Well, last night, I was in charge of a Random Acts of Kindness activity for our youth group. One of our youth was my "assistant" in the planning. We wanted to hand out something to local people as an act of kindness. Well of course you can't do this just anywhere. Wal-mart shot us down begrudgingly. They felt really bad, of course. So we had to switch gears a little bit. S and I decided to hand out hot chocolate mix to strangers that were out shopping on a cold winter's night. Who doesn't like hot chocolate?
This turned out to be more difficult than we thought. Don't get me wrong, we had some very willing takers, and very grateful takers. But there was an overwhelming number of people that really questioned our motives, and our recipe. :)
It kind of made me sad thinking about what I would have said if I was approached with this gift. Would I have been accepting or questioning?
Overall, we were able to hand out all but 5 or 6 mixes, so it was a success!
It felt really good to do something nice for a stranger.
So two questions here...
- Would you have been accepting or questioning?
- What has been done for you lately as an act of kindness or what have you done lately as an act of kindness?
Hot chocolate recipe
1 - 20 qt. box powdered milk
2 lb. Nestle Quik (chocolate)
1 - 6 oz. coffee creamer, powdered
2 lbs. powdered sugar
Pour at least 1/3 c. mixture in a mug. Pour in hot water and enjoy!
5 comments:
Great post, Kim. Obviously if YOU handed it to me I would take it in a heartbeat (and possibly ask for more...mmmmm)! But if it was handed to me by a stranger I guess I would think twice about it. It is sooooo sad that we have to be careful like that, but there are some people out there that don't mean well like you are your class did.
Regardless, I think it's wonderful that you made the effort and I'm sure you warmed up the holidays for some people!
J
This is a great post Kim. I think it was Jamie who gave me the idea of taking a Happy Meal to a homeless person. So the other day, after church, we drove downtown Indy and Tommy and Olivia got out and delivered a happy meal and a bottle of water to a VERY appreciative homeless man on Illinois St. Olivia was grinning from ear to ear and I was sitting in the car watching this all take place with huge tears! It was priceless!
Our church did a turkey outreach for Thanksgiving and delivered frozen turkeys to an appt complex around here and many were surprised at the number of people who wouldn't answer the door and those who did but wouldn't accept the turkey as a "free, no strings attached" gift!
Great idea! We can all use a little act of kindness...Especially now, when so many people are feeling the strain and stress of money concerns...it feels good to have people care!
Great Idea Kim. Unfortunately, the world has come to a place, that you have to be careful about taking things from strangers, especially food, so I would have probably passed on the hot choc. If I knew who was passing it out, I might take it.
When I lived in IN and even a couple of time in NC, I often cleaned the snow off of strangers cars. I'm sure they probably think someone was trying to get in the wrong car or something. I never stick around to see their expression. I really enjoy doing random acts of kindness. They don't have to cost you anything.
It was such a nice thing for you to do, Kim - and since I know you, I would have accepted your offering. However, if I didn't know you, I would have spoken my words of thanks for what you were doing - but passed on the gift you were offering. Sad to say - but true. It's such a fine line... we teach our kids not to talk to strangers; but then they see us accept a 'gift' from a stranger. Mixed signals for sure. I think random acts of kindness - even tho' people may be unaccepting - do as much for us as they do for others sometimes.
Post a Comment