One of the major concepts of Kindness Activist is that EVERYONE deserves and could use kindness. That’s the reason that Kindness Activist is magic based. There are many, many other organizations that are needs based – giving funds or items to people in hard financial times. And yet, sometimes those two concepts – magic based and needs based – overlap. And the results are lovely.
The first story of
Kindness Activist funds being used in this story is purely magic based.
My partner David is a
performer and has toured the world with his shows. One place he has performed a few times and we
have made some dear friends is Orlando, Florida. So, when we knew we would be near Orlando
during the infamous Orlando Fringe Festival, we made sure to grab tickets to
some shows and attend!
Between shows, patrons and
artists hang out on what I think used to be called (during “our time” at the
festival) the “Green Lawn of Fabulousness”.
It is effectively a large green park-like area with food trucks all
around, a beer tent, a performance area, and tables and chairs for people to
sit, eat, drink, and chat. On our drive
to Orlando I had an idea: I would work
with a food truck vendor to surprise guests with free food!!
So, after we had seen a
couple of great shows and eaten our lunch, I set about choosing a vendor… The man who had served us our food was super
friendly and I knew would go along with this harebrained idea, but his truck
was not very visible from the main seating area, and I wasn’t sure how busy it
would be.
Now you should know that
when I give talks about Kindness Activism, one thing I mention is that you have
to be prepared to “get dirty” when you spread kindness. Not in the physical, mud on your shirt sort
of way, but in an emotional sense. Because
kindness can be messy. And it can be awkward. In fact, during my most recent presentation
on K.A., one of the questions asked by a young woman was, “But, what if you
offer kindness to someone, and they do not want it? What if they say no?”. I told her, “Yes, that will happen. People will refuse the kindness you offer
sometimes. And that is a-ok! Maybe they are having a bad day. Maybe they are leery of strangers. Maybe they are just not in the mood. But when that happens, just roll with
it. Be ok with that. And offer your kindness to someone else”.
But it is one thing to teach
that concept, and quite another thing to put yourself into it. And I have been in that situation enough
times to know that it makes me uncomfortable and honestly, makes me feel like a
bit of a failure. So, I had to work up a
bit of courage to approach the food truck vendor that I knew could be the “right
partner” for me… It was a cheery little
truck near a well-travelled area. It
served items that patrons wanted on a warm day – fresh lemonade, flavored shaved
ice, fried Oreos, funnel cakes… But I
hadn’t met the vendor yet, and honestly, from what I watched from a distance, I
was afraid he might be a little cranky…
So, I worked up a bit of
courage and approached him…
“How can I help you?” he
asked as I got to the truck.
“Hi! I don’t need to order anything, but I would
like to work with you if possible… I run
an organization called Kindness Activist.
We do creative fundraising, and then spend all of the money raised to
SPREAD KINDNESS. I would love to pay for
the next $100 worth of orders for your customers,” I explained.
He was a bit stunned. And confused.
And it turned out he wasn’t alone, his wife was in the truck, too (I hadn’t
seen her before), and she wasn’t quite grasping the concept either. So, I explained again.
“Wait, what? HOW?” they asked.
I told them that if they
could just keep ringing in customer orders until they hit $100, I would give
them my credit card (shows credit card so they see I am legit 😊 )!! And I gave them my business card, so they
could see Kindness Activist was a real thing.
They were still a bit confused. “You
can charge the $100 now if you like, if that would make it easier. Then just serve people until you hit that
amount…” I offered.
“NOW???” he said, still
very leery.
“Yes sir. I TRUST YOU,” I countered.
And that was the moment a
partnership was born. My new food truck
friends were ALL IN.
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| They let me join them inside their food truck!! My new friends |
The vendor handed me a stack of tiny yellow coupons, each one worth $1 off any item. “Give people these!” he instructed. “We will take $1 off of everything!”. Oh, he was down with the plan. He was excited.
I stood near his sign and as
people walked by, I chatted with them – “Hey!
This guy is giving people a buck off with this coupon! They have great fried Oreos!” was my usual
line (in all honesty – I love fried Oreos, and I think I ate some from this
truck years ago).
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| LET'S DO THIS! |
And one by one, people got
in his line. Singles. Couples.
Families.
I didn’t tell them their
food would be free, I told them they would get a dollar discount. But my new friend was psyched to
explain to them there would be no charge!!
This was strange territory for him, and he was digging it!! After the guests got their orders, he would
always point to me and instruct them to, “Be sure to thank THAT LADY! She paid!!”.
Another of the key
concepts of Kindness Activist is that the people who receive kindness (the
lucky folks who got free food), the people who witness kindness (their friends
they told when they walked around the festival), and the readers of the kind
stories (YOU!) will be hit by a “kindness ripple”. That those people may be inspired to go out
and spread kindness, too.
But I hadn’t planned for
the food truck vendors themselves to be hit with such a large ripple. They were soooo exited to be caught up
in this act of kindness!! When we hit
$100 they let me know and ran the credit card.
Even though perhaps a half an hour had gone by since we began our secret
mission, they were still a bit dumbfounded by it all. And in fact, the man who I feared might be a
bit cranky had the softest heart. “In
all my 17 years of doing this, I have never had anything like this
happen…” he said, with tears welling up in his strong eyes.
I know that the vendors
will re-tell that story of kindness. They
will explain how a complete stranger approached them. How she handed out coupons for them. How customers were so excited to get their
shaved ice for free. And how, even
though they had not had a profitable week because of rain and wind keeping them
from opening most days, that Saturday the sun shone and the kindness
flowed.
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| Outback Snack Shack |
Kindness Activist funds
spent: $100
This story of accounting of
Kindness Activist funds mixes magic with need.
In the five years since we
began fundraising for kindness, one thing I have learned is that those who have
the least often give the most.
They may not give the most in terms of monetary amount, but they give what
they have, and it inspires me to no end.
The people I am talking
about are the guests who do not have enough food for their tables, so they come
to the Little Yellow Free Pantry to supplement what they get at other food pantries. Only, instead of only taking, they give. If they have received something as a gift
or from another pantry that they do not need for their cupboards, they bring it
to the Little Yellow Free Pantry and donate it for others.
These are the people who do
not have a vehicle so rely on public transportation, but if a neighbor is in
need, they will spend hard earned money to get on the bus and go to them and
help out.
These are the people who,
instead of gifts of money or items, offer the most precious gift of all: their time and assistance.
I saw one of these such beautiful
demonstrations of giving online recently.
A community member commented on a post about something she had recently
done. It was a simple gesture, but one
many wouldn’t think to do. She had given
what she had. Given from her heart. And it made me so happy.
I know that she relies on
public transportation, so I messaged her and explained that Kindness Activist would
like to give her some money to top up her bus card. She was very thankful, but explained that, because
of her age, she was able to ride the bus for half price and her bus card was
quite good for the time being.
But although her bus card
was funded, she had another worry. She
wrote, “My current anxiety is the country’s debt crisis. I depend totally on social security payments,
and while I can pay my rent next week from my savings, I am scared about not
being paid (Social Security) in June and not being able to pay July’s rent”.
Oh, my heart.
When I hear the stories of
the economic situation in the USA, it feels abstract. The numbers thrown about in the newspaper and
on the news are far too large for my brain to comprehend. But THIS, this example of a real person who
lives in our community, this made the dire situation all too clear to me: if the government cannot agree on a
resolution, this woman and many, many others, will not be able to pay her
rent. They may be evicted.
I told her that I had been
planning to give her $100 to add to her bus card, and that I would be happy to
give the same amount for her to use for whatever she needed. She was so thankful. “That would be such an enormous blessing!”
she wrote. “I would accept that amount
and sit on it while holding my breath – only figuratively that is”.
Kindness Activist sent the
funds her way.
May we all cross our
fingers and hold our breath (only figuratively) that somehow, someway this
country figures out a way to get our fiscal house in order.
Kindness Activist funds
spent: $100
And finally for this report, a story of kindness in a classroom.
The school year is almost
done, but that doesn’t mean that teachers (underpaid and underfunded) have
enough to finish out the year with their students. One local teacher recently posted this:
“In search of crayons for
my elementary students! By the end of
the year, our crayons are looking pretty sad.
Even if you have gently used crayons that your kids no longer use, they
would be greatly appreciated.”
Well, if there is one
thing I know, it is that NEW CRAYONS are amazing. The colors!
The perfect tips! The smelllll…. So, this was an easy ask to decide to
fulfill.
Two Amazon deliveries
later (oh how I wish Amazon could bring everything at once…) the classroom had
a BIG box of 400 bright color chunky crayons and 48 multicultural color crayons
(that represent the rainbow of skin colors in our world - oh how I wish these had been around when I was a kid).
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| Can't you just SMELL them.... |
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| Image by Crayola |
Color on, my little friends. Fill the world with art.
Kindness Activist funds
spent: $97.04
