Christmas Giving

I have been gone from this blog for way too long. But I recently watched this video, that is so completely amazing and inspiring, I just had to post it here:

And this has inspired new ideas in my mind for Christmas. I'd already decided that I would do a Random Act of Kindness from the Smile Deck at HelpOthers.org for each person in my family. But after seeing this video, many of the RAKs I have planned can be completed at a local homeless shelter!

I'm thinking about bringing music to nourish the shelter residents humanity -- I play piano and sing -- or knitting blankets, hats and scarves; or bringing home cooked food on a regular basis, giving hugs to those who would like to be hugged...

I'm also thinking about other ways I can raise money for shelters and charities... Putting on a play with 100% funds raised to charity, I am planning to offer to build a nice website for the two local shelters as a donation.

It would be totally awesome to dedicate my life to making a difference, and not have to worry about having a job.

Pay It Forward No.2

Nothing fancy, again. I'm too strapped for money myself at the moment. But I bought a co-worker a candy bar, she's been having a rough week. I had a hard time being secret about it, waiting until she was gone from her desk to put the candy on her desk. I did leave a Pay It Forward card with it, but I felt kind of silly doing that, since it was such a small kindness.

I also just bought a book -- Acts of Kindness: How to Make a Gentle Difference -- and it has a lot of great ideas for random acts of kindness. The first chapter discusses anonymous, unconditional giving; Giving a gift, big or small, without knowing who the receiver is and without the receiver knowing who you are, just because it is right to give. This thought has been rolling around in my mind a lot. It seems to me, by leaving a Pay It Forward card with the random acts of kindness, the gift is no longer unconditional. I'm not sure what to do with this realization. Unconditional anonymous giving is not the be all and end all of the world, and does not negate other types of giving (ie Pay It Forward). But perhaps in the case of the candy bar, an anonymous unconditional gift would have been more giving. Perhaps I should save my Pay It Forward cards for bigger things. 

Endless Schemes

"My brain, it teems with endless schemes both good and new..."

Holy smokes! My brain is in overdrive! Creative project after creative project just keeps popping into my head. And not small ideas, but big projects that require a ton of research and organization and and and just to get it off the ground!

So the one I've chosen to focus on is opening a non-profit business that will pay people to work in volunteer positions. There are so many unemployed people in the United States right now, and so many non-profits and charities that aren't getting enough volunteers and don't have enough money to hire someone. I believe my idea is a win-win, creating jobs for the community and helping the non-profits/charities.

I'm not entirely sure how to get this off the ground yet. I'm going to need a steady source of funding to make this work, either donations and/or grants. 

I talked to my aunt today, she's had a lot of experience with grant writing, and she gave me three things I need to start with:

1. Write a solid business plan for my idea, which includes all of the research that goes along with that. 
2. Write a short, compelling mission statement for the business.
3. Start searching for foundations that would give a grant to a business like this. 

I'm planning to check with the SBA about small business loans and/or grants for women entrepreneurs. Also planning on contacting SCORE to get counseling about running a non-profit/employment agency.

It occurs to me that Americorps is based on a similar idea, but the "modest living allowance" given to members seems to be less than minimum wage, although to balance that out, housing and medical insurance are provided. I'd like to pay between $8 - $10/hr. ($8 is the California state minimum wage.)

Lots and lots of research to do! I'm so excited!

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May 16th, 2010 - Update

While I still believe this is an awesome win-win idea, when I sit down and think about the reality of running a business such as this, I'm not qualified to run a business like this, and I'm really not interested in doing the necessary work. My idea was based on having someone else do all the actual work. *sigh* Sometimes I let my imagination run away with me. I sincerely hope someone else reads this post, and thinks it's a great idea, and wants to do the work to bring it to life.

Pay It Forward No. 1

Today I gave away my first Pay It Forward card!

There's a catering truck that comes to our workplace for breakfast and lunch everyday, Eddie the driver allows us to carry tabs. So today, I decided I would pay someone else's tab besides my own as my first contribution.

Eddie told me how much I owed, and I said, "I want to pay someone else's too." He asked me "Whose?"

I said, "I don't know. Pick one." As a woman in a mostly male workforce, I figured this was the best way to protect myself against misunderstood gestures.

Eddie began looking over his list, then he stopped. "Wait a minute. I don't understand."

I showed him the Pay It Forward card, he began to smile widely and laugh as he read it. He grinned at me. "Okay."

He looked over his list again, picked someone, then changed his mind. "No, let's give it to this person."

The person's tab he chose to add to mine was a small amount, less than $10. But even though it was a small generosity, it was appreciated by the recipient and totally made Eddie's day too from the way he was smiling! And it the first small step forward for me in my giving goals, and for this fellowship.