Random Acts of Kindness

The Giving Back group met the last week in December to discuss the many ways our "Acts of Kindess" affected ourselves & others. The following is a list of some of the acts that took place:

• Buying lunch for one of the volunteer Salvation Army Food Ringers
• Reading to a friend in a Nursing Home
• Preparing food snacks for local food distribution center
• Helping a hospital employee transport a patient
• Donating basic supplies & Christmas gifts to a single mother
• Donating a Starbuck gift card & buying drinks to those in line
• Clipping coupons & placing them on those items so others could enjoy a savings
• Delivering a newspaper to the in-laws on Christmas Day so they didn't have to go out
• Volunteering at the Open Door Mission & Salvation Army
• Giving an extra $20 tip to a College Student who is working as a waitress to get through school

Giving Back

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, with much to be thankful for.

The votes have been tallied and we have a winner - Giving Back - is the official name of our group!

Our November Food Bank project was a great success - at the Scheef family Thanksgiving, 102 pounds of food & $20 was collected on behalf of the Syracuse & Burr Food Banks. The following day, a group of us met to collect another 250 POUNDS of food for the Omaha Food Bank! This is extremely impressive & they were both so very grateful!

December: Random Acts of Kindness Month

A "Random Act of Kindness" has no greater purpose than to make someone smile & be happy. Our December Giving Back project will give us the opportunity to perform random acts of kindness to someone in the community. This can be a spontaneous or planned event. It is not meant to be hard or complicated but fun & uplifting.

Examples of Random Acts of Kindness:

• Offer a night of babysitting for a friend so they can go out Christmas shopping
• Visit someone in the hospital or nursing home that otherwise would spend the day alone
• Read a book to a child
• Bake Christmas cookies with someone that doesn't feel they can get into the Holiday spirit this year
• Compliment someone
• Send a letter to someone letting them know you think of them
• Pay for the person's coffee in line behind you
  
  Thursday December 27th we will gather at Rod & Gail Bates' home (13020 Old Cherry Road) at 6:30pm for snacks & drinks to discuss the blessings of this month's project & plan for 2008.

Some Organizations You Should Know More About

• Wesley House
• Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Girls, Inc
• Teammates
• Make-A-Wish
• Relay for Life & American Cancer Society
• American Heart Association
• Omaha Food Bank
• Habitat for Humanity
• Camp Fire
• YWCA
• Project Harmony
• Project Nightlight
• JDRF & Camp Floyd Rogers
• WHS (Humane Society)
• Voices for Children
• DreamOmaha
• Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
• Hope Center for Kids
• American Red Cross

This list is just to get you started & find what your passion might be. Feel free to send me one you'd like to be added to the list & I will try to re-post this once in awhile to keep our minds turning on what is out there to get involved in.

Wild Wacky Workers Making a Difference Supporting People in Need & Giving Back

We are off to a GREAT start!

We made 22 Halloween bags accompanied by 22 Halloween/Fall pillows (thanks Jan!) and Becky, our mom & I delivered them to the children yesterday.

As a reminder, this all started because we want to GIVE BACK & Make a Difference Day is where we decided to start. We are all very fortunate & this is a chance to share that with others - sometimes is is a donation to a favorite charity, sometimes it is attending one of their events - but i believe something that has probably the most value to much of us is our TIME. The idea is that among the group of us that decide to participate, we will all take turns organizing an event that gives back to something we really care about. Not only do you get to give back, but you get to help others do the same. Depending on the event, children are invited too (what an incredible way to teach our kids about making the world a better place!)

So, getting down to it...we need to pick a name! The suggestions are:

• SPIN (Supporting People in Need)


• http://www.mad/ (Wild Wacky Workers Making a Difference)
  
• Blessings
  
• BBO (Blessed, Bless Others)
  
• Giving Back
  

(Please respond to me with a vote for your favorite!)

How I imagine this to work is that anyone who is interested will volunteer to take a month. They will be teh ones responsible for picking an organization and/or event that matters to them, organizing the event (getting the necessary information, being a team captain, etc.) I will keep a list of everyone's email address that has expressed interest & can send out the communication about the event. This is definitely a work in progress & will change as we go along & see what works.

We have planned events through the end of the year to get us started...please let me know if you'd like to volunteer for a month next year!

November - Food Bank

~Between now & November 19th, please ask your family & friends for food donations (or $$$ works too!)

~We will meet November 19th to collect all the donations - snacks provided!

• When? November 19th 6:30pm - 8pm
  
• Where? EnSite - located in the Hobby Lobby Plaza at 138th & Millard Avenue


• Who? Whoever has donations! You can just drop off your donation & grab some hot cider or stay to hang out for awhile!

December - Gail's Random Acts of Kindness Month - details to follow

In the Beginning...

October 2007

Hey Everyone! Jenn & I were talking about getting together a group of people, who would do monthly projects GIVING BACK! We are all very fortunate & this is a chance to share that with others - sometimes it is a donation to a favorite charity, sometimes it is attending one of their events, but I believe something that has probably the most value to much of us is our TIME. The idea is that among the group of us that decide to participate, we will all take turns organizing an event that gives back to something we really care about. Not only do you get to give back, but you get to help others do the same. Depending on the event, children are invited too (what an incredible way to teach our kids about making the world a better place!)

So, I'm really excited about Make a Difference Day & we are using this as the kickoff to our Volunteer Group (need to come up with a name...) I've included the link & also some information below if you are interested in learning more. This Saturday (I apologize for the late notice) we are putting together Halloween Goodie Bags for the children at the University Medical Center, where Becky is a nurse. Since they generally have lots going on around Christmas, we thought Halloween would be a good time to do something special for them.

So, what I need from you, is to bring 22 small items (one for each kid) & we will put together the bags on Saturday at 10:30am at my house (18039 Josephine Street). I am supplying the bagels & donuts & drinks, just let me know if you can make it!

Things we have so far...
Halloween pillows
Bouncy balls (that look like eyeballs!)
Coloring books

Things we could use...
Crayons (the small packs)
puzzles
toys
Notebooks
Basically, anything (other than food) that a kid could do while sitting in their hospital room!

Due to many dietary restrictions, we cannot put food in the bags. We'll have to let their families supply with candy if possible!