Christmas Kindness - All Year Round

Last year my friend Kelly made a Facebook post that really inspired me.  I had begun this project, Kindness Activist, and was on the lookout for KINDNESS in the world.  Kelly’s post really piqued my interest.  She wrote about doing something special with her family for Christmas that she called A WHITE ENVELOPE PROJECT.  She asked each family member to donate to a charity or do something kind, then write about that and put it in an envelope, to be opened and read aloud on Christmas!  I wrote about Kelly and her White Envelope Project here:  White Envelope Kindness

I decided to try a version of the same project with my family! 

KINDNESS - by artist Kemper Englund

I mailed everyone a letter (yes, a real live printed on paper snail mail letter, which I thought would get their attention more than an email).  The letter asked each person to do something KIND during the year, then tell us about it when we got together to celebrate Christmas.  Each letter was personalized for the recipient, with some ideas for kind actions that I thought might be up their alley.  Here is the letter I sent my dad:

“Dear Dad,

I meant to write this letter in January, and here it is nearing the end of April…  I guess I am a bit behind on this, as I am on so many other things!  But I will file it in the “better late than never” category.

I am writing because I want to ask you for something for CHRISTMAS. 

The older I get, the less “stuff” I need.  I know you understand that, every holiday that comes around all of us Thompson girls giggle and say, “What are you getting Dad??  Are you getting him another sweater this year???”. 

So, this Christmas, instead of a THING, I would like to ask for an ACTION:

I am asking each family member to do something KIND.  Some action that you can do for someone else in the world.  Maybe you will change a stranger’s flat tire, maybe you will give a donation to the Open Door Mission, maybe you will pay for another table’s dinner when you are at a restaurant…  Just something KIND.

Then write a note about your kindness, take a photo of it, or draw a picture of it and seal it up in an envelope or wrap it in a box!  At our family Christmas, I would love to open THOSE GIFTS and be inspired by all of the kindness that our family put out into the world. 

There are 8 months left until Christmas.  That means 8 months for you to do something KIND and document it.  If you feel like you might forget and need a reminder or two during the year, just let me know and I am happy to remind you.

Thanks, Dad.  I love you and can’t wait to see what kind thing you do!!”

Every family member got a letter, including the toddlers!  I sent a reminder letter about a month before the holidays, in case anyone had forgotten.  And boy let me tell you, the cost of postage was well worth it – the big reveals were SO WONDERFUL!!

Every.  Single.  Family.  Member.  Got.  Involved!  Everyone!  I was so, so, so delighted!  And people were excited to share!!  The acts of kindness ran the gamut, too – my terrific family spread kindness in all sorts of ways!

Here are just a few examples:

- My dad repeatedly helped two wheelchair bound men get out of the building and into their vehicles.  He also donated to the Open Door Mission in Omaha.  Plus, he paid a woman to come clean the house just because she needed some money (even though the house didn’t really need cleaning).

Classic photo of my dad, 47 years ago

- My dad's wife Evelyn put money in the Salvation Army red buckets each time she passed one.  She also gave her granddaughter the SHIRT OFF HER BACK when the girl complimented it!  Evelyn went right into the bedroom, changed shirts, and let her granddaughter go home with the shirt she had complimented :) .

- One of nephews, Trevor, was amazingly kind to a friend in need.  Even though Trev didn’t have a lot of money himself, he shared what he had with the friend who had nothing and was homeless.  I think we all got tears in our eyes listening to Trevor’s story of kindness – it was amazing.
 

- David gave a ride to a stranger so the man could make it to church on time, and another time jumped in with a car full of strangers to help lead them to their destination when it was clear that the usual spoken directions were not going to be enough.  He also went out of his way and went into the university on a Saturday (a day off) to help out a student who had a tough semester and missed the final performance.  David giving up a few hours of his weekend meant a better grade (the one she deserved) for the student.

My sisters and I - Christmas 2017

- My sister Annette is great at giving manicures and pedicures.  She gave free 

pedicures to 4 women who needed some extra special treatment and kindness.  She 

also took a couple of friends who she knew were going through tough times out to 

lunch.  Plus, she stocked up on Halloween costumes when the stores marked them 

down after October 31^st to have them ready next Halloween when some students at 

the school where she works do not have costumes!  Isn’t that going to be an amazing 

surprise for them?

- My sister Sherry was mindful all year of people who work in service professions. She 

was careful to go out of her way to COMPLIMENT people in stores and other places 

who did good work.  She asked to speak to their supervisor, and made sure the 

management knew that the employee did a great job.  She said most managers were 

surprised that someone would go out of their way to compliment good behavior, and 

that they were all very appreciative.

- My nephew Nate and his wife Lyndsey made a POSTER of many of the kind things 

their family did in 2017!  It was super sweet.  They have a 2 year old and an infant, 

and even the kids got into the kindness!  Baby Keegan donated some of his diapers to 

babies whose families lost everything in the hurricane.  Toddler Ryker helped make 

blankets for animals at a special event.  The family delivered treats to the staff at a 

hospital that took care of their Grandpa.  The whole family did a kindness that I 

thought was really fun and meaningful: they had lots of packages being delivered for 

the holidays, and they left Starbucks gift cards with thank you notes for the delivery 

people!  They left one for the mail carrier, who in return left THEM a thank you note!

Starbucks gift cards for stressed out delivery people = KINDNESS!

Cookies are a great act of kindness!

·        

Nate and Ryker working on a blanket for an animal

- My brother in law Jim tried hard to help students who were having difficulty in the college classes he teaches.  He also gave money to the homeless.

- For my kind act, I told my family about a young woman working at an Arby’s we ate at.  I could just tell that was having a tough time in life.  I struck up a conversation with her as she cleaned tables, and it turned out her husband had died a couple of months earlier and she was trying to pay off the funeral.  She had two kids, but had told them Santa was “broke” this year so there wouldn’t be much for Christmas.  I gave her $15.  That’s not a lot of money, and it obviously won’t help pay off her expenses much or buy any great gifts for her children.  But she was very appreciative, and I think it meant a lot to her that someone took time to have a real conversation and listen to her.

- My nephew Jordan had a co-worker who was going through a particularly difficult time.  He took meals to her and collected money to help her out.  

- Hadley Jo is only 2 years old, but that is old enough to be KIND!  She donated some of her toys to kids who didn't have many.  And her mamma, Elizabeth, gave puzzle books to nursing home residents.  The two of them prove that kindness has no age limits!

2 years old is old enough to be kind,but it is not quuuuite old enough
to not be afraid of Santa...  :)  

- And finally, my niece Ashlee and her family (Pete, Kemper, and Tallis) took kindness to a whole new level in 2017!  They took my challenge to heart and did kind things all the time!!  They collected lots of books for a book drive our family organized, they watched other people’s children to give parents some needed time off, they accept a young transgender girl for who she is and welcome her along on many family events, Pete paid for a solo birthday diner’s meal, the whole family made 700 cupcakes to celebrate a co-worker’s special birthday, and many, many more kind things!!!!  They made a whole photo album to inspire us with their kindness!

The Englund family did kind things ALL YEAR!

700 cupcakes????

That is a LOT of cupcakes!

That's KIND, Pete!

Here is a portrait of the whole KIND Englund family :) (by artist Tallis)

This KIND CHRISTMAS was really great.  It was inspirational seeing how my family spread kindness in the world.  The little (and big) acts of kindness that we put out into the world helped to make it a better place.  I like to think of kind acts as ripples – when we do something kind, it creates a RIPPLE in the world.  Those touched by the ripple spread more kindness. 

I think I will ask my family to do kind things again for Christmas next year.  It is not tough – any little kind act is appreciated and goes a long way.  And hearing all of the stories sure helped make my holidays brighter.  Feel free to take the idea and use it with YOUR family – I don’t think you will be disappointed in the results.

Thanks, Thompson family!  KEEP SPREADING KINDNESS!   

White Envelope Kindness

I love giving gifts.  I mean, like, I adore it.  I like thinking about what gift to get.  I really enjoy wrapping the gifts.  I like to think that finding just the “right gift” for my friends and family members is one of my special talents.  I sort of think that I inherited this whole trait from my mother, who was also really into giving gifts.  It might be odd, but in all honesty I like GIVING gifts much more than I like receiving them. 

Pretty pile of gifts from my recent birthday - thanks family!!  You spoiled me!

Anyway, this post has to do with GIFTS, specifically, Christmas gifts.  I noticed a friend’s Facebook posting about a special “gift exchange” around the holidays at her house, and it made me so happy.  I have been putting off writing about it because I plan to ask my family for the same “gift” for Christmas this year and didn’t want them to read this piece about it before I had put forth my request to them.  But it has become glaringly obvious that dusting the house isn’t the only thing I am behind on at the moment, so I am going to go ahead and tell EVERYONE about this special Kindness Activist in the hopes that sharing it publicly will be the nudge I need to also write letters to my family and tell them about it personally!  (And also with the hope that this Kindness Activist might inspire YOU to do the same thing for your holiday!)

The beautiful (inside and out) Kelly

Kelly Corbey comes from a large family – there are 12 children.  She said that one of the greatest gifts her parents taught the children was, “Do for others.  Volunteer because you can and there will always be a need.”  Kelly has obviously taken that lesson to heart, and instilled it in her own children (who are now sharing it with their children).  So, for Christmas last year, she decided to try something new that she had heard of: The White Envelope Project.  The project is an attempt to scale back the commercialism of the holidays and focus on what really matters, as she told me, “Giving of one's time or money to someone or some organization in another's honor might would be a better way of keeping the true meaning of Christmas alive.”

So she wrote this letter to each of her children:

"Hi Family - I am writing to suggest an idea for Christmas "gift giving" this year.  The true meaning of Christmas is about "giving" but I think we all get caught up in the commercial aspect and overly stress about the perfect gift.  I love giving gifts and I love the thoughtful gifts I've received from you over the years.  If you all are willing to do something different, I read a story about "The White Envelope".  The general idea was to get back to a different idea of "giving".

I would ask that in lieu of a gift for me (sorry to be presumptuous) that each of you pick a charity or a person(s) in need to give something to or do something for.  With some creativity - this doesn't need to cost anything.  Then on Christmas, write down what you did and put it in a white envelope and we will hang it on the Christmas tree where we gather.  

How much you donate or what you do is totally up to you.  Small gestures have great value.  We will read them on Christmas.”

WHITE ENVELOPES FOR CHRISTMAS!

Not surprisingly, everyone loved the idea!  Her children included their own kids into the activities, and the grandkids got really excited about what kind thing they would do to contribute.  The family did a traditional gift exchange for the children, and then everyone proudly got their envelope and read aloud  what they had done.  Kelly said, “I loved how proud they each were with what they had come up with.  They thanked me for the encouragement to change the focus of giving.”

Sharing KINDNESS for the holiday season

And from what I heard, the kind gestures that resulted from Kelly’s White Envelope Project were marvelous and varied!  One family member, who wanted Kelly to know how grateful she was that her parents had sacrificed and send her to private school, donated money to her high school. Another person reached out to someone she hadn't been in touch with to begin to repair a broken relationship.  Other people donated furniture to someone who had to start over from a broken marriage and someone else donated warm clothes to a homeless shelter. Someone made a donation to send food to Haiti, someone donated a warm comforter to a woman's shelter, and some of the children made food and brought it to a new neighbor.  Someone very consciously gave money to a homeless man, careful to give more than just “spare change”, and other family members committed to putting food together and distributing it to local homeless people.  The beauty about this project is that EVERYONE of any age can be inspired and involved – Kelly’s 5 year old grandson even made a special Christmas gift for his little neighbor.  

The whole family got involved

"My cup runneth over", Kelly told me.  “It was the most amazing feeling to hear the enthusiasm and see the creative things people came up with.  I loved hearing the discussion that followed about how cool it was to be constantly thinking of different ways to give in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Christmas.  I asked them to try and keep it going throughout the year.”

Such a perfect idea for the holidays - giving KINDNESS

THANK YOU for being a Kindness Activist Kelly!  The actions of your family, inspired by YOU, brought kindness to so many people!!  Your kindness obviously influences everyone in your family and, by being willing to share about it here, will influence many more people. 

So, to my family, be ready!  Letters will be arriving soon asking YOU to take part in a project like this for Christmas 2017!  Thanks for the inspiration Kelly.  Let’s keep the KINDNESS COMING!

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