Another fun week of reading all of the heartwarming things you have done to those around you (strangers, friends, family members, neighbors, etc.) Things like:
Janet and her husband, who hosted a dinner at their church after the Christmas program.
Jane, who bought two bags of food for the local food pantry.
Bonny, who has been inspired by all of you to look for RAK’s. She did several at the Newark airport, while waiting for her son’s delayed flight!
Kandice, who donated to the No Kid Hungry campaign.
Susan, who finished a sweater for a stranger whose mom had passed away before she could finish it.
Ann’s husband, who volunteered to help at the local tree lot, when he realized there was only one elderly gentleman working that evening.
Julie, who donated 30 pairs of handknit socks to one of her city schools.
Geraldine, who baked nine cheesecakes for her husband’s co-workers.
And many more! I love reading about the creative ways you have found to help others during this season. This is our last blog post of the season for collecting RAK’s. I hope you find something fun to do for someone. Sometimes it’s even more fun after Christmas, because people don’t expect it as often when the holiday has passed. Leave a comment below and let us know what you found to for someone else over the next few days!
Sheri offtofindsomeonethatneedsaRAKtoday
P.S. The randomizer picked comment #1 as last week’s winner, so we’ll be sending off a Blue Sky Alpaca Royal Petite’s Kit to Seanna Lea in MA!
Today I clicked on the People tab on Rav and gifted some patterns to some of the ‘New Kids.’ Encouraging others in our community is important to me 🙂
Right before Christmas, it came to my attention that a family at my church has been struggling to recover from the government shut down and the first uncovered furlough. They could not afford presents for their five children, ages 1-12 yrs. It was a mad dash, but I got some info from their mother and each child got what they wanted for Christmas. Those children are some of the sweetest, best mannered children and had such humble wishes (one wanted Monopoly, pencils, and drawing paper; one wanted her own doll).
I volunteer at a local hospice and this past week, I decided to visit my patients and their families on Christmas Day I. Addition to my regular day. When I told my wonderful husband, he offered to accompany me. On the way to the hospice center, I had my hubby stop at the store to pick up small gifts for the residents. It felt great to offer a little surprise to someone who was likely going to be experiencing their last Christmas.
Although my own life was crazy, crazy, I made time to have dinner with friends. It was an act of kindness toward myself and my buddies who have their own issues going on and I haven’t gotten to see them lately.
A close friend passed away last week. My not-so-random act of kindness is to help his widow figure out their finances (he always handled everything) and make sure that all her bills are paid until the paperwork is straightened out. I just wish I could do more.
Don’t know if this qualifies or not, but I called my neighbor to let her know that her dog had jumped the fence AGAIN, then wrangled him for her until she got home so he didn’t get hit by a car.
Found a lost little dog, on my daily walk with my own doggie. Read the little one’s tag and we led her home. It turned out this dog had recently been adopted from the local shelter, by my neighbor, who is elderly. The dog escaped his yard and my neighbor couldn’t chase him. He was grateful to have his new dog back again!
While checking out at Wal-Mart the other day, I purchased a $10 Wal-Mart gift card which I then gave to the lady behind me in line along with wishing her a Merry Christmas. It is something small, but I hope it made have her a little joy!
A few days before Christmas I was in Bed, Bath and Beyond picking up a couple of last minute gifts. While stNding in the very long line to check out, the woman behind me asked if I knew if there was a B,B and B app and if they had coupons on the app. I was standing there with a handful of coupons and she had two identical gifts and only one coupon so I gave her one of mine.
A couple weeks ago, I was on my way to work. I take mass transit and walk from the train to my office building…good for the environment and my stress levels not to drive in traffic. =) Anyway, a man stopped me to ask if I could get him some breakfast, so I walked him into the mall and got him a combo meal. While we were waiting he told me he was homeless and had sickle cell anemia and was waiting to get a disability check so his sister could come pick him up (she lives about two days’ drive away). I got him a gift card from the restaurant so he could have a few more meals. I was late for work, but it was worth it. =)
I brought hand-painted tins of cookies to my neighbors the weekend before Christmas–some were cookies bought at the local Cookie Walk that day (which is a fundraiser for a local hospice), and some were cookies that I’d made that afternoon. I didn’t just drop off the cookies–I gave them something I don’t give them enough–my time. I spent time listening to one neighbor’s issues with health insurance (a 3-month battle!), and to another mid-80’s neighbor’s description of dealing with her 90-year-old husband’s battle with Alzheimer’s. We talked about how my husband and I could help run errands for her whenever she needed (she’s not a very confident driver, as she’s had issues with her eyes for the last year or two).
I just finished 5 more hats for the nursery at the hospital. My goal is 50 so I only have about 20 more to go.
A new battered women’s shelter recently opened and I cleaned out my supply of quilts that didn’t have a home yet and delivered two garbage bags on Christmas Eve day — turned out I had just enough so everyone staying there could get one on Christmas morning.
We went out to dinner a couple nights ago and had the worst service I have ever had in my life!
We were pretty upset by the end of our meal but when the server came over I noticed she was in tears. I asked if she was okay and she was relieved that someone had noticed that she was upset. She told us that she wasnt even supposed to be working that night, but 3 people called in sick and she was the only one available on short notice. She was also upset that the only babysitter she could find on short notice was costing her more money than she was going to make that night.
My husband and I left her an extra large tip and a couple of gift cards that I had in my purse. She ran after us into the parking lot to thank us.
It is a tradition for my husband and me to do all of our Christmas shopping in one day, and to have a lunch or dinner date while we are out and about without the kids. Somewhere over the years it became a part of the tradition to leave a 100% tip for our server on that day. This year was particularly satisfying, as our server was also dealing with a large, rowdy group near us.
I decided to surprise a family of six by “Drive by Christmasing” their house. I knew they were leaving town and the mother of the family told me they would be leaving, (we are close) so I snuck into the house (with some helper elves of course) and we decorated the whole house from head to toe then I made a cranberry lime cheesecake from scratch and put it in the fridge. I placed gifts from Santa on the couch and a note on the door that read, “There were Elves in your house.” and left. It was totally worth it! The kids couldn’t stop raving to me about how “someone” had decorated their house.
Let the woman behind me who was just buying 4 plants go ahead of me at the store. She’d forgotten to get a cart, and also didn’t have her purse, just juggling a wallet and phone along with the plants. Didn’t want to have a mess end up on the floor and make the employees clean up.
I gave a newish mom at the doctors office a whole list of support services for moms with special needs, along with my.email. she looked utterly exhausted and alone.
On my way to the subway on Sunday, I passed a young man who was panhandling in Harvard Square. He was holding a shivering dog. I gave him a few bucks and we chatted for a bit–he was really worried about his dog being cold. I found him to be a very nice guy. Across the street, I thought it over. I went back and handed him $20 to buy a coat for his dog. He was so grateful.
I hope he got her a coat, but if he used the money for something else, I really don’t care. I was glad to help.
While gassing the car in obnoxiously cold weather, as I closed the gas cap on my car, an elderly woman was getting out of her car at the next pump. I was already out and bundled up, so I asked her if she’d like me to pump the gas for her. She very gratefully said yes, and told me that the cold made it hard for her to breathe. I plan to keep an eye out every time I’m getting gas now for an older person that might need the help!