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

$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!