a bit overwhelming… 

Then our friends from Afghanistan showed up early! They were coming for the pantry birthday party, but came early to help us prepare. Ahhhhh, perfect! Bubble machine filled. Blanket on lawn. Big piano you play with your feet (like in the movie “Big”) rolled out. We. Were. Ready! 

Hareer and her mom hung a lot of posters!

And once the birthday guests started coming, they never stopped. It was a never-ending stream of partiers! And many brought gifts for the Little Yellow Free Pantry, too! She will be well stocked for a month or so! We played Twister. We rode the see-saw. We ate. We drank. We hoola-hooped. We made chalk art. We sang “Happy Birthday” to the pantry about a dozen times (as guests came and went). (We sang in 3 languages, and I am sure if I had asked we could’ve heard it in at least 4 more.) And we sat in the glorious sunshine and took it all in. It was SO NICE to see friends and neighbors outdoors again, laughing and singing. 

Things got a wee bit messy...

As we talked, I noticed a man at the pantry. He was squatting down, looking in the bags and boxes under the pantry – the gifts. I greeted him and explained that we were celebrating today, that the pantry was exactly 1 year old. He had put a few items in his bag, excited to see so much to choose from. I went through choices with him and he carefully made selections. “No, I have enough of that already, thank you. Oh yes, I could use that”. He told me he had visited the pantry and gotten food before. It was nice to have someone come and use the pantry quietly while the party was happening. 

People came and went. Horns were blown. Hats were worn. Chalk got everywhere. And fun was had. 

When the celebration was over and we were picking up, one young man came walking down the sidewalk. I said hello, and when he saw the signs and streamers, he asked, “Whose birthday is it?”. I pointed to the Little Yellow Free Pantry and said with glee, “That pantry’s! That pantry is one year old today!!” “Wait, what?” he said incredulously. “You threw a party for a PANTRY??”. “Of course!” I smiled and pointed to the pantry. “Would you like a snack?” “Wait, there’s FOOD in there??” he said as he opened the doors and the motion detector lights went on, illuminating his choices. He smiled as he looked, then picked up his choice. “I think I will have this muffin!”. 

Ahh yes. The muffin. A gift from a stranger, to a stranger. 

Full circle. Happy birthday Little Yellow Free Pantry. Thanks for bringing joy into our lives.

FRIENDS at the pantry

Holidays in Times of Turmoil

Holidays are usually fun times.  But it seems like this year St. Patrick’s Day is going to be a bit of a downer.  I mean, how much can you celebrate if you are self-quarantining, or keeping your “social distance” from others to try and curb the spread of the Corona Virus?? 

But a creative neighbor (Caitlin) just forwarded THIS to me:

BRILLIANT!!!!  Let’s DO IT!  Make a shamrock (or 2 or 3 or 10….) and hang them in your windows, or your doors, or on your porch.  Then kids and their parents can take a walk or ride around the neighborhood and see how many they can find!  I mean, most everyone is home schooling these days due to school closures, and this activity could count as several subjects:

1.       Obviously, ART.  😊  Have your children make shamrocks and hang them.

2.       No brainer, MATH.  Count how many you find!  For more advanced students, make up some   word problems based on the hunt.  Here are some examples:

a.  If Joe finds 5 shamrocks in his neighborhood, and Kate finds 7, how many shamrocks did they find all together?

b.  If Kelsey finds 12 3 leafed shamrocks and 3 4 leafed shamrocks, how many sides total are on all of her shamrocks?

c.  If Jarod finds 28 shamrocks, but 6 of them were YELLOW and he was only counting GREEN ones, how many green shamrocks did he find?

3.  History – study St. Patrick’s Day, how it came about, and what it means.

4.  PE - if you WALK around the area on your hunt, your kids will also be getting exercise!

I will be making some shamrocks tonight and putting them up for passersby to count in my neighborhood.  Here is a pattern I will use, feel free to use it or to Google “shamrock patterns” to find others.

If you decide to participate, make sure your neighborhood knows so they can join in the fun!!  Share, share, share away.

Let’s make learning fun and do a little something special for St. Pat’s 2020!

Kindness Yard Sale Accounting - Over $380 Remaining...

I am trying not to write these Kindness Yard Sale updates too often – I don’t want the acts to come off as showy or braggy.  But I keep reminding myself – PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW HOW THE MONEY THEY DONATED IS BEING PUT TO USE, it’s just accounting!!  So, here’s another update on how the most recent proceeds from the Kindness Yard Sale were used.

Today we did 2 kind acts with the money that I really loved.

($14)   First, this afternoon I bought 2 dozen roses at Trader Joe’s.  If you haven’t shopped at TJ’s, I will tell you a secret:  they have amazing flowers for not a lot of money!  A dozen roses is only $6.99!!  The plan for the roses started a couple of weeks ago:  I asked in my local Buy Nothing group if people had those single stem watering tubes that they no longer needed.  I used to have a bag of them but finally got rid of them last year, and NOW I needed them!  Two people gave me the tubes they had, and one amazing neighbor ORDERED BRAND NEW ONES on Amazon to be delivered right to my house!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you Mitzi, you are a KIND neighbor.  Your gift delighted me!!  Then I made 24 notes targeted to NURSES.  They said things like, “Nurses rock”, “If you want something done, ask a NURSE”, and “Nurses are the unsung heroes of healthcare”.   I punched holes in the notes, tied yellow ribbon on them, and then today tied a note to each lovely rose. 

My sweetie and I then took all 24 roses to Virginia Medical Center Hospital and gave them out one by one to nurses.  They loved it!  We ran into our first nurse when were on the elevator going up – she was returning a wheelchair after discharging someone, I think.  She was so surprised to be thanked and given a rose – she got tears in her eyes.  From there we visited a few floors and one by one thanked nurses.  Each one was very thankful and delighted.  One even gave me a big hug.  That act of kindness will be repeated with 24 more roses at a local nursing home with notes targeted to seniors.

($28.37)   Doing THAT act of kindness was so fun, I was in the mood to do another one this evening!   For the previous kind acts I have been careful to not only target them to lower income people.  I want to spread kindness to EVERYONE, not just those who traditionally ask for a “hand out”.  But I have been thinking about how fortunate I am/we are, in that we have the luxury of basically getting everything we want.  I mean, sure, maybe we can’t buy a brand new Lexus or a mansion or take a year off work to travel around the world – but we have a ROOF over our heads, can go to the grocery store and stock up on heathy food (and treats) whenever we want, and have clean clothes to wear.  Many people in the world can’t say the same is true for them… 

So tonight, I decided to look for a homeless person and ask them:  what could you get that would make tonight or tomorrow BETTER?  In my mind, I had already decided that I would not use the kindness yard sale money to buy them alcohol or cigarettes.  Not because I do not think they do not deserve those items, but because I hoped to buy them something that would last.  I was a little nervous – I didn’t want to offend anyone by asking them my question.  But we saw a woman slowly dragging a heavy garbage bag down a street in DC, and I decided to get brave and ask her.

Her first response on what would make tonight/tomorrow better was MONEY. 

“Ahhh.  Well, I can’t give you that,” I told her.  “What THING – is there some THING that would be good?”.  She only thought a few moments before saying, “White socks!!”.  She was wearing what looked like uncomfortable sandals, and white socks sounded great to me!!  I asked what style – knee high, short???  Short ones were what she wanted, so that went on my mental list.  “What else??”.  She thought…  “Mint candy!!  Those soft ones.  Red.  And white.  And maybe green.”  Oooookkkk, not sure what you mean by that…  I countered, “How about those CHOCOLATE covered mints??” and her eyes lit up!!  “Yeah, yeah, those too!!!!”.  Then she came up with a really good need:  BATTERIES FOR HER RADIO.  Turns out, one of the heavy items she had been carting around in that garbage bag was a radio.  She showed us – 4 AA batteries.  And then she did something that I later realized was really brave – she GAVE ME one of the batteries (so I would know which kind to buy).  That was worth a lot to her.  I bet it wasn’t out of juice, and she trusted me to take it.  As we headed to our car to go fulfill her shopping list, I asked, “Will you still BE here when we come back with your things???” and she countered, “Lady, I am HOMELESS.  I ain’t got no where to go!”.  Touché, my new friend, touché.

Off we ran to Wal-Mart, which was another good reminder of how lucky we have it (or how privileged we are, depending on your vocabulary 😊 ).   It turns out, at the Wal-Mart in DC, the multi-packs of WHITE SOCKS ARE LOCKED UP.  You have to get an associate to unlock the case for you, and they have to WALK WITH YOU to the check-out to buy them.  I bet you don’t have that at your fancy suburban Wal-Mart, do you? 

We ended up buying her 4 pairs of white socks, 1 extra large box of Junior Mints, one large box of soft red and white mint candy, a bottle of cold water, a bottle of cold Diet Pepsi, 8 batteries (enough to run her radio twice) and, because my sweetheart swore he heard her yell, “And chocolate cake!” as we walked away, a big ol’ piece of chocolate cake. 

She was happy when we returned and wondered what had taken us so long (another sign of our privilege – we drove to Wal-Mart to get things cheaper and make the money last longer instead of the more expensive CVS store in walking distance…).  It turns out the red and white mints were just what she was thinking of, and the chocolate cake looked very tasty.  She blessed us, thanked us, called me “Boo” even though we had already exchanged names, and smiled.  I smiled back and shook her hand.  I can’t imagine how little eye contact and physical contact homeless people must get. 

I would like to repeat that kind act with another person. 

($10)   And lastly for this report, a $10 donation was given to a woman named Raquel in Orlando, Florida who is making and mailing these beautiful signs for FREE to anyone who wants one.  I am so impressed with her message and her generosity that I was happy to use some of the proceeds to help her pay for postage or printing.  If you would like a sign or to make a donation, please visit:  https://www.insistonloveforall.com/

That’s it for this accounting update.  There is still $384.46 remaining from the sale to use for KINDNESS, and I have other ideas in mind (and some actions I have already taken but am too sleepy to write about tonight).  Thanks again for being a part of this – spreading kindness can only be a good thing, right?? 

Kindness Yard Sale - Over $1000 Given Away For Kindness So Far!

It’s time for another update on how the money raised at the Kindness Yard Sale is being used!!

So far, $1006.72 has been spent to SPREAD KINDNESS!  This entry will update you on the newest ways/places the money was used.

·         $15 was used to pay for the car behind us to get into Cape Canaveral National Seashore.  Cape Canaveral is a National Park, and as such you have to pay to enter.  EXCEPT, if you are lucky like us, you have a Senior Citizen pass that, once you pay for it, you get into all National Parks for freeeee!  And we nabbed ours a few years ago before the price on those puppies went up!  Anyway, we were going for the BEACH, and since we got in “free” we used some of the kindness money to pay for the strangers in the car behind us.  Little did we know that there was a LAUNCH of a Space X rocket going to happen there that evening!  (Somewhat blurry video of the rocket launch below.)  I am guessing that is why the person behind us was coming – to watch the launch!!  We got to see it, too, which was excellent.  If you are ever in Florida I highly recommend stopping here:  Cape Canaveral National Seashore

·        $7 was used to buy 2 delicious tamales for a homeless man who was outside a Mexican restaurant in Daytona Beach, Florida.  We had seen him there a couple of years ago, too, so he must frequent that area.  I asked our server if the restaurant gave him food and she said they do not, so I thought instead of watching all of the outside diners enjoy our meals, he should be treated, too. 

·        $66.22 was spent on supplies for Raising Men Lawncare Service.  It is an organization I read about online that sounds amazing!  They mow lawns for FREE for senior citizens, single parents, people who are disabled, and veterans.  How amazing is that?  And not only THAT, they recruit KIDS to do the work, teaching them the importance of helping in their communities and being kind!  They had an Amazon Wish List on their page, and the kindness money was used to fulfil a wish on their list – we sent them a Fisher Price Bubble Lawn Mower for one of the younger kids who wants to join and is not quite old enough for a real mower yet 😊.  We also sent 24 bottles of Gatorade to help quench the mowers’ thirst!  They are looking to expand – it would be awesome if someone could set up a branch of RMLCS in Arlington!  Their website can be seen here:  Raising Men Lawncare Service

·        $13 was spent on a backpack.  Since it is back to school time, I really hoped to use some of the Kindness Yard Sale money to buy supplies for students.  The thing is, you have had to be careful who you offer the money to.  I do not want to offend anyone, do not want them to feel as if I don’t think they can afford the supplies.  So, it took a while to find the right person to offer it to, but the perfect little boy in WalMart crossed our path and he ended up with his choice of backpack with money from the Kindness Yard Sale.  He was shopping with his mother, and neither spoke much English.  The mom seemed to be trying to understand the note from the school and figure out what supplies to buy.  I asked if he was going to be getting a new backpack, and they smiled and nodded.  So, I walked with him over to the backpacks and let him pick one out.  He chose a Jurassic Park bag, which looked perfect for him.  His mother “God Blessed” us, which I pass along to YOU here – God Bless all the donors and shoppers at the Kindness Yard Sale!

·        $30 was spent on another back to school activity – buying diverse books and supplies for Ms. Sokol’s classroom at Campbell Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia.  And because of an anonymous donor, the $30 was doubled, making it $60!  I found her project on the Donors Choose website, and I think it so clearly reflects the values of the Penrose neighborhood where the yard sale was held.  She wrote:

“Diverse Classroom Supplies: I See Me In Stories!  My Project

This project will provide diverse books to the students in my classroom. It will also provide diversity activity materials that have different colored art materials that each student can match to their skin, hair and eye color and texture! As a Kindergarten teacher, it is important to teach about diversity and inclusion in ways that students will understand. One way I want to do this is through books that students can see themselves in. The students will be able to identify with the books because the characters will either look or act like them.

Students need books that are "mirrors," or books that they see themselves, their families, and their communities reflected as important and valued in.”

Isn’t that great??  If you have never logged onto Donors Choose, check it out here:  Donors Choose

• ·        $25 was donated to a memorial fund for a Nebraska man, Cody Reutter, who died in a fishing accident.  He left behind a wife and 4 young children.  The funds will be used to help with funeral costs and on-going living expenses for his family.  Cody Reutter Family GoFundMe Campaign

• ·        $28 was used to cheer up a cancer patient in England.  As some of you know, my sister in Nebraska has Glioblastoma (GBM), a form of brain cancer.  Because of social media, we have been able to connect with other GBM patients and their care givers all around the world.  One of our favorite people that we have met is “Queen Jean” from Lancashire, England.  Her daughter-in-law visits her very often and shares photos and videos with the GBM group.  Jean has been having a rough go of it lately and her husband has also been in the hospital.  Despite it all, Jean has a very cheery disposition (and a very heavy British accent 😊 ) and it is so fun to watch her on video.  Most recently she read the story of the “Wonky Donkey” aloud and she laughed at every page!  So, to give Queen Jean a new, funny story to read aloud, I sent her the book “It’s A Bad Day” by Mary Ellen Friday using funds from the sale.  It sounds bad (and sad) book, but it has a very nice ending that I know she will enjoy.  I am guessing she will giggle especially loud at the cheekier parts… 

•    $5.71 was spent to surprise a stranger named Savannah with a birthday gift.  A call went out to send cards to a teenager in Omaha who has been ill and is having a birthday.  I sent a card, along with a pretty bracelet bought with yard sale funds.

•   And finally for this report, $60.41 was used to help a teacher have flexible seating for her classroom.  I saw this posted on the NextDoor app:  “Teacher Looking for Donations:  I am 5th grade teacher at an Arlington school and I want to provide my students with alternative seating options to help them better focus. I’m looking for donations of anything like stools, or yoga balls. Must be easily moveable. Please let me know if there is anything you are willing to donate. Thank you.”  I reached out to the poster, ReeAnn Aune, who teaches at Barcroft Elementary.  I told her that her cause sounded like a perfect use for Kindness Yard Sale proceeds and asked her to pick out a chair on Amazon.  She chose a round, folding bungee cord chair, which should arrive in her classroom this week!  Thanks Amazon.  😊 

Over $500 of the Kindness Yard Sale proceeds remain to be spread around - can't wait to find more ways to use it!!

$416.59 Given Away So Far - How It Was Used!!

Oh.  My.  Goodness!!  More of the proceeds from the Kindness Yard Sale have been given out, and it is SO FUN!  It is both inspiring and educational to decide where to use the money and to see it go out into the world. 

As a reminder, a total of $1552.76 was collected at the sale.  (I think that number is a bit larger than last time I wrote, because another donation came in 😊 ).  Of that, so far I have given out $416.59 – over $400!!  This is the 3^rd accounting report.  Here are the most recent ways the money was used:

·         $6 was given out to GOOD DRIVERS in Arlington, Virginia!  Our house (which we affectionately call “The Big Yellow House”) is right on a very busy corner at a stop light.  At the stoplight, drivers are supposed to stop right behind our driveway.  They should know this because there is a big line painted on the road, and a SIGN telling them.  The reason they need to stop so far from the red light is because city BUSES have to make left turns on our corner, and if cars pull all the way to the light, the buses cannot make the turn.  And yet, despite the signage and the line, MANY drivers pull all the way up to the light…  This is so frustrating for bus drivers who are trying to do their job and get their riders where they are going on time!  So, I made 6 envelopes for good drivers who followed the rules, each with a $1 bill inside.  Then I stood at the line by the sign and handed them out to cars that stopped in the right place!  It was funny to see people’s expressions when I congratulated them on following the rules of the road.  One recipient said, “Well, I stop here because it is the LAW!”.  Yea buddy, I wish everyone followed your lead. 

     ·         $3.85 was used to pay for a stranger’s boba tea 😊.  I was having one (paid for with my 
            money of course, not sale proceeds) and it was fun for the person behind me, too.

     ·                $25 was left in an envelope at our hair salon for our stylist’s next client to help pay for 
                their  hair cut.   Our stylist, Gilbert, was excited to be included in the giving and promised 
                to make sure the person after us received it.

·              $20 was put in an envelope for someone pumping gas.  This was an interesting one…              First, I taped the envelope to the handle of a gas pump because I thought that would make        it obvious and whoever came next would see it and be curious enough to open the 

          envelope.  Only, it turned out that people didn’t READ the envelope, they just saw a note 

          on a pump and assumed it meant the pump was closed.  So, I moved the envelope to the 

          windshield of someone who had gone in to pay and get snacks.  We waited and secretly 

          watched until they came out.  They SAW the envelope, took it off, and (without opening it) 

          threw it on their dashboard.  Oops!!  At first I was a little disappointed, but it was a good 

          lesson for me:  once the money is given, it belongs to the person who found it.  What they 

          do with it (even if that is never open the envelope to find it) it up to THEM.  I have no 

          control over that.  

·          An older gentleman often walks in front of our house wearing a bright yellow safety vest.  I  

        have wondered where he was coming from, and on a walk recently I found the answer 

        – HE SWEEPS THE SIDEWALKS on Columbia Pike!!  He gladly accepted a $5 tip for 

        keeping the space clean.

·          $50 was given to the Arlington Free Clinic so that a patient could have their first dental exam

        for free.  I had often passed the Clinic since it is near my bank, but had never gone in.  It is 

        really NICE!!  The staff were so friendly, too!  I got a tour of the facility and an explanation 

        of how it works.  Medical care is free, as are most meds.  But patients have to pay $50 for 

        their first dental exam (thereafter treatment is free).  So now one lucky person will get clean 

        teeth for free!  The staff were very appreciative of the neighborhood donating there.

 ·         We had a fun time using $25 of the proceeds to pay for PARKING FEES for people leaving the garage at the Arlington Hospital.  Boy were they surprised when someone whipped out $5 bills to pay for them!  I would like to do that again sometime.  I hate that we have to pay for going to the hospital (or the doctor if your doctor’s office is in that building).  So if we can help ease that burden off of someone I am all for it!

        ·         I want to use some of the funds to pay for a patient’s prescription, but I haven’t been able to 

              do that yet.  I have tried 3 times but there is never anyone with anything to pick up!  

              However, there was an older couple filling out forms to get inoculations, and I got to pay for 

              those!  The woman gave me a big thank you and hug – that was the best $8 spent that day                      for sure.

         ·         $26.75 was used to pay for groceries of someone checking out at Safeway on Rt. 50.  The 
                shopper was very surprised, and promised to pay it forward and do something good for 
                someone else.  

  ·         While road tripping from Virginia to Florida, we pulled over to get gas.  I used $20 to buy 

         10 Powerball tickets which we then gave to people – the man cleaning a fast food 

         restaurant, a checker and the man working at the fish counter at a grocery store, and a few 

         more people.  Everyone was very excited to receive a gift from a stranger that might be 

         worth $120M!!  I put the last lottery ticket (in an envelope with a note and a Kindness 

         Activist business card) on the windshield of a car in the parking lot.  I was hoping it would 

         not blow away and sure enough it didn’t!  The owner of the car contacted me!  She wrote:  

        “I would love to know how or why you selected my car to put a lottery ticket on.  Was it a 

         one time occasion, random?  My heart needed this act of kindness.  Even if I don’t win…         It was a down day for me yesterday.  Thank you for your act of kindness.”.  Later she 

         showed me an awesome project she is working on – connectmycause.com .  She said her 

         motivation is, “To help nonprofits thrive and bring awareness to the community about the 

         nonprofit services available”.   Sounds like kindness to me!

  ·         We pulled over to check out a LOVE sculpture on the same road trip.  Isn’t it cute??  We         hid $20 in an envelope under the letter “O” with a note saying that we love love, and the 

         finder should take their love to lunch.  I wonder if anyone has found that yet…

 

   

     ·       I posted a question on the Kindness Activist Facebook page (which you should “like” and 
           “follow” if you don’t already 😊 ) asking:  “Hypothetical question: if someone handed you 
           $50 right now, what would you do with it?  #KindnessActivist”  80 people viewed the post.                 13 people “engaged” with it (not sure what that means…).  And only 2 took the time to think 
           about what they would do and reply.  Those 2 were each rewarded with $50!  Rebecca Lahan 
           donated hers to RAICES to help immigrant children on the Mexico/America border, and 
           Samantha Blackby is using hers to buy new back-to-school tennis shoes for a child in 
           Kentucky whose family can’t afford them.  (Story on those gifts here:  Taking Attendance )

·       My sisters and I like to paint rocks and hide them for people to find.  We mostly hide them in parks and in the Cancer Center where Annette is being treated.  While they were painting rocks recently, I painted a big pine cone (my big sister helped put on some dots, too).  I put $10 in an envelope with an envelope saying the finder could use it for ice cream and hung it and the pine cone from a tree in a park (not a pine tree – we wanted it to stand out to passersby).  After I hung it, my sisters told me that a man (presumably homeless) had been peeing in the bushes nearby and saw me doing something in the tree.  At first we all thought, “Oh man – the guy who was peeing in the bushes is going to get the money, that’s yucky…”.  At first the man didn’t look in the tree, but then he turned and saw an out of place pine cone with an envelope…  He stopped and looked, then took the envelope.  He opened it, read the note, and put the note and money in his pocket.  As we watched from a distance, I realized he was the RIGHT person to find it.  He was in the right place at the right time, and he paid attention to the world around him.  I was glad he happened upon it.  So glad, in fact, that I took the pine cone down and we will hang it up again today with a new envelope and $10!!

 That is the current accounting report.  $40 is earmarked (in envelopes) but hasn’t been given away yet, so I will save that for the next entry. 

Thanks again to everyone who donated, shopped, and believed in the Kindness Yard Sale.  And GO OUT AND SPREAD KINDNESS EVERYONE!