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Random Acts of Christmas Kindness
  • morewithlessmommorewithlessmom
    Posts: 117Member
    How did I not know about this??
    "You've been RACK'ed"
    I'm so excited to make a new advent calendar with random acts of kindness. Is it totally weird to make a three month advent calendar?
    “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” ~ Dr Seuss
  • Emmasmom04Emmasmom04
    Posts: 207Member
    That's really sweet. I live in a very rural area so it would be hard to do some of those things, but some of them are absolutely possible! 
  • sandy2622
    Posts: 72Member
    My son "liked" this on his facebook page; a Discount Tire employee in SC posted this on the Discount Tire FB page.  I thought this was great and thought I would share here....seems appropriate!

    My
    name is Dereck XXXXXXXX and I work at SCC05 in Taylors SC... Today I had a
    customer come in for two tires, she was badly in need of four but could
    only afford the two, she paid for her two tires and went to wait in the
    waiting room... As her car was being worked on another customer came up
    to me and asked how much it would be to put two more tires on for her...
    He paid for her tires, wrote her a note and left without saying a word
    to her... When the work was complete I told her what happened, gave her
    the note that he wrote and she almost came to tears with gratitude... It
    just goes to show that there are good people out there, they just hide
    in the shadows not seeking acknowledgement for their good deeds... I
    have never actually been witness to such altruism until today and I'm
    still in awe of this person... I just wanted to share this story with
    everyone and want to be able to pass on some hope for the less fortunate
    that good things can and do happen, I know my customer and her child
    will be safe now thanks to a complete stranger!
  • morewithlessmommorewithlessmom
    Posts: 117Member
    I got a money jar from someone several years ago and it was mind-bogglingly helpful. It was only like $30 in ones, but I did so much with $30!
    “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” ~ Dr Seuss
  • Sheri22268Sheri22268
    Posts: 58Member
    My daughter is moved to do things like this.  Last year she wrote 100 letters with a picture to 100 soldiers in Afghanistan. This year she is raising money to buy Christmas gifts for a woman's shelter.  Her goal is 100 toys and so far she has $120. She is amazing because even though we don't have a lot of money she still saves every dollar she gets for those kids.  Oh yeah, did I mention she's 6? 
  • CherryfriesCherryfries
    Posts: 171Member
    Very awesome!
  • BratsInAZ76
    Posts: 37Member
    I love random acts of kindness. I have witnessed a woman buy 2 gift cards for $20 and then turn and hand them to the 2 people in line behind her. It restores my faith in humanity to see people do things like that!
  • missy545missy545
    Posts: 393Member
    When we were more stable with money we used to pick up the check for dinner for older couples/single people that were at the restaurant. We would let our kids take turns deciding whose dinner to pay for. I think we did it since our kids didn't have grandparents that lived close by. We never let the people know we paid and always left a tip too just in case.
  • RinRin
    Posts: 967Member
    Random acts of kindness are so very special to me, and not every random act of kindness has to be monetary either!

    Karma...its a powerful thing!
    "There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart.. .pursue those"
  • gramalibbygramalibby
    Posts: 2,626Member
    I saw an elderly neighbor really struggling at the grocery store , so I went to the manager bought a gift card. And had him award his 50th customer......she was nine the wiser. I wish I could still do this
  • Steph
    Posts: 62Member
    @sandy2622, I saw that same post you're talking about.  I absolutely love the idea of doing something like this.  I can't right now financially, but even speaking a kind word to someone else can make someone's day!!
  • LoveLove
    Posts: 12,757Administrator, Moderator
    image

    community-manager


  • yvonnehutch
    Posts: 56Member
    OMG thats freakin awesome. If I EVER win the lottery, thats probably how I will go broke again , lol

  • TheHeadacheslayer
    Posts: 2,752Member
    Our next door neighbor has a lawn service and always does our front lawn for us. He is so sweet. My kids take him out gatorade and ice water after, take up his trashcans from the curb. When my daughter gets plants from volunteering at the nursery she shares them with him (he gardens as well). When we can, we're going to pay him to take care of our back yard. After a tornado ripped off the top of a tree, he came over with his chain saw and hacked it up so that the kids could move it out for the yard trash pickup. 

    RAOK are awesome, whether you are the giver or the recipient! Even if it's just smiling and telling someone they look nice, it can make such a difference in a person's day!
  • PenguinsMommaPenguinsMomma
    Posts: 1,293Member
    I try to do something nice for someone when i can. One day there was a pregnant woman at my register. She had prenatal vitamins, rwgular milk, chocolate milk, a thing of cookies, and peanut butter cups. She only had enough for the vitamins and went to put the rest back. I just shook my head and swiped my credit card. I told her that it seems her cravings were the same as mine. And one day i didn't have enough for my peanut butter cup fix and someone helped me out. Payin it forward...what it is all about
  • yvonnehutch
    Posts: 56Member
    Ya'll are awesome folks, think I'm gonna like it here
  • iritnusiritnus
    Posts: 61Member
    Have you heard of www.beenjingled.com?
    My scrapbooking blog: www.scrappingisheartwork.com
    My food blog: www.good-press.blogspot.com
  • jetty
    Posts: 51Member
    We did this last year! We only ended up doing a few days because we all got sick and we didn't have much money to do the other things I wanted to do, but we really loved it! Thanks for reminding me again. Going to make our list today and start planning!
  • jetty
    Posts: 51Member
    Sheri22268 said:

    My daughter is moved to do things like this.  Last year she wrote 100 letters with a picture to 100 soldiers in Afghanistan. This year she is raising money to buy Christmas gifts for a woman's shelter.  Her goal is 100 toys and so far she has $120. She is amazing because even though we don't have a lot of money she still saves every dollar she gets for those kids.  Oh yeah, did I mention she's 6? 



    How incredibly sweet! You've got a sweet kid right there!
  • IWISHIWEREKBIWISHIWEREKB
    Posts: 67Member
    When I was a single mom and my daughter was about 3 or 4, we lived in some SUPER crappy apartments.  I had 3 jobs and went to school full time and live was crap.  One night about 2 weeks before Christmas someone knocked on my door about 7 pm. It only took me a few seconds to get there, but whomever it was was already gone. On my welcome mat was a huge jar full of coins and an envelope with $200 in it! It ended up being about $250 total. I never did find out who gave me that money and I will forever be indebted to that person or persons. I used the money to pay a couple of bills that were past due. 
  • J_mom
    Posts: 18Member
    I love these. i love doing random acts, but my problem is i do them and feel so glad to have blessed someone, but i cant help but feel frustrated that in times when i am so down and we really do need help, i never feel blessed by others... and then i feel guilty because that isnt what its about...its not about doing good things to get good things, its just about being nice and blessing others...  sometimes i just feel like... ok i did my good deeds when is it my turn? lol... i know it will come eventually. lol... and i have been blessed in little ways that werent even intened to be that way...  so i shouldnt complain. This year i wanted to bake cookies for some of the neightbors. if we have the $ to do so i think i will! :)

  • TorturedbyTWINSTorturedbyTWINS
    Posts: 1,163Member
    My parents were musicians and we traveled A LOT growing up I attended nearly 30 schools by the time I graduated.  Two years they didn't have enough for Christmas and both years some stranger left bags of gifts on our doors and ran off after knocking.  I don't remember what toys I got that year, but I do remember watching my mom sit down and cry.  It was pretty rare to see her break down.  

    Whenever I have the money I try to adopt a child for the holidays through the local programs and help them out.  It's funny thinking back about that, the real gift to my mom that year was seeing her kids happy.  Sometimes the givers end up being the bigger receivers.  (((Hugs))) to all the unknown helpers out there!!! 
  • GingerLynn
    Posts: 243Member
    Love hearing all the stories! When our finances were better i always made up a few gifts boxes for neighbors i knew who were struggling.I would try and buy a few toys to drop in toys for tots,and canned goods for the pantries.This year has been pretty rough finacially for us but i am still gonna try and do alittle something even if it's only a few canned goods or dollar store toys.
  • GingersnapGingersnap
    Posts: 7,286Member
    It's not random, or Christmas-related. For the last month plus, I've been preparing and gifting two meals a week for a friend who's very pregnant, and now a new mommy. It doesn't cost a lot, and it doesn't take a ton of effort to make a significant impact. 

    I'm also responsible for confession #248229 . Update: DH was totally cool with it. 
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  • morewithlessmommorewithlessmom
    Posts: 117Member
    That's so sweet @Gingersnap! I'm sure that couple put it to good use. Good for you. And good for your hubby.
    “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” ~ Dr Seuss
  • kittykisses80kittykisses80
    Posts: 1,014Member
    Sweet stories. :-) hopefully something good happens like that for Xmas this year. Kids need an uplifting time after this horrifying year we've had.
  • Buggy_Boo
    Posts: 213Member
    I know this is a really small thing but I always leave extra coupons (especially for things like diapers and formula) throughout the grocery store while I'm shopping.  I've also paid tolls for the car behind me and paid for the food for the car behind me in the drive-thru.  At Christmas time, we always donate gifts to kids in foster care (we usually pick a kid close to my children's ages and let our kids pick out the present for them.)  Someday I'd like to do a really big RAOK (like buy tires for someone or a big gift card or something.)  These warmed my heart this morning - thanks everyone!
  • tothemoonandbacktothemoonandback
    Posts: 2,123Member
    I don't think it has to cost anything to be kind or provide for someone something they can't provide themselves.  Totally tiny act of kindness and I'm not a 'toot my own horn' type person, but today I was getting Jameson's hair cut and the lady next to me had a little girl around 3 years old there for her first hair cut, and said something "geeze, I'm a horrible mom.. totally forgot my camera" (she also had a 18 month old in tow), so I whipped out my phone and became the 1st haircut paparazzi and emailed the pics to her after I got home.
    Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. - Marilyn Monroe
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