Random Acts of Kindness – The Holiday Edition

HR News

We received many great examples of RAK’s submitted by our staff across the country.

  • Gave Canadian Finals Rodeo tickets (really, really good seats) to a family friend (high school teacher) who tutored my son each week with his grade 8 math and science last year, so she could take her family to the rodeo. They sent pictures of themselves enjoying the evening.
  • Gave Spirit program bag full of brand new Clinique cosmetics (that I get from Bonus Days) for the teen girls in the Spirit of Our Youth programs.
  • While walking stuck my hand in my pocket found a $20 bill. Continued my walk saw a young bride and groom who were getting some pictures taken, as I walked past I turned around, congratulated the couple and give them the $20 bill that I found.
  • Last week when it was cold, I spotted a gent walking along. But he stopped and was hanging onto a sign post. So, I stopped, opened the window and asked if he was ok. He was having a hard time with his legs. Could I give him a ride uptown? Sure! He hopped in and away we went. I felt so good to do this RAK! I love random acts of kindness and had actually forgotten it was that time of the year!!
  • I became aware of a local family who had lost some money intended for their son to purchase hockey equipment. I put a call out asking for people to donate $10 and collected the money for the family. In the end we had enough to get him the equipment he needed and the money left was donated to Friendship Hockey which is a non-competitive hockey league for kids.
  • A friend’s son was raising money to go to a camp this year. The products were baked goods. As my family is vegan we couldn’t make use of any of them so I paid for 4 loaves of bakery fresh bread to be delivered to a local resource who provides meals for homeless and low income people.
  • Last night I received a free beautiful poinsettia from spending too much money at the grocery store. I donated it to my son’s martial arts gym to have some Christmas cheer.  Love that WJS does this every year it’s my favorite thing!
  • Peace River Early Intervention staff work with a family that has six children. Their washing machine quit and they could not afford to purchase another one. The staff at Peace River found a washer and dryer in great used condition on a local buy and sell. All of the staff agreed to use the funds from their CARF celebration to purchase the washer and dryer. Both of our EI workers picked up and delivered the working set to the family. They were so excited and grateful to be able to wash their clothes. I believe we have made a very positive difference in this family’s life!
  • While at Tim Horton’s a customer was short 2.00 for their order and I covered the balance.
  • Earlier in November, we ‘kidnapped’ our grandson Finn and drove to Edmonton to round up the rest of our smalls (grandchildren Conner, Colin and Miss Ellie) and take them to West Ed. for the day. We had planned to spend the night and were more then a little surprised to discover we had forgotten to bring the suitcase containing everything we needed in it – very odd for me as I am highly organized. Luckily Walmart was still open in Spruce Grove so we made a run for essentials. I was standing in line behind a lady whose card failed 3 times. She was starting to cry when I stepped up and handed my card to the cashier. She was very shocked. She said “I have heard of people doing this but never actually saw it happen before.” I said “I think you are the reason we forgot our suitcase at home.”  She left happy and I left happy.
  • Staff at program had no vehicle, and groceries were needed. Another staff member was at another program and she offered to come along with that client. They picked up staff and client and all went shopping!  Had a nice time out and did a RAK! – way to go staff!
  • I put apples out for the resident wild bunnies that frequent my home in Anmore.
  • I was out shopping, driving in the cold and pouring rain when I drove past a fellow that I noticed was standing outside with a sign in his hands. The fact that he was standing in the pouring rain (I’m talkin’ BC pouring!) made me come back around to read his sign – he was pleading for a helping hand. I never ever have cash on hand but then remembered a friend gave me $10 that I just happened to have in my phone case – so I drove up beside the man, rolled down the passenger window and handed him the $10. I was taken aback by how red his hands were and how much his hands and sign were shaking from the cold, on top of all that how he made it a point (literally with rain pouring down off his nose) to express how sincerely grateful he was to me. One could argue who made whose day better but he was the one that made mine.
  • Last weekend, a friend of mine was very upset because her cat wasn’t eating, drinking or able to use the cat box. She took the cat to her vet and had blood work done. I was present the next day when the vet called her to say the cat’s kidneys were in very bad shape and that she’d have to be hospitalized for a few days to be stabilized – to the tune of a minimum (!) of $400, and that there was no guarantee the treatment would work. Later I got a text from her saying the cat was in obvious distress and fading. She had decided that she couldn’t in all conscience keep the cat alive and suffering, she’d take her in to be euthanized the next day. She (my friend) was clearly very upset. Since she doesn’t drive and would have to put the cat in a carry case and drag her to the vet on a wagon, I offered to pick her up and drive her. I’ve been through this with my own cat and I knew it would be hard to take. Even though the vet explained how serious the situation was for the cat, we both cried when the injection was administered and later over a cup of tea. I know my friend appreciated me being there for her – no one should have to go through that alone.
  • I had to scrape ice off my windshield so started the car as I usually do and left my keys on the roof of the car so I wouldn’t accidentally lock myself out. Well, I finished scraping, hopped in the car, drove to work when I noticed this man with landscaping company truck follow me, then follow me to light at intersection. He appeared to be frustrated; I was thinking ‘what did I do wrong?’ He was making a left and I was going straight when I noticed he got out of the left lane, came in behind me and followed me through to next light (that had just turned red), I was thinking wow, and OK this guy’s crazy. While we were stopped at the light I noticed he got out of his truck and walked up to my window. He knocked on my window and asked me to lower it. I was really nervous and slightly resistant to opening my window when he reached on top of my car and pulled my keys off the roof. I finally understood why he had been following me all this time. I couldn’t believe he followed me as long as he did just to help me. It was funny that all this happened during WJS’s RAK campaign and I realized that I myself had just been RAK’d. When I got to work I stopped in to Timmy’s for my usual coffee but this time made sure I paid for a coffee and donut belonging to a man standing in line behind me. I really want to acknowledge the kindness of this gentleman as these days we don’t hear enough about all of the good guys out there!