Giving back at Christmas time
Join the Random Act of Kindness Challenge. Let’s make a difference.
Jamaica celebrates many holidays like the USA but Thanksgiving isn’t one of them. Around Easter time, many churches have a harvest celebration which involves giving back to the church. Short of that, Christmas is the closest holiday that we have to Thanksgiving.
Christmas for Jamaicans is wrapped up with friends, family, and general goodwill. It is also a time for feeling gratitude for the year that is ending and anticipating the wonders of upcoming year.
For 2015, our 15 year anniversary of having the villa, we decided we would do at least 15 random acts of kindness throughout the year. There was no criteria really, except that the act, regardless of size, would benefit only strangers, and was something that we did from our hearts and not because of any specific obligation.
If you have never done anything like this, I highly recommend it. It is a very rewarding experience. We lost count of these acts but thought we would share just a few that we are finalizing before the end of the year.
Right now, we are busy making up care packages to donate to the children’s ward at a public hospital to bring the kids a little bit of cheer. They anticipate there will be about 40 kids in-house at Christmas.
We just upgraded the villa and are donating some of our gently used items to a home for the aged. We’re hoping that they will appreciate the robes and linens that they will be receiving.
A few people got curtains to decorate their homes for the holidays.
We are donating books to a rural library. We so admire their initiative for starting a library in their small town.
We have some school supplies to deliver to an elementary school.
As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. As it turns out some of our old cushions will make great kneeling pads at a local church.
Our 10 year old has really got on board. In addition to helping with the gift bags, he helped pick out clothes he has outgrown but are still in excellent condition to donate to a local school as well as a church. This will allow any child to get a free outfit as long as it fits him or her.
As the year draws to a close and the New Year approaches, may we remember to count our blessings and remember that even the simplest act could mean the world to someone else.
Join us in doing random acts of kindness. What will you do today? Imagine if you did a random act of kindness, something simple, not necessarily costing a lot of money. Imagine the impact that simple act could have. Dare to think of what would happen if other people joined in as well. It’s Christmas time, maybe the only time of year when it is totally cool to believe that magical and miraculous things do happen and dreams do come true for ordinary folk.
Drop me a comment below and tell me what you did or plan to do, not just at Christmas; but going forward. Maybe you will inspire others to join us.
May the New Year bring you happiness, hope, courage, strength and love.
Wishing you all the best,
From our family to yours.
Til next time.
Think and dream Jamaica!
Sherry, Darrell and Darrian
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