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. 

Water of Life

Hunkered down, a butt between his fingers and his hair a mat of dusty tangles, he didn't completely block the sidewalk. I kept my eyes straight forward and tried to disappear as I walked by--but he made me.

He croaks at me, "You're a beautiful lady!"

It's just a little disturbance, right? Then why am I suddenly ashamed as I stride quickly into the Starbucks. He's still out there. He's human. Probably a vet--the VA's down the street. The differences between us shouldn't make him an alien. This is how it starts, isn't it? Fear interferes with humanity. I grab a large bottle of water with my coffee. Bottled water is almost sweet compared to anything that's free in the city. It's not much, but many are thirsty and do not drink.

I hold out the water and expect almost anything. He receives it with a look of surprise. His eyes sparkle with intelligence, lucidity, and I see that under the hair and sun he has been handsome in his life. Does he choose this life, or has it been thrust upon him? Perhaps he is truly free in his homelessness and I am the impoverished one.

I say "God bless you," and he is speechless.

Something changes for me in that moment and my fear dissolves. I look forward to the next opportunity. I hope I rise to the occasion.

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.

Ideas For Getting Started

• At a store or restaurant, pay an extra $5-$10 for the person behind you, and leave a Random Act of Kindness (RAK)/Pay It Forward (PIF) card. ie grocery store, fast food, coffee shop, gas station. Pay to wash/dry a stranger's laundry at the laundry mat. Pay for someone's bus fare or train ticket. If you are able to give a little bit more, consider paying for a stranger's chiropractic appointment, massage, doctor's visit, or dental visit the next time you go. 

• Buy six or twelve roses (or more if you can afford it) and attach a RAK/PIF card to each rose. Go to a park, a mall, around your neighborhood, and give a rose to a stranger just because. "No matter who you are, no matter what's going on in your life right now, no matter what flaws you may think you have, you deserve this special gift." Remember to keep one of the roses for yourself! =)

• Go to Amazon.com wishlists, and enter a random first or last name into the search box. Pick a wishlist at random, sort by priority, and add the first $5 - $10 gift on the list to your own cart. Amazon will not share the other person's address with you, but you can still pay for it and have it shipped to them. Include a gift note that says "Smile! You've received a Random Act of Kindness gift! (Don't worry, Amazon kept your contact info private from me.) Enjoy! I hope this makes your day." 

Click on the picture to see it full size.

• Go to the HelpOthers.org Smile Deck, and do the activity listed on the card. They've also got a great list of other kindness ideas further down the page.

• Research the poorest cities in your country, or a city still recovering from a natural disaster. Go to an online phonebook, and search the listings for one of those cities. Pick a name/address randomly. Buy a "Thinking of You" or "Encouragement" card, slip $5 - $10 (or more!) inside, and write a friendly, supportive note to the stranger. Include a RAK/PIF card. Mail it anonymously or with a return address, whichever feels more comfortable for you.

• Talk to your children's teachers, find out if there's anything they need for their classroom that isn't being provided by the schools. Here in California, USA many of the schools can't even provide pencils and paper for their classrooms, and the teachers are responsible for buying the textbooks needed to teach the children. See what your children's teacher and classroom needs. Don't have kids? Check out the nearest school to see what you can provide.

• Go to World Community Grid and sign up to "Donate the power of your computer when it is turned on, but is idle, to projects that benefit humanity! We provide the secure software and system that does it all for free, and you become part of a community that is helping to change the world. Once you install the software, you will be participating in World Community Grid. It's that simple!" Current projects available include finding cures for cancer, muscular dystrophy, and AIDS.

• Check out the Year of Giving blog for more inspiration and motivation! Reed began a project in Dec 2009 to give $10 to a stranger every day, and blog about it. He's met a lot of interesting people, and has even started a "Lend A Hand" page where he lists the things some of the people he's met need, and blog readers can contact him to help some of these people out.

• Are you a knitter/crocheter? Make a hat & scarf set or a blanket and give it to a local shelter or homeless person.

• Check with your local homeless shelter to see what they need to have donated.

• Bring cookies or cake (consider home-made) to a local shelter or soup kitchen.

• Translate the RAK/PIF cards into another language, write them on the back of the cards you give away, and offer the translations to the sites with free cards. Here's the spanish translation I've been using on my cards: Reciba este regalo de bondad al azar y regale por favor a otra persona. (Receive this gift of kindness at random and give away to please someone else.)

• Free cards: 
• Pay It Forward cards from Pay It Forward Day
• Smile Cards from HelpOthers.org 
• Sign up for free at Giving Game and get trackable cards registered to the group Hearts of Kindness.

We'd love to hear your creative ideas as well, feel free to comment and let us know what your ideas are!

Welcome!

Hearts of Kindness is a fellowship for creative philanthropy, founded by Isabelle on May 5, 2010. This site is a resource for like-minded philanthropists who want to change the world, and an online space to share our stories, photos & videos of our random acts of kindness, pay it forward favors, and any other creative good deeds we can think of. We are not a non-profit or a charity, and we do not accept donations.

A message from Isabelle:

I believe that world peace is attainable, in the small steps taken by individuals, especially now with easy access to the world through the internet. Think about it: 10 years ago, very few people would have reached out to help the Haiti earthquake disaster. Today, because society is more globally connected and aware, nations across the world held out a lending hand. This is one small step towards world peace, IMHO.

In researching resources for this site, I've come across so many simple ways that we can help one another, and create a strong sense of kindness and altruism among people. Sharing these deeds in a global forum (such as this blog) will help further contribute to a greater sense of respect and compassion for all peoples and cultures of the world -- World Peace.

Would you like to join the Hearts of Kindness Fellowship? Send an email to heartsfellowship@gmail.com and we'll set you up as one of the contributors to this blog so that you can create your own posts. As a member, your posting name will be used as the label for all your posts, so that your good deeds can be easily displayed together. Or if you prefer, simply email me your story and I will post it for you.