The Random Acts of Kindness Thread

[Alisonchan]

For a long while now, I've been wanting to create a thread. I've propositioned Bear with several ideas, but they weren't things that I thought would be important enough to this forum and myself. So, after mulling over this idea for several months, I want to try it out:

"The Random Acts of Kindess Thread" will be just as it sounds. Even though the kindness is necessarily random, the idea is to go out and do something kind to be helpful or promote happiness.This thread will be used to post ideas of things to do and post stories of your accomplishments.This is the chance for our forum to collectively make a difference in this world. I am hoping that the "ripple effect" of happiness will be the science that drives you. Maybe you choose someone who you haven't particularly gotten along with well lately, or someone you've never met before at all. Even if it's only one day a week that you do something extraordinarily kind, it's worth it.

My act of kindness for this week is to fill shoeboxes with goods for our troops. That's what I am going to do this weekend with my SO, since he was a soldier and I thought he would be able to relate to the cause (although we are researching items for battered women's shelters as well).

Why make this thread? We all have existential drama now and then, but what about those of us with physical drama that we have to deal with every day? I realized that this forum is a strong community of supportive people, and I'd like to see what we're capable of doing by inspiring one another. I hope this isn't too awkward an idea...

If you've already done a random act of kindness recently, please share your story! I really mean any kind of kindness too: human, animal, or environmental! ^-^

Yay!

[Swayambhu]

Every month, I donate to the adoption center next to my house.

It's where I adopted my rabbit, Pookie, who was returned twice for being "too aggressive." If someone adopted and returned him again for a third time, then he would have been put to sleep. I couldn't bear that thought, so I took him in.

Pookie's the sweetest rabbit I've ever had. I don't understand why people called him aggressive, he's nothing short of gentle.

But anyway, every month, I pay for half the adoption fee for animals that have been in the adoption center for long periods of time. Here, we call it "becoming a guardian angel."

Most of the animals I've become guardian angel to have been adopted, but there are still two cats that nobody seems to want. It'll be a year soon that they've stayed there. It's incredibly sad...I might end up taking them in myself.

Anyway, yeah. It's my first random act of kindness for the month, I think.

I like this thread.

[Alisonchan]

Sway, that's absolutely awesome. Props for Sway! Personally, I think animals are a great way to show kindness. We are getting another Cattle Dog soon so Ruby will have a playmate, now that Dolly is gone. She is still young and energetic. I'm propositioning my family on this cutey!

[Bear]

Beary-Mod approves of this thread


My last random act of kindness was getting my parents to donate their old living room sofa to a friend of mine because he's got two kids who's wreck a new sofa, and he doesn't have the money right now to even buy second hand furniture.

[Asaryu]

I am currently going through the vast amounts of clothing I own, most of them hand-me-downs in good condition, and donating them to charity. Along with the contents of the boxes down in my garage that have been in those boxes for nigh on 7 years now. it will be epic, and a lot of my childhood toys are in those boxes, and I'm sure some kid will get as much fun out of them as I did.

[Alisonchan]

This thread has me smiling so hard it hurts! My parents recently bought new couches and we donated our old one to a local family in need (my mom works for LEADS of Central Ohio), so the family actually came to our house to pick it up! The children played with my birds, but Ruby was scared of them. She hid under the bed.

[Nibler]

I don't know if it counts cause its not very random acts, but I do help my 90+ year old neighbor to read on packages, operate her micro, and whatever else she needs help with since she's almost blind.

[Alisonchan]

Nibler gets smooches!

[LadySheDevil]

All I really have to say is...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This forum is loaded with wonderful, amazing people, and this thread, I'm sure, will help to really drive that point home!!

Every couple months, or just when I don't feel I'm going to wear something that's still in good condition anymore, I take all my unwanted clothes to a local thrift shop that deals specifically with low-income families. I have quite a few rather unique items out there right now, and it makes me incredibly happy when I see people wearing my donations.

I've actually gone shopping for young children/infant clothing specifically for donating as well. In this area, there are a LOT of single-parent families with very young children who I know can use the help (I grew up in one).

I also donate money and pet food to our animal shelter. They've been having a rough time lately, as our city's cat population is borderline out of control, and I hate hearing about all of the ones that have been/are-going-to-be-unless-they're-adopted-soon that are being euthanized. This summer and fall, as always, I will also be volunteering to take the dogs for walks, and playing with the other animals. I'd normally do this year-round, but getting out there without a vehicle is very difficult...

[Asaryu]

Yeah...I started making MS his birthday present (until I got distracted by him ) and we ended up talking more...and we all know how that ended up.

Similar with George...I went on holidays with him to motivate him to leave the house he shared with his abusive ex-girlfriend, and we ended up hooking up.

Aaah..memories.

[cyanide_sweet]

I like to do small things to make people smile
I held the door open for a boy in a wheelchair and then helped him carry some things to his car. I also gave some change to the lady in front of me in line because she was a bit short.

[Alisonchan]

Very awesome! I'm proud of our forumites! *smooches for all of you*

[Tenjen]

I've mentioned the airport child thing before anyway.

[midgetshrimp]

I did the Relay for Life a few years ago and I'm a member of the American Lung Association Trek Across Maine, which... I'll be posting links and stuff and hitting you guys up for pledges soon. Hope you guys have some tax refund moneys left over. I'm matching up to a cumulative $500. Guarantees 1k.

[Dirty n Evil]

Hmmm... aside from making myself available to anyone on this forum if they need someone to talk to? I'm an organ doaner. Also, my store donates books to a foundation that sends kids books to local hospitals and I'm always in the top 2 of the employees who get customers to donate. I like that my store works the donations that way - money you can wonder where it's really going, but when you get customers to buy a kid's book you don't think the book is going anywhere other than to the kid.