July 2 Random Acts of Kindness

[Miss JoDee]

Wednesdays this month will be dedicated to Random Acts of Kindness

Volunteer

Acts of kindness can take many forms, such as paying for the coffee of the person behind you at the Starbucks drive-thru, donating to a homeless shelter, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or assisting with building projects.

It's easy to become self-focused during the holidays, with all the preparations that need to be done, which is why many people engage in Random Acts of Kindness (RAKs). While I know that many members here practice RAKs year-round, let's remind ourselves that the need for kindness continues throughout the year.

Volunteering is one way to do this. It doesn't have to involve something grand, like heading up a fundraiser for a charitable organization; it can be as simple as treating coworkers to coffee or lunch when you're out, or stepping in to help someone in need, such as providing a meal for a family going through a tough time. Ideas for RAKs include making baked goods for a fundraiser, assisting teachers in their classrooms, donating school supplies, or staying behind after a party to help clean up when the hostess is exhausted.

What activities have you participated in as a volunteer?

 

[Myron's Mom]

Probably our biggest thing we do is picking up the tab in restaurants for police, military or anyone we see that looks like they could use a “pick me up”.

 

[Myron's Mom]

Random acts of kindness made me think of this video. A reminder of what we don’t know about people. Would paying for the car behind you at Starbucks or letting the person behind you in the grocer store go first brighten their day? It may.
This was produced by Cleveland Clinic for their employees but crosses over to all of us I think. It’s not a lecture type video and last just a little over 4 minutes.

 

[PamelaG]

I work on items for food baskets in the month before December. A lot of people donate to food banks right around Christmas but it's more helpful to donate in advance so that the staff can assemble baskets. Your local food bank should have a list of items needed. They are usually the traditional foods like mashed potatoes, gravy, canned vegetables, stuffing mix, canned pumpkin, pie fillings, and even things like a foil pan for roasting a turkey. There are usually corporate sponsors or government agencies that donate the turkeys or a voucher to purchase one at a local grocery store.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

I am of the opinion that if we have the means to help others than we should do so.

A long while ago just before Christmas DH was laid off from his job. The neighbours found out and bought a few small gifts for DS and DD which I will never forget. That RAK was just what we needed to help us through.

When the kids were small we would donate toys to the KMart wish tree. I wanted the kids to realise that not every child was as lucky as they were and I think they got a sense of joy helping others out. When they were older we would sit and discuss what charity we would donate to that year .The kids, as adults still donate each year to a charity of their choosing.

For the past many years Mum and I have made up care packages that we donate to our local church. These contain warm socks, tooth brush and paste, a comb, some hand sanitizer, shampoo and a body wash or a cake of soap and a packet of tissues. We take them to the church either during Winter or just before Christmas. We will also donate canned goods when the church does their food drive. We enjoy being able to help others even in this small way.

As far as volunteering I have been involved in DrillDance for the past 10 years as a volunteer coach and now judge. This is something I thoroughly enjoy.
I recently became a volunteer at our town's cafe. It is completely volunteer run and all proceeds go back into supporting community projects. I feel that I get more out of this than it costs and another thing that I enjoy.

 

[Miss JoDee]

The great thing about volunteering is that it only requires your time. I have volunteered in various capacities, including helping in my children's classroom, working with Feeding Starving Children. Additionally, I organized snacks as a baseball mom and participated in various volunteer opportunities at church.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

I recently became a volunteer at our town's cafe. It is completely volunteer run and all proceeds go back into supporting community projects. I feel that I get more out of this than it costs and another thing that I enjoy.

We support a cafe like this whenever we go to Acadia National Park. I love the comraderie I see among locals and we love supporting small businesses.

A lot of people donate to food banks right around Christmas but it's more helpful to donate in advance so that the staff can assemble baskets.

Our church does a monthly food drive to send to our "Sister" church in the city. We also pick up several paper grocery bags in November. The bags have specific food items listed and attached to it. The idea is it's "Thanksgiving in a Bag" plus a turkey to pick up. We also do a "Giving Tree" where we pick a gift tag from a tree that has the name of the non-profit organization, gender and age of the recipient with a recommended gift idea or a recommended gift card.

I have volunteered my time at my children's school for setting up and taking down the Christmas-themed auction fundraisers. It was a lot of work that started in September. The fundraiser was the Saturday before Thanksgiving. We put together gift baskets to auction off. We did a Christmas Cookie Lane. People donated Christmas cookies. We displayed them and then people could buy a box and fill them. We had directions on how to freeze them.

For the last 11 years, our entire family donates our time to running a Christian music festival in September. Our youngest was 7 years old when she started. Many of the volunteers had children the same age so they grew up together learning how to serve others and how to run a non-profit business. It is not easy! With my new job schedule and it's new location about 90 minutes away (verses 10 minutes away), I will only be available Saturday and Sunday. I used to spend Wednesday though Sunday at the grounds and the rest of the family spent one or two of the other days whenever they could.