A Dollar For Kindness

Along with the dollar that was given to me, a large donation from a non-believing prostitute in California, and considerable benevolence from the body at Hannaford, the newly formed "Feed the Homeless" ministry was able to provide lunch to the boarders at God's Love Shelter on Sunday, October 19th.

With 7 gracious sets of hands and feet, we were able to assemble 82 sack lunches within the hour between first and second service. Pretty darn well for the first effort, I think. Imagine what we can do when we get into a groove. Then, after second service we loaded the lunches and bottled water into the church van and we drove them to God's Love Shelter where we and some kind gentlemen from the shelter helped us unload the van.

There were not many folks around at the moment (about noon) as it was a very nice day outside and who likes being holed up in the house when you don't have to be. Anyway, we were greeted warmly, and we started handing out the lunches and water saying, "Courtesy of Jesus Christ" with every lunch.

The faces of those being blessed varied between grief and hope. This action cannot leave you untouched in your heart. We were able to have some very nice and interesting conversations with some of the boarders. I am certainly encouraged to continue to start a Bible study there.

Anyway, we left the remainder of lunches and water (about 40) for folks to pick up when they finally came in from where ever they were traveling. I just want to thank everyone for their hands and feet and for the prayers from the folks who could not be there for the event. Let the Holy Spirit guide you. God blesses you all.

$99 Plus One

God gave me an extra $99.00. So, my one 'Given' dollar plus the 99 equal $100 to the Hannaford Benevolence Fund - for others.

A Hard Week

My husband and I combined our dollars and gave a Starbucks gift card to our neighbor. Her husband has had to commute back and forth from Salt Lake City each weekend, she works also, and they have and 8-year old girl. She seemed so down last week when I visited with her.

When we gave her the card, she almost cried and said, "you don't know what a hard week I've had." I'm so glad we made a difference in her life!

School Lunches

I work in a Helena elementary school, and I know some families struggle to buy their child breakfast or lunch at the school even when they don't qualify for free and reduced lunches. So my husband and I put our 2 dollars together and I asked our secretary to put it on the account of one of the kids. This bought that child 1 breakfast and 1 lunch for the day.

Three More Dollars

My kids and I have thought long and hard with what to do with our three dollars - and we have finally come to an agreement as to where to give it. There is a young boy that is undergoing many treatments for several problems that he has. It was brought to our attention at the grocery store check out in East Helena.

We were pleased to drop in our three dollars with an explanation of why we did what we did. In hopes they may know someone above is walking with them too. This was such an amazing thing that you have provided too us. We have really enjoyed this. Thank you. I have mentioned this to my Mother who belongs to a great church in Great Falls. And she also wants to bring it forward to the church! It all starts somewhere!

Feeding 80 People

Some of the youth joined their dollars together for "Given." One youth had researched MT Food Bank who said that one dollar can feed 8 people one meal. I think there were 10 students who gave their dollar to that youth who sent our donation into MT Food Bank. Maybe we helped 80 people or so? It was fun and prompted all of us to think of other ways we can serve people with one dollar or many, or even without money sometimes.

A Bicycle In Kenya

We know a minister in Kenya. He is pastoring and attending seminary several miles away from his home there, and his bicycle finally "bit the dust." Now he is on foot and cannot travel as many miles in a reasonable amount of time. We put our dollar, along with some more, toward another bicycle for him.

Only A Dollar?

I recently heard of a family with medical needs – a need I can surely relate to, knowing the limits of self-employment. I gave my dollar to the family and added more to it.

A dollar may not seem like much, but if a hundred people gave one dollar, it adds up to much more! Although I have given my dollar, I keep the concept in mind in case I find way to give another "dollar" in the future.

Plastic Baggies

My husband and I spent our two dollars on snacks to be placed in plastic baggies along with a gift certificate to a fast food restaurant, a small bottle of water, a tract, and a note of encouragement. These baggies will be handed to people who stand on street corners asking for assistance.

This project involves my co-workers as well. Each of us will have one or two baggies in our vehicles, ready to be handed out as the opportunity presents itself. We hope that this will be an ongoing project. My prayer is that God multiplies the dollars, like the five loaves and two fish were multiplied to feed thousands.

Flowers At The Masonic Home

Our family combined our "given" dollars and bought roses for the elderly living at the Masonic Home. We wanted to brighten the lives of the residents with a rose and a short visit.

Not only were they blessed but us as well. The kids were awarded with several stories of how Montana "used to be" and how many grandchildren some residents have.

Although the flowers will eventually wilt, our memories of "giving" back will last forever! All of us will cherish this gesture of kindness for the rest of their lives.

A Little Time Out

We decided to give the $5 that our family had as a whole to one of my coworkers. She is going through a really tough time. So we gave it to her so that she could take her boys out and do something fun. She is really stressed out with all of the life decisions that she needs to make and it was a good time for her to step away from the stress for a little while.

K-LOVE

I added more to my dollar and used it to support K-LOVE Christian radio station.

Newcomers

I took the dollar that was given to me and bought a bible for a friend of mine and his wife. They have recently started going to church on regular basis.

A Positive Balance

This morning a gal came in to the bank where I work. She is a single mom working three jobs and she's trying to get her account in order. Having saved up her tips to deposit, she came up about .75 cents short. It was the perfect opportunity for me to tell her about the dollar from my church and that I'd love to add it to her deposit. It brought her into a positive balance by .52 cents!!

Frozen Meal Blessings

This was a great challenge thinking of different ways that I could use my dollar. I decided to purchase as many disposable casserole pans as I could for $1.00. I made two freezer meals and chose to give them to a family that has been dealing with some health problems. I hope this will bless their family but I know that this opportunity has blessed me. I plan to look for more opportunities in the future to use the "Given" principle that was shared with all of us on Easter.

Tires Are Given

We took our $2, added more to it and helped purchase tires for someone who was in need of tires and car repair.

An Extra Tip

I'm going to school in Havre, MT and I'm involved in a Christian group up there. Every Thursday after our meeting, which is kind of like youth group, we go out to eat at the same restaurant.

There is usually a lot of us and the waitress usually spends the next couple of hours just serving us; getting our drinks and refilling them, making sure we have everything we need. I used my dollar to give a better tip and let them know we appreciate their good service.

Well, the next week, we had the same waitress and she was much happier and willing to work with us and our big food orders. It was neat to see her attitude change just by being a little more generous.

Given At The Drive-Thru

I used my dollar this week by paying for the person behind me in the drive-thru at two fast-food restaurants. I gave a brief description explaining what the Given project was about at one place, and a WWJD card at the other.

I felt like a kid playing doorbell ditch in the drive-thru as our family tried to remain anonymous and drive away before the person behind us could figure out what was going on. Our family would like to continue to give each week by finding a small way to show Christ's love to someone.

Jesus Loves Gamers, Too!

There is a new place downtown here in Helena that allows game enthusiasts to play video games in the store by the hour. It's already very popular. Our family pooled our four dollars (four of us) and anonymously rented $20 in gaming time for two gamers.

We asked the store employees to pass on a note we put together that briefly explains why we gave away the free rentals. We hope both the gamers and the store employees are blessed by this.

An Envelope To A Homeless Man

I attached a note to my dollar explaining what it represents and added to it a $20.00. Put them both in an envelope and handed it to a homeless man standing on a street corner.

Home From The Hospital

I took my dollar and added $24.00 to give $25.00 to a family whose son had just come home from the hospital in Seattle to help with their medical bills.

Snowboarder Lunch

The way I used my dollar was small, but I hopefully made someone's day. I am a snowboard instructor at Great Divide. All week we are having a group of about 75 kids (5th graders) come up for skiing/snowboarding and lessons.

As I came down the mountain and into the lodge with a group of awesome kids I was teaching, one of them discovered that their lunch was missing. I helped him look for it but to no avail, so I decided that I would use my dollar to buy him another lunch (because lunch is so important to those little kids).

At The VA Hospital

My daughters and I went to the VA to visit a new found friend, which is a wonderful story in itself but that is not where we gave the dollar. We were leaving the hospital and I told the girls that this would be a great place to give a dollar. We sat down in the front lobby and looked around.

Outside on a bench, in old clothing, was a older gentleman smoking a cigarette by himself and looked pretty lonely. When I approached him he originally said he did not want our dollar but I told him it was for a project and that we really wanted him to have it. He looked up and smiled taking the dollar.

My girls moved closer and I asked him if he was visiting someone or was here to see a doctor. His response was "I'm through". I asked him what he meant and he pulled up his sweat pants to reveal very dark, almost black ankles. I asked him if he was a diabetic, he said yes and that he would soon be having his feet amputated.

I told him that we would pray for him and that we would keep him in his thoughts. It appeared that we lifted his spirits. As we drove away he appeared to be praying. In hindsight, we should have prayed with him right then and there.

My daughters seemed really jazzed by the event and I felt they seemed to understand that those different than ourselves are not "weird" or scary. Thank you for the challenge.

Intermountain Children's Home

I got to help with Intermountain Children's Home Easter service. I saw what a blessing this is to the kids. I wanted to give my dollar to Intermountain's chapel program because I knew it was going to make an eternal difference. I also matched it with a dollar from my allowance.

Pregnancy Resource Center of Helena

I have given my dollar to the Pregnancy Resource Center (PRC) of Helena. I am helping this non-profit Christian ministry get started and will be helping with education and some counseling. We do not generate funds from those we serve, but depend on month-to-month and special donations from the generosity of the Helena community. If you do not know how to use the dollar you were "Given" to be a blessing, consider PRC [contact Hannaford for more].

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