World Kindness Day - Kindness Activist Funds Accounting

Happy World Kindness Day!!

The official date was November 13^th, but I am only now taking time to sit down and tell you about it.

A few days before the holiday I put out an ask for help – WHAT SHOULD KINDNESS ACTIVIST DO FOR WORLD KINDNESS DAY?  There were a few parameters.  The suggestions had to be: in the evening since I had to work all day, could have a budget but not a huuuuge budget, and should spread kindness to multiple people.

There were lots of ideas generated!  It was hard to choose just one, and I am sure that we will use some of the other ideas as the months go on.  But one suggestion stood out.  The writer said: “You should go to a cheap gas station and watch for people who were paying with cash.  Then you should use Kindness money to help them get more gas”. 

PERFECT!  It fit all of the criteria – could happen after work, needed funds but not a huge amount of money, and would spread kindness to multiple people.  Love it!

The suggester told me that they had been in the situation of not having enough money to fill their tank before.  They explained that it was humiliating to only be able to put a few bucks of gas in when everyone around you was filling up.  They said if they ever had someone offer extra cash to them to fill their tank they would’ve been delighted.

So once work was over – off we went!

We had printed flyers with beautiful drawings explaining it was World Kindness Day (one side English, one side Spanish).  We drove to our favorite gas station, parked, and waited.

It was actually fun to wait!  We watched people get out of their cars and tried to guess – are they paying cash or credit?  When they walked into the gas station before putting in gas, we assumed they were paying cash.  But sometimes we got tricked – they were going in to get food or coffee or play the lottery games.

So, we waited more.

And finally… we found someone! 

A man parked at the pump but didn’t get out of his vehicle.  We watched as he moved around a bit and I realized – he is looking for bills and counting the cash getting ready to go pay.  And sure enough, when I followed him into the station, he was paying with one and five dollar bills.  He asked for $20 worth of gas (which we all know does not go that far these day…).  I put 2 $20s on the counter, handed him the World Kindness Day flyer, and asked if we could double his gas. 

He was a bit confused.  A bit shocked.  And very surprised. 

He said SURE, and I wished him a happy World Kindness Day as I left and got back in our car.

He was texting as he walked out of the station to his vehicle, I am guessing telling someone, “You will never guess what just happened to me…”  It was so fun to watch him fill his tank.  He was happy.  He smiled and read, then re-read the flyer.  When he finished with the gas, he folded the flyer and put it in his pocket.  He saw us in our car, smiled and waved, and off he went.

We waited again and the next person paying with cash was a woman.  I followed her in, wished her a happy World Kindness Day, and explained we wanted to add $20 to her total.  She was so excited!!  She gave us a big thank you as she passed our car.

The station was closing so I asked the person who originally suggested the idea if they knew a good place to try next.  They told us about a gas station not too far away and off we went.

We parked and started the wait.  I told David, “I think the employee saw us park here, what if he calls the police on us?”.  We had a giggle imagining what we would say to explain to the police just what we were doing.

A gas customer pulled up and went inside.  I rushed in, flyers and cash in hand, and plopped $20 on the counter to add to his money.  He smiled and thanked me, but it was the cashier who was the most excited.  He seemed to have a hard time believing this was happening – a stranger paying for someone’s gas.

After the person filled their tank and left, the cashier came to the window and smiled really big.  He gave us a thumbs up – so sweet.

One more cash customer came before the station closed, and we added $20 to his tank, too.  Then the cashier started his close up routine and we made our decision – we wanted to give $20 to him, too.  I popped back inside, wished him a happy World Kindness Day, and gave him a flyer and cash.  Wow was he delighted.

We had a great evening.  We didn’t get to surprise as many people as we had hoped so we are planning to go out and do this kind act again another time (earlier in the day).

Amazing artwork by neighbors Bella and Joshua

We also had a big poster in front of our home that invited passersby to add a note saying how they would make the world a kinder place.  It was super fun to read what people wrote.

I will pose the same question we asked neighbors to YOU – what will YOU do to make the world a kinder place?

Happy World Kindness Day everybody!

Kindness Activist funds used:  $100

World Kindness Day (Kindness Yard Sale Accounting Report)

Happy World Kindness Day!

Part of me wishes that there wasn’t a “special day” set aside for kindness around the world, that instead, it was an everyday occurrence.  But I guess if we have Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, National Donut Day and all of the rest – we should have a day set aside to think about kindness, too! 

I celebrated World Kindness Day in a few different ways.

First – instead of the “poll of the day” that I put out daily on our corner, I put out a small box with paper and writing instruments inside.  Where the poll usually goes, I put a note explaining that it is World Kindness Day, and asking people to write a note explaining something kind they have done and leave it in the box.  Two people participated (I do not know who).  Of course, I wish more would have been curious and brave enough to stop and get involved, but on a very cold Sunday, two is a good turn-out.  They wrote:

-         “If you read this, please be good with your inner child and be happy“

and

-         “Working on my health.  Trying to be kind to myself!  Note:  Happy Holidays!”

And actually, now that I examine the notes, I think they both have the same handwriting.  That means only one person was curious and brave enough to stop and participate.  Thank you, whoever you are!  I am very thankful that you joined in.

Another thing I did in honor of World Kindness Day was buy 10 big holiday tins of popcorn to hand out.  You know the ones – the trio of white popcorn, caramel, and cheese.  Yummy!  We had to go to 4 or 5 different stores to find them, but Target to the rescue! 

My plan was to hand them out randomly to people stopped at the red light in front of our house.  But…  By the time we finished everything else we had planned for the day and got home for popcorn time, it was dark.  And very cold.

But I would not let that stop us!!  (I say “I” because I think my partner David would have preferred if I said, “Ya know, let’s just extend World Kindness Day into tomorrow, when it is warmer and sunny…”)  Nope!  We stood out in the dark and gave away 10 big popcorn tins. 

That sounds like an easy task, but it was not!!  First – not a lot of traffic tonight.  Second – did I mention it was dark out??  Third – see above, really cold!  And fourth – well, let’s just say that not everyone was excited about the popcorn as I was!!  😊 

People.  Are.  Suspicious.  And rightfully so, I guess.  I mean, this is a dangerous world sometimes.  So, when a woman in a stocking cap and pink fluffy vest walks up to your car window smiling, waving, and holding a tin of popcorn up – some people choose to not engage.  They behave in several different ways:  pretend you are not there (eyes firmly glued to the stoplight ahead of them), look and shake their head “no” even though they have no idea what the question is, LOCK THEIR DOORS (click!) as you stand on the sidewalk waving (awwwk-ward!), or crack their window open to listen to your spiel then say a quiet, “No thank you”.  Oh, there was also the guy that David approached who said, “I am an atheist”.  Hahahaha – ooookkkkk….  But we aren’t offering you a religious item here, sir!  It’s popcorn. Also, the last time I checked, kindness was agnostic and not in the least bit religious.

But SOME PEOPLE – the fun ones, the lucky ones – THEY GET INTO IT!  They might be suspicious at first, but when they roll down their window and hear, “Hi!!!  It is WORLD KINDNESS DAY!  To celebrate, we are handing out popcorn!  It is really tasty – 3 flavors – regular, cheese, and caramel!  This is for you!  Happy World Kindness Day!!” – when they hear that – they SMILE BACK at you!  They might say, “Really???” or “Wait, huh???”.  But when you explain it again, they reach for the popcorn and thank you genuinely.  They smile and wave as they drive away.  Yeah, those people rock.

I really liked giving the popcorn tins to two bus drivers.  They were so happy!  One was so willing to let us board his bus and chat that he sat parked at the light through a while light cycle, trapping the cars behind him.  It is a miracle no one honked.  We also gave one to a bus rider who was sitting up front – he was happy, too!

On the bus

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $116.49

Another kind action we did today was give a neighbor something that she had wished for in a neighborhood chat.  She asked for a juicer, and the photo she showed of the one she hoped for is the exact same one we have.  I took that as a sign!  We delivered her the juicer and a big bag of oranges tonight.  I bet she has a fresh cup of OJ with her breakfast tomorrow!

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $35.01

We are expecting our first hard freeze this week, so we picked all the remaining vegetables from the garden today.  While we were in a grocery store later (hunting for the popcorn tins…), I saw a big table of fresh produce that was on sale for $1 a bag!  And it looked as pretty as the produce we had just picked out of our garden!!  So, I grabbed 2 bags – 4 yellow peppers, 2 tomatoes, a red onion, and a container of mushrooms – for the Little Yellow Pantry.  Fresh produce is always appreciated by visitors because it is usually so expensive to buy at the store!

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $2.05

That’s it for this update.  More to come!