Mom it Forward » Random Acts of Kindness

Donations: Simple Ways to Give to Charity and to Those in Need

tammykling — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:00:04 +0000

January is typically a month when people want to get organized. They go through their closets and pull out old coats, jackets, scarves, and outdated fashions to make space for all the new things that Santa left under the Christmas tree. They also go through their cupboards and donate canned food for annual food drives.

What do you do with your unwanted items? Chances are you have donated something to someone at some point in your life. Have you thought about dropping them off at a homeless shelter, a food pantry, or the Salvation Army? Take a minute and think about the people that might be in need of your used items. Not only will these item be put to good use, but they can really make a huge difference for someone.

When you donate to charity, you are giving a little part of yourself away. Your gently used household items and food donations are clothing the needy and feeding the hungry.

Homeless men, women, and children can use our donated items to create a new life. A shirt or shoes that fit can make the difference for a homeless person to get a job interview. A donated bike can help them get there.

Everything on this man and the puppies is donated from suburban moms! Jacket, shirt, puppy collars, puppy food, blanket, and puppy bag — you can only imagine how happy this made the man.

On the street last week, I ran into a homeless friend wearing a brand new pair of Pumas. “Nice kicks!” someone said, complimenting him. Down the street on another day, we saw a woman wearing a London Fog trench coat climbing into a dumpster. Newbies who go with me to visit the homeless often remark about how well dressed they are.

“I swear, America has the best dressed homeless population,” said my friend from Florida. When you give away your old clothes, shoes, and other items, they go directly to benefit someone else. I have seen this firsthand.

The needy don’t care about brands. They are happy to wear whatever they can get. Take the time to go through your closets and cupboards and find unwanted items. Ask yourself whether or not the item would better serve someone else. Include your kids in on this project. Help them imagine who their old toys or clothes would actually benefit. Start off the New Year with a spirit of giving. It will not only bless your life, but to those that are the recipients of your donations.

What items will you donate to charity? How will you teach your children to be more charitable?

Photo courtesy of flickr.

Tammy Kling is a life coach, crisis management expert, and advocate for the homeless. She is an international author of 37 books including The Compass. Tammy is also the founder of The Homeless Writers Project, an organization that helps those living on the street write out their hopes & dreams via writers workshops, free journals and other resources. Tammy is a mom of two boys, an avid trail and mountain runner, blogger, and adventure travel writer

Happiness: Laughter is the Best Medicine

Jamie Moesser — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:00:13 +0000

This week’s Season of Service challenge involves helping others laugh, out loud. A man named George Gordon Byron once said that laughter is “cheap medicine.” Let us all be inexpensive doctors then.

10 Tips to Help Others LOL

Tickle your toddler the next time you’re at the grocery store. Of course, that makes him or her laugh, and anyone who hears the sound of a child’s laughter inevitably laughs, or at least smiles, too.
Put on a silly puppet show for your kids when they get home from school.
Watch a funny movie (I recommend Nacho Libre) with your family tonight. There is nothing better than laughing together.
Buy an inexpensive bunch of flowers and pass them out to friends or co-workers.
Put together a Secret Easter Bunny, or Secret Santa if you’re really planning ahead, gift exchange with friends, fellow book club members, or co-workers, but with a difference. Each person picks a name from a hat and envisions the recipient as a child. The toys you exchange will give you all a good laugh and when you’re done, collect up all the toys and donate them to a local children’s nonprofit.
Slip a joke in your husband’s lunchbox.
Go to OperationBeautiful.com, then put a happy, anonymous post-it note in a random public place.
Eat at a vegetarian restaurant listed on HappyCow.net.
Bake some brownies, spread some Nutella (yummm!) on them in the shape of a happy face, and take them to a neighbor.
Play hopscotch outside for at least 15 minutes

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

What other ideas do you have for helping others laugh?
How has laughing made a meaningful difference for you this week?
How have others made you laugh this week and what difference has that made in your life?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Season?

Make a meaningful difference this season by taking the Season of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:

Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s prizes from Frito-Lay by clicking here.
Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.

What other ideas do you have for helping others laugh? How has laughing made a meaningful difference for you this week? How have others made you laugh this week and what difference has that made in your life?

Good Manners: 10 Simple Ways to be Kind

Jamie Moesser — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:00:22 +0000

This week’s Season of Service challenge is perhaps the easiest yet: be kind. Aesop, the Greek fable writer, once said: No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. Let’s all be brave this week, reaching out with kindness. This challenge is inspired by Chuggington, the new line of animated trains, and correlates with their #GNO next week on teaching kids good manners.

10 bite-size ideas for being kind:

Donate your used athletic shoes to Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program, which grinds them down and re-makes them into play surfaces.
Play an instrument, or have your child practice the piano/give an impromptu musical performance for an elderly neighbor.
Donate flowers you no longer need after an event to Flower Power, which re-arranges them and gives them to the elderly in nursing homes.
Donate some used blankets and toys to your local animal shelter.
Take your children to a local nonprofit for a tour. Just being aware of the needs of your community through the work of these organizations can be perspective-changing.
Leave a snack for an unsuspecting friend or co-worker.
Write a thank-you note to a teacher who inspired you or who is doing a good job teaching your child.
Help someone with a job or chore.
Play the role of doorman at a public place for 10 minutes.
Contact your local library or literacy center and ask about volunteer opportunities for reading to home-bound people.

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

What other ideas do you have for being kind to others?
How has being kind made a meaningful difference for you this week?
How have others been kind to you this week and what difference has that made in your life?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Season?

Make a meaningful difference this season by taking the Season of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:

Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s prizes from Chuggington by clicking here.
Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.

Plan Service Into Your Life

Jamie Moesser — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:00:42 +0000

This week’s Season of Service challenge focuses on planning. Think of ways that you can serve your family, your neighbors, your community, your countrymen, and your fellow humans across the globe by planning. This can mean preparing an event, helping someone prepare for the accomplishment of a goal, or just planning a particular activity with your family. Here are 10 bite-sized, manageable ideas:

10 Ways to Plan Service

Plan a week’s worth of dinners to be brought in to a friend who has recently had a baby or lost a loved one. Call six other friends and ask them to contribute a dinner, along with yourself. Specify a date for them to either deliver their meal to your house or the recipient’s, with the recipient’s permission.
Plan a family night activity aimed toward teaching fairness and acceptance of others, maybe using some of the resources provided at Tolerance.org.
Plan a menu and shopping list for the whole week or even two weeks out. Planning and doing as much as possible ahead of time may leave you less stressed each day when dinner time rolls around. If you’re less stressed, then your family will be less stressed.
Plan to make a little bigger dinner each night, and take that extra portion to someone who has difficulty cooking.
Plan to attend, or attend with a friend, a local weight-loss support group.
Plan a girls’ night out at your house or at a local restaurant and put together Easter baskets for children at your local children’s hospital. See this week’s post on Kelly Loubet, who plans MIF events like these monthly in Arizona, or this site for Primary Children’s Medical Center, for sample requirements and basket content ideas.
Plan to pay $1 extra at the register next time you go grocery shopping at one of these retailers to contribute to Food For All, who distributes your contributions and others to food banks for the relief of hunger and the promotion of health.
Plan a party to celebrate the birthday of someone who ordinarily wouldn’t get that much attention.
Plan some questions to ask that will guide the conversation at your next dinner party towards involving everyone. Sandy Coughlin’s Reluctant Entertainer site has some suggestions.
Plan to donate an hour or two of your expertise or talent either directly to a charity of your choice or to an online auction for charity like BiddingForGood.com.

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

What other ideas do you have for giving to others by planning?
How has planning made a meaningful difference for you this week?
How have others given to you this week and what difference has that made in your life?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Season?

Make a meaningful difference this season by taking the Season of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:

Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s prizes from Genovive by clicking here.
Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.

The Manner of Random Acts of Kindness

mindylockard — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:00:11 +0000

The last week of February was Random Acts of Kindness week. How fantastic is that? Where manners are concerned, everyday could be a Random Act of Kindness day because that’s simply what manners are about. Personally, I think people have started shying away from traditional etiquette because it seems like it’s something we “have to do.”

What if manners were just something we did because we wanted to? To be kind, in a way that’s totally random! “Manners” comes from the Latin root of the word Manus, which means “of the hand.” So really, manners are about how we handle people.

As we look at raising a gracious generation, teaching our children the spirit of The Random Act of Kindness is a gift we can give. More importantly, modeling the behavior will give them a clear picture of what it means to live with a gracious and kind spirit that isn’t planned or scheduled.

Here are a few ideas that don’t cost any money but are worth a million where raising a gracious generation is considered:

Kind Words

Siblings can supply the perfect opportunity to practice using kind words. Apologies, compliments, and other statements of appreciation will improve their relationships and give many chances to apply what they’ve learned. If they can be taught kindness to those they are with on a regular basis, gracious interaction with others will soon be a part of their normal thought process. Encourage your children to say “random” nice things to each other… not just when one has been randomly hit in the face with a ball.

Random Attitudes

Our homes are the perfect places to teach, model, and practice acts of kindness. Honestly, there are times as a wife and mother that I get frustrated with situations, but I have learned that my attitude sets the tone for the rest of my family. If I am short with my girls, they become agitated. When we slow down and demonstrate patience, it diffuses the tension and frustration. This means at home, or even when the checker at my neighborhood market is extra slow, little eyes are watching and taking note.

Learned Skills

In many ways, thinking of others is a learned skill. We can’t just tell our children to look beyond themselves and expect that it will happen. We have to give them opportunities to do so. If our children are not raised thinking about the needs of others, chances are they will not become adults who think of others. As parents we can feel guilty taking time away from our children to help others. However, modeling service and giving children an opportunity to participate teaches your children one of life’s greatest lessons—the joy of serving others.

“How can we expect our children to know and experience the joy of giving unless we teach them that the greater pleasure in life lies in the art of giving rather than receiving.” — James Cash Penny

Mindy Lockard is the founder of Mindy Lockard’s Gracious Living which includes a daily blog, trainings for colleges/universities, government agencies, and private companies. Mindy is a freelance contributor for Fox 12 Oregon, Crane & Co.’s The Crane Insider, Stationery Trends magazine’s column “What’s Write” and many other web and print publications. To learn more about Mindy Lockard you can find her on twitter: @TheGraciousGirl facebook: The Gracious Girl or on the web www.MindyLockard.com.

Family Holiday Traditions: Making a New Year’s Resolution Advent Calendar

Lori — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 18:00:15 +0000

Christmas is over. But the holiday spirit is what brings families closer together, so why not make the holidays last all year?

To keep the spirit of giving alive for my family, we decided to build a New Year’s Resolution Advent Calender. The great part is that you can find some great deals on advent calendars to use (Not the chocolate-filled kind—that would be sorta gross!). I’ve seen all sorts of adorable wooden ones at places like Target and craft and hobby stores, like Home Goods, Michaels, or Hobby Lobby, that feature real open-n-close doors in which you can put your own items.

When I bought our faux-snow-covered Advent house, my first thought was to fill it with small toys and treats from December 1-25. Then, in a sudden moment of clarity, I realized:

I really, really didn’t need any more small toys lying around the house, getting sucked up into the vacuum cleaner or cluttering my family room.
If I wanted to give out daily chocolate treats, there was still a heaping pile of Halloween candy left in the kitchen cabinet.
It might be nice to create a little family togetherness and kindness. What a great way to start the new year!

I got out my scissors and carefully cut 25 3” x 3” squares of red and green paper (which was sorta silly because I already had a drawer-full of small post-it note paper that would have worked just as well) and started to brainstorm ideas for fun family activities and random acts of kindness that we could do together over the month.

25 Small Acts of Kindness to Include in an Advent

Here are some quick and simple ideas I came up with:

Have breakfast for dinner (a major favorite every year!).
Read an extra book at bedtime.
Have a dance night—frilly tutus, twirly skirts, or whatever creates the spirit.
Pick a game for the family to play together.
Make items to give to a charity—knit hats, blankets, sweaters, or whatever is needed by the local shelters.
Have a pedicure night! Pick a nail polish for a pedicure by mom.
Pick mom’s outfit (Mercifully, they did a great job!).
Pick dad’s outfit (Humorously, his was not so great…but he was a good sport!).
Take dinner to a neighbor.
Write a letter to Grandma.
Make hair accessories for each other.
Sleep over with a sibling night (always planned for a non-school night!).
Have dessert before dinner night.
Collect canned goods for a shelter.
Invite a friend over to play.
Pick a restaurant to go to for dinner.
Pick a movie to watch with the family
Offer to do a chore for your sister
Donate used books to a local Domestic Violence shelter.
Shovel a neighbor’s sidewalk.
Send a package to the troops, or a personal friend who is serving in the military.
Make a meal, including all of your family’s favorite foods. Invite friends over to sample.
Have a progressive game night with some family friends who live near by.
Go caroling… even though it’s not Christmas!
Go on a family scavenger hunt.

This is our third year using our New Year’s Advent Calendar and we look forward to opening it each day—crazy kid-designed outfits and all. The anticipation with which my young daughters open the daily doors is priceless and the planned family activity or act of kindness is a great way to start each day of the new year. I change things up a bit each year, depending on scheduled events and unforeseen opportunities, but keep the perennial favorites (chocolate-chip pancakes for dinner would be sorely missed if it was ever omitted!) and know that this daily New Year’s ritual will be a forever-treasured memory.

What are your family’s plans for 2011? How can you focus on fun family traditions to strengthen your family relationships?

By Signe Whitson, LSW. She has been a child therapist for over ten years and has inspirational ideas on how to help better the relationships of parents with their children. Her advice has been featured on Psychology Today and is shared on her popular blog on passive aggressive behavior. Her partnership was formed with a baby clothes boutique to spread her ideas to a larger audience.

10 Bite-Size Ideas for Spreading Joy This Week

Jamie Moesser — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:03:35 +0000

We’re down to the wire, folks. Christmas is just days away, and while the fun may be mounting, so might the stress. It’s very easy to get caught up in rushing from one store to the next, one holiday party to another. Taking time to serve others is still important; indeed, it can make all the difference in the tone of your holiday and in others. Here are 10 bite-size ideas for serving others:

It can be so tempting to cut corners as you’re frantically driving around: going a bit too fast, following a bit too close, or going through the yellow-light-that’s-really-red. Don’t. The first step to spreading joy is to not cause irritation, or worse, accidents.
Call up a friend you haven’t talked to in a while, and wish her happy holidays.
Call up any friend and offer to watch her kids for an hour or two while she finishes her Christmas shopping.
Take a tin of store-bought popcorn to a neighbor you haven’t met before.
This one is arguably the hardest but perhaps the widest-reaching: strike up a conversation with your Walmart checkout person as you’re buying your groceries. Imagine the ripple effect if they feel their day has been a little bit brightened!
Drop 5 cents in the Salvation Army bucket. Every penny really does help.
Swap a box of children’s toys through thredUP. The money you save while still providing Christmas might spread joy in your heart.
Plan on recycling your Christmas tree, spreading joy to many municipalities who rehabilitate wildlife habitat with them, mulch and compost them for park beds and highway medians, and even use them to restore beaches. Find out more at ChristmasTree.org.
Choose your favorite holiday-themed movie and have a movie night with your family. In our home, we love to watch Elf with Will Farrell. We get in our jammies and get ready to laugh over popcorn.
Think of someone old or young, related or unrelated, friend or stranger, someone who may not be as included or involved in holiday activities and spread joy to him or her with an anonymous goodie left on the doorstep, sharing how grateful you are to have him/her in your life.

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

What other ideas do you have for giving to others?
How has giving to others made a meaningful difference this week?
How have others given to you this week and what difference has that made in your life?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Season?

Make a meaningful difference this season by taking the Season of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:

Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s prize (an 11-inch Macbook Air) from SWAGG.
Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms.

Make Today Unexpected

Jyl Johnson Pattee — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 06:00:29 +0000

Do you ever feel that one day runs into the next without a lot of difference between them? This week’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsored by Famous Footwear, is about making this week—starting with today!—unexpected. Here are 11 ways to do that. If you have more ideas, please share them in the comments!

Make today loud by screaming with excitement when good things happen.
Make today pop by wearing bold colors.
Make today frisky by… well, I’ll leave that up to you .
Make today playful by flirting with your spouse.
Make today lyrical by playing and bringing classical music to life in your home and making up and telling fun stories to your children about what the music means.
Make today glamorous by being beautiful on the inside!
Make today fearless by stepping outside your comfort zone to serve someone you may not know well or at all.
Make today heroic by being someone’s hero in whatever way they need to be saved, served, or made to feel special.
Make today huge by making a triple batch of cookies and surprising your kids with some when they walk in the door from school, sharing some with your neighbors, and giving some to your friends as a thank you just for being in your life.
Make today electric by shocking someone. Call someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Drop in on someone unexpectedly just to let them know you care about them. Do something for yourself that you don’t typically do that will make you feel really good.
Make today dangerous by taking a leap of faith. Only you know what that will be, but do it. You know you’ve been wanting to for a while. Don’t hold back!

These ideas were prompted by this fun video by Famous Footwear!

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

What other ideas do you have for making today unexpected?
What are things that get in the way of adding variety between the days in your week?
What are ways to overcome these challenges?
How has making today unexpected made a meaningful difference for you? For others?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?

Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:

Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Click here to check out this week’s prize from Famous Footwear.
Click here to join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.

10 Ways to Brighten Someone’s Day

Jyl Johnson Pattee — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:20:00 +0000

This week’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsored by Crayola, is to brighten someone’s day by doing one or more of the following creative things. If you have more ideas, please share them in the comments!

Run up to a loved one and give him or her an enthusiastic bear hug.
Smile to those you pass on the street.
Ask someone how they are doing, listen to the answer, and comment on it.
Give others heartfelt compliments.
Give someone a bouquet of flowers just because.
Together as a family, identify another family whose day needs brightening, prepare some artwork (each person preparing something that is special to him or her)—even something as simple as coloring a page from a coloring book—and deliver it to the family together.
For a date night with just you and your spouse, get some butcher paper and finger paint a picture for your children, hang it on the wall, and let them see it when they wake up.
Kiss everyone in your family at least five times in a day!
Gather your family together, turn on some upbeat music, and start dancing. Dance with each of your children, even if you have to do it while holding them.
Give each member of your family a gift that relates to their favorite color (this can be store bought or homemade).

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

What other ideas do you have for brightening someone’s day this week?
What are things that get in the way of brightening someone’s day?
What are ways to overcome these challenges?
How has brightening someone’s day made a meaningful difference for you? For others?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?

Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:

Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Click here to check out this week’s prize from Crayola.
Click here to join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.

Ten Ways to Strengthen Your Relationships This Week

Jyl Johnson Pattee — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 08:25:54 +0000

This week’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsored by Crayola, is all about building and strengthening your relationships and helping your children to do the same by doing one or more of the following creative things. If you have more ideas, please share them in the comments!

Write a list of ten questions you’d like to know about a family member or friend and schedule an interview with them to get to know them better. Encourage your children to interview someone they’d like to get to know better as well. If they are younger, help them create the list of questions.
Write a note to a family member or friend, telling them how much you appreciate, love, or admire them. Use your talents in drawing, painting, stamping, hand writing, letter writing, or your favorite form of creativity to put your personal stamp on the card.
Involve your family in putting together a progressive dinner right within the walls of your own home. Assign each person to be in charge of a specific room and portion of the meal. Work together to make the meal and set up the rooms. Award prizes for most creative, yummiest, most colorful, etc.
Welcome your spouse home from work or your children home from school with a picture or note on one of your windows or mirrors using Crayola’s window markers.
Encourage your children to welcome their mom or dad (or both!) home from work or other outing by helping them write a love note using Crayola’s sidewalk chalk on the driveway.
Have a family art gallery night where each of you prepares a drawing, painting, photograph, Model Magic sculpture, or other artistic project and showcases it for each other. Award participants with certificates or ribbons, indicating most creative, best use of color, best use of black and white, best use of emotions, etc.
Encourage your children to get to know their grandparents better by having them record (through audio and/or video) an interview with them about what life was like when they were growing up. Help your children prepare the questions, get the recording equipment ready, and set up an appointment. Then help them put together the audio/video project and share it with the rest of the family, including their grandparents.
Have a girls’ night out that’s a blast from the past with activities like finger painting, running through sprinklers, jumping on the trampoline, or other fun things you enjoyed as a child. Make sure to feature your favorite childhood snacks and drinks. Tang anyone?
Have a “walk down memory lane” party with your family, your friends, other couples, or others where you all bring photo albums and share your favorite memories. One fun group date is to all bring your wedding photo albums and each take turns sharing favorite memories from your wedding and your newlywed years.
Schedule a family coloring night, where you each choose a favorite page from a coloring book or your own coloring books and color together while chatting and enjoying your favorite snacks.

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

What other ideas do you have for strengthening your relationships this week using creativity?
What are things that get in the way of strengthening your relationships using creativity?
What are ways to overcome these challenges?
How has strengthening your relationships this week using creativity others made a meaningful difference for you? For others?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?

Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:

Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Click here to check out this week’s prize from Crayola.
Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.