Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Twenty-One Acts of Kindness

I finally completed my 21 Acts of Kindness! It went a little differently then I had expected, but overall it was a great experience. I ended up doing a few at school with my friends, a few at home with my mom, and the very last one on my birthday with Christopher. It was special to be able to share the experience with the people I love. Here are the 21 acts I ended up completing:

1. I made cookies and gave them to one of our neighbors! They were very surprised and happy!

2. I bought the mailman a Starbucks gift card and wrote him a thank you note!

3. We returned grocery carts into Dillions, the local grocery store. The man getting all of the carts thanked us for our help and was very grateful.

4. Once inside Dillions, I bought a gift card and found a mom who looked a little overwhelmed with all of her children in the store and gave her the gift card. The look on her face was priceless!

5. Next, we headed to the Fire Station and gave them a thank you note (written by my aunt Julie) and a box of doughnuts. They were super friendly and gave us a tour of the station. They invited us to come back on my actual birthday to slide down the pole. It was a lot of fun.

6. Then we headed over to campus and left encouraging notes on people's car in the commuter lot.

7. After getting the parking lot, we went into the library and left encouraging notes in books for people to find days, or even years later.

8. Then I left change in all of the vending machines in the library. Hopefully someone enjoyed a free snack or drink on me!

9. I dropped off a letter at Potter's House, a local Christian coffee shop in town. The letter was for the owners and included a note from me about how influential they have been in my life.

10. We headed downtown and give out bags to the homeless, but unfortunately, it was too cold to find anyone. We had over 50 bags to handout and I ended up taking them to the ministry I am involved in for them to use for their homeless ministry. Every Thursday night students go downtown and feed the homeless. We handed out ALL 50 bags! The women and men were very appreciative and were so excited to have received a few new things! Thank you to all of the lovely ladies who made it possible to make that many bags!

11. My family helped me collect over 5 bags and boxes of canned food goods to give to the church's food shelter. They were happy for our help!

12. My mom and I went through Dairy Queen and paid for the person's order behind us!

13. I donated some of my clothes to the local Goodwill.

14. I went into a laundry mat and gave a random lady a handful of quarters. This was one of my favorite acts because as soon as I handed her the money her eyes filled with tears and I could tell she was very thankful. This one act made it all worth it.

15. Christopher helped me make chocolate chips muffins and we took them to church Sunday morning for the staff to eat in the morning! They were very appreciative!

16. I used to work at Papa John's and I would always bake for the workers. My mom and I bought cookies and dropped them off for the workers.

17. We took another box of cookies and gave them to a local fire station in St. Charles.

18. I let people get in line in front of me at the grocery store.

19. I offered to pump people's gas in the cold, but no one would let me. One lady was very appreciative, but only wanted so much gas in the car!

20. I wrote a note for my women's minister Anne!

21. I wrote a note for my women's minister Mo!


I am so happy I decided to do this for my birthday. I would highly recommend others do it for theirs, or just everyday look for ways to serve those around you. I definitely learned a lot from doing this. It has opened my eyes to see ways that I can serve others in my everyday life. Seeing the amount of joy that some of these small acts brought to people were so rewarding! I learned a lot about my own comfort zone and that of others. I also really realized how much people do not want to ask for help or offer their help to others. This has really inspired me to see things differently and meet the needs of those around me. Lastly, I just want to say thank you for everyone who helped supply all of the items that were given out. To all of the girls who put the bags together for the homeless, for my aunt Julie, for writing the letter to the Firefighters, and all of my family who donated can food goods and many other things. I'm so happy I got to share it with my family and my friends!! It was such a special thing and I would do it all over again if I had the opportunity.

Natalie