Day 158 - Awareness for Skid Row

I recently watched a documentary called Lost Angels: Skid Row is My Home that looks at the lives of eight remarkable individuals--people who have found a way to make a life for themselves within the community of homelessness.  Currently there are 3.5 million homeless and mentally ill people on the streets of the US and 1 in 4 people will be touched by mental illness at some point in their lives.

One of the individuals interviewed said something that really resonated with me was "We don't need more people coming down to hand out sandwiches, we need more doctors to address all the mental illness".  I have little to no experience with extreme homelessness, even severe poverty or mental illness so I have a great deal of respect for those that make their life mission to help those individuals.

One of those groups making a difference in Skid Row is Lamp Community.  Lamp Community is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that permanently ends homelessness, improves health, and builds self-sufficiency among men and women living with severe mental illness.

They help people living with severe mental illness move from streets to homes. Lamp offers immediate access to affordable, safe and permanent housing without requiring sobriety or participation in treatment. Once settled in their home, new tenants are surrounded with customized services such as mental health treatment, drug recovery, healthcare, budgeting, visual and performing arts, job opportunities, and other supports to help them achieve their goals and become a part of their community.

So for today's random act of kindness I made a donation to Lamp Community to help support what they are doing for the individuals of Skid Row.

Day 158 - Help for Skid Row

Day 157 - Random Walmart Giftcard

I had to make a quick trip to Walmart this evening for a few things.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to do something fun for today's random act.  I decided to grab a gift card when I was checking out.  I was planning on just giving it to the cashier for the next person in line but then changed my mind.  I ended up finding a car in the parking lot and put it on their windshield.  Hope they enjoyed their little surprise when they finished shopping.

Day 157 - Walmart giftcard

Day 156 - Bread and Treats to the Food Pantry

Wednesday is the one day during the week that our local food pantry is open late to accept donations.  Therefore we always try and visit one or two Wednesdays each month.  I'm just so glad they update their "Current Needs" list daily because it really helps folks know what is most needed.  Today that #1 item is bread so we headed to Dollar Tree (note to self: purchase Dollar Tree stock) and cleared out the bread shelf.

The girls and I then talked about how lucky we are that we don't have to worry about food but that there are families, even in our own neighborhood, that have to worry about it every single day.  I also told them that a lot of families don't get to have treats and cookies very often because they just don't have the extra money to spend on special treats like we can.  So for today's act I allowed the girls to grab some of their favorite treats/snacks to donate to pantry so one of our neighbors in need could enjoy a special treat.  The girls were very excited and the pantry staff very appreciative. 

Day 156 - Bread and treats to the Food Pantry

Day 155 - Bookworms and Late Fees at the Library

Today the girls and I decided to take some treats to the library.  We passed out little bags of gummy "bookworms" to folks reading or working and everyone loved them.

We also grabbed a few books and while we were checking out realized I had a $2 late fee (surprise).  Unfortunately our library only accepts cash or check and I only had $1 on me.  So they held our books while I ran home to grab cash and my checkbook.

Once back I decided to offer to pay for a few people's late fees just to save them the hassle.  They said it wasn't possible to do randomly but sent me to another employee.  He confirmed they couldn't pick people randomly but told me he had just been on the phone with a woman in tears that was unable to afford her late fees.  I'm just amazed sometimes at God's timing.

So for today's random act of kindness I offered to pay off her late fees.  The employee was very skeptical at first and was so surprised someone would offer to do that.  He said he had to talk to her first before applying it to her account but thought she would not object.

After leaving he called and told me he had talked to her and her child was in the hospital.  She had been overwhelmed and stressed recently and completely forgot to turn in the items that incurred the fees.  He said I had "blown her mind" which is why I'm doing these random acts.  To re-instill a faith in humanity and to spread anonymous kindness and love where we can.

Day 155 - Bookworms and late fees

Day 154 - Treats for My Book Club

Tonight our small women's group started a book study for the summer.  We're studying the book Boundaries over the summer and I'm so excited.  I have heard so many people rave about how the book has helped them in every relationship possible so I think it'll be great.

For today's random act of kindness I decided to grab a little treat for the ladies before heading over to the book study.

Here's to an enjoyable summer and some improved boundaries with family, friends and strangers!

Day 154 - Book club treat

Day 153 - Paid for the Car Behind Us

Today was my daughter's Spring dance recital and she did wonderfully!  After the recital I thought a treat was in order so she decided on a brownie from Starbucks.  If my daughter could only eat one thing for the rest of her life it would be chocolate.  We decided this would be a great opportunity to perform our random act.

So for today's random act of kindness we paid for the car behind us at Starbucks.  Hope it made them smile and made their Sunday!

Day 153 - Paid for the car behind us

Day 152 - 3 Meals in a Bag

The Community Lifeline Center of McKinney is a group I've mentioned before that does some amazing things helping out in our community.  The other day I received a mass email from them expressing need for food pantry items as their pantry was nearly depleted.

I decided to host a small collection drive for their much needed 3-Meals-in-a-Bag program.  We are collecting "bags" through next week but today I went out to grab items for a couple bags myself.

Just a little about their 3 Meals-in-a-Bag program:

Can you help provide three easy to prepare meals for someone in need? Just imagine what it would be like to receive a grocery bag filled with the necessary food items along with a cookbook of other easy and nutritional meals to prepare for one’s family. It’s simple, easy and quick to put together. We call it 3 Meals-in-a-Bag.

I love to help them whenever I can and I'm hoping we are able to get some great participation in the drive.

Day 152 - Food for Community Lifeline Center