Stories Matching 'Giving Food' Tag (125 matches)

Grocery Store Commotion Turns Into Kindness

"Some people!" snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at the grocery store. "You would think the manager would pay attention and open another line," said a woman. I looked to the front of the line to see what the hold up was and saw a well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her credit card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting it. "It's one of them welfare card things. Damn people need to get a job like everyone else," said the man standing behind me. The young woman turned around to see who had made the comment. 'It was me,' he said, pointing to himself. The young lady's face began to change expression. Almost in tears, she dropped the welfare card onto the counter and quickly walked out of the store. Everyone in the checkout line ... Read Full Story >>

A Lesson In Receiving Graciously

I often walk from work (near Pier 39 in San Francisco) to the Embarcadero BART station, where I catch a train back to the East Bay. Several times, I passed a gentleman who I presumed was homeless.  He had a lot of his possessions tied down to his bike and held a cardboard sign that said he was a vet who doesn't drink or do drugs, but would appreciate anything that could be given.  He usually has headphones on and is listening to the radio. He is always minding his own business, often reading as well.  I've never seen him actively "panhandling." Several times, while I was passing him, I realized I had some food with me, so I turned around and offered him that food (most recently, a blueberry muffin).  He took off his headphones, and said "Umm, blueberry muffins are my favorite!" with a big smile and a gleam in his eye.  ... Read Full Story >>

A Drop-In-The-Bucket Act

I was entitled to a free burger because I had 10 stamps on my Smart Alec's card. Awesome, I was pumped!  I liked the burgers, was on a tight budget, and had enjoyed accumulating the stamps on my card (the cashiers had been very nice about it, providing extra stamps here and there : ). I was really going to saver this burger. It suddenly dawned on me: the thing to do with this card was give it to someone who needed it more than I did. I plotted to leave the free burger card along with a smile card under someone's sleeping body on the street or something...it sounded like a good plan. But, as time went on and I did not find what seemed like the right opportunity, I went through a period of cashlessness and I thought maybe I will get myself a burger with this card. ... Read Full Story >>

Life Is An Untiring Teacher

Life seems to be an untiring teacher. At every turn, in every twist, it holds out a lesson. Is it because we are the typical, indifferent, happy-go-lucky students who forget the lesson the moment the class is over? I wonder. But, whether we like it or not, the teacher teaches us constantly. It is up to us whether we learn or not. The other day, after my morning walk, I stopped my car at a roadside teashop in Secunderabad in India. I like to patronize the small vendors, whether it is the local grocer or the vegetable hawker who sells vegetables from house to house carrying the basket on her head. Or the flower seller on his cycle. My conviction is that my business with them goes a long way for them. The personal relationship built up through daily interaction goes a long way for me. Therefore, the stop at the ... Read Full Story >>

You Reap What You Sow

The man slowly looked up. This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. Her coat was new. She looked like she had never missed a meal in her life. His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before. "Leave me alone," he growled... To his amazement, the woman continued standing. She was smiling -- her even white teeth displayed in dazzling rows. "Are you hungry?" she asked. "No," he answered sarcastically. "I've just come from dining with the president.. Now go away." The woman's smile became even broader. Suddenly the man felt a gentle hand under his arm. "What are you doing, lady?" the man asked angrily. "I said to leave me alone. Just then a policeman came up. "Is there any problem, ma'am?" he asked.. "No problem here, officer," the woman answered. "I'm just trying to get this man to his feet. ... Read Full Story >>

A Valuable Lesson Served at a Soup Kitchen

Every year while I was in high school we organized a class retreat. It always involved some sort of service component – usually going to an elementary school or helping out at a nursing home. The class would vote on the type of project we wanted to do, and then our Campus Ministry Coordinator would organize the project, transportation, dates, and specific location. For our senior year, our class voted to volunteer at a soup kitchen so our CM Coordinator, Mrs. Krupitzer, set up a date for us to go to Gleaners Food Bank. We arrived on a Saturday morning, ready to prepare food and serve meals, wipe down tables, and clean dirty dishes. When we got off the bus, the food bank organizer took us on a tour of the facility. Then he turned around and said, “okay it’s time for lunch everybody!” Unbeknownst to us we would be eating ... Read Full Story >>

When Blessings Come Home To Roost

I was recently invited to dinner by a friend. During the meal, the manager  of the restaurant came over and said that our meal was free. He stood there smiling at me and there was an air of familiarity about him but I couldn't quite place him. Finally I asked him if he knew me. He laughed and said I had probably forgotten him, but that I had changed his life.  My friend was quite curious and asked him how I had done this. He said that twelve years ago he was in recovery and I was teaching a stress management class that was mandatory for him to take in order to live in recovery housing.  I asked the group what their number one stress was and most, including him, had said it was their bosses. He said I listened carefully to everyone and then took a chair and placed it in the center of ... Read Full Story >>

Turning $100 Into An Unforgettable Day

When I was a young girl, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, who lived in a community especially for the elderly and near to an old people's home. I remember when my sister and I played our instruments for them, which was something my grandparents had encouraged. They used to tell me that if someone elderly engages you in conversation, to make time for them, as you might be the only person they got to talk to that day. I've never forgotten this and still spare time to chat with an elderly person if they do engage me in conversation. So, when I saw the "make a suggestion for how your community would benefit from a $100" idea on this website, I immediately thought of the elderly! As one of the lucky people to win the $100 dollar kindness contest for my community (it converted to £56 in the UK), I then contacted my local community centre, and ... Read Full Story >>

An Unexpected Blessing From Beautiful Blue Eyes

I saw him sitting on the grass at my local strip mall.  His hair was matted, his clothes were dirty, and he was talking but I don’t know who to because there was no one near him. People passed by but they didn't seem to see him and they didn't seem to care.  The day was sunny and warm, perhaps they were all busy taking in the beauty in that the day had to give. But I saw him.  His name was David.  As I watched him, he moved my heart a little. I felt a little of his loneliness and isolation. I wanted to reach out to him, to make it a little better. I went into the nearby grocery store and bought him a cold drink and a sandwich and got some extra cash from the ATM.  I then drove back to where this lonely soul was resting, on the grass, ... Read Full Story >>

Generosity That Goes Around Comes Around

The other day I noticed a young woman, very close to my own age, walking by the store front.  I thought she was a student at the local college, mainly due to the fact that she was carrying her books and supplies.  She stopped and looked through the window with a somewhat sad look on her face.  The next day, around the same time, she stopped by again, the same thing as the day previous. I came to the cafe this morning, after having made a comment of how cold it was outside.  The region experienced a drastic drop in temperature last night to around 27 degrees Fahrenheit.  I noticed the time was getting close to be around the same time as the previous two days when I had seen the young woman, so I looked for her.  I saw her slowly approach the store.  She looked as cold as ever.  ... Read Full Story >>

A "Food For Thought" Jar

When I worked in a busy office, most of my co-workers kept jars of candy on their desks to enjoy and share with others.  Constantly battling the "bulge," I hated these temptations, but neverthless often gave in to them.  I decided to put out a jar of my own "feel good" stuff, with no calories. I bought a beautiful jar and spent one whole weekend at home cutting up colorful strips of paper and writing down inspiring quotes.  I filled up the jar with the inspiring quotes and placed it on my desk for people to help themselves to.  It took a while to catch on, but soon, everyone was stopping by my "food for thought" jar daily to fill up on something much better than empty calories.  They would take one out, read it, smile knowingly, and then fold it up and replace it for the next co-worker.  It's something that never needed ... Read Full Story >>

Giving and Receiving Gratitude on Thanksgiving Day

I have lived in Falmouth, MA for about 10 years.  I had moved several times before finding Falmouth, never really settling in one place for a long time.  However, Falmouth has become home. I think it is a safe place to do good work.  I like that I often run into someone I know whenever I am grocery shopping or running errands.  My favorite experience of Falmouth was when I volunteered to deliver Thanksgiving dinner to families or individuals unable to drive or stranded by illness.  It was an amazing experience. Volunteers check in, line up and follow the directions given.  There were many people working.  Children were coloring placemats for each box, adults were cooking and serving food, and the drivers were filling the containers with the meals they would soon deliver.  How they manage all of this is quite amazing.  The coordination of such an event is awe-inspiring. The best ... Read Full Story >>

Giving Generosity Another Chance

Lately I had started to question why I still would readily help someone, since recently my attempts at generosity usually turned around to end up hurting me.  However, this concern recently vanished thanks to a very kind person. Last week, I was winding down a long day of train-hopping and dragging a few huge suitcases around with me to get home from visiting a friend's house.  I was rather peeved that I had to sit at the station for 4 hours for a bus that left at 10 p.m. While I was sitting there tired and frazzled, a woman asked me if I had some change that she could have for a ticket.  Without thinking, I said, "Oh sure! How much do you need?" and then mentally kicked myself.  But I reached for my that I had buried in one of my bags anyways and fished out a $5 bill.  When I ... Read Full Story >>

What Happens When We Give What We Need?

One afternoon, I joined CharityFocus folks to distribute food to homeless people. We went around a few streets in Manhattan. I was at the office in the morning, a little overloaded with work, and had plans to travel back to India.  Still, I  wanted to take part in this activity in the afternoon.  We gathered at a coffee shop and othe members of the group came with lots of food packaged properly for distributing.  The first person we offered food to cried at the gesture of lovingly being offered food. This was an emotional moment for all of us and really touched me. After this, the rest of our food distribution happened at a particular place near Port Authority where many such needy people sit. Here the food was distributed quickly with a crowd surrounding us and receiving our  packets. Our activity got over by 5:00 pm and we started back to our homes. However, I ... Read Full Story >>

A Lesson in Sharing Kindness with Humility

I had made up my mind a long time ago that I would not give a homeless person money, because I could never be sure what that money would be used for.  I did not want it to support any unhealthy habits.  Instead, I decided, I would buy them a sandwich, a cold drink on a hot day, a cup of coffee, whatever I could manage. I was out and about running errands recently and saw a homeless man, with his shopping cart full of his only possessions, asleep outside of a Starbucks.  My parking meter was about to expire, so I dropped another few coins in and went into the Starbucks.  I decided I would buy this man lunch.  I purchased a sandwich and soda. Just as I was leaving the store two policemen were approaching the man.  Apparently the shop owners had complained of his vagrancy and the police were ... Read Full Story >>

Cafe of Love

In the early 80's, I was introduced by a homeless lady named Rosie to a little café in Portland, Oregon. I had taken Rosie for coffee or food many times in the months I had known her.  This day she insisted she was taking me to lunch. We walked from the hotel where I worked to a little cafe on Davis Street.  I was franctic, knowing she had no money, and I did not want to hurt her feeling by offering to pay yet again. The cafe was filled with people, all of them smiling, even the workers.  Rosie told me to sit and drink coffee while she worked for her lunch.  After about 20 minutes, she paid for one meal and we sat enjoying the best vegetarian chili and cornbread I had ever eaten.  She explained to me that the café let you work for a meal if you had no money, or would give you ... Read Full Story >>

A Community "Food Fight"

My workplace, as do many others in our town, support local services and the needy.  One of the main services we support and donate to, besides the Red Cross and United Way, is our local food bank. This year, the food bank is challenged more than in the past.  We cannot let the shelves become depleted or the food run out.  Others, especially children, depend on it.  With the country's economic situation stalled and more people out of work, more people are hungry and need supplements to feed their families. This year, all the companies in our area got together and decided to sponsor a Community "Food Fight Contest".  The contest will include 3 categories or areas to win:  a) supply the most food, b) donate the most money, and c) provide the most volunteers.  A company can win in all 3 areas or 3 different companies can win in each different ... Read Full Story >>

A Circle of Giving with New Friends

Last month my kindness idea allowed me to meet some new people in my community. When I delivered their food, I also gave each my phone number so they could keep in touch if they wanted.  All of them have called me since.

Having a bad spell with MS has left me pretty much in bed the last two or three weeks and feeling nearly helpless.

Yesterday, the young mother I had helped showed up at my house with a casserole. While she was here, she washed my dishes and carried out my trash. The young gentleman I had helped has been here twice, just to check on me. He has no transportation so he had to walk the several miles to where I live. 

In helping others, I have made new friends . What a blessing.

Teenager Fills a Neighbor's Empty Cupboards

When I was 13 years old I used to babysit for the lady next door. Every 2 weeks she would pay me $80. I always looked forward to getting paid so I could go to the mall with my friends on Saturday and spend my money that took me two weeks to earn. One Friday evening I heard my Mom on the phone with our neighbor  and I heard her say a few times, "Oh that is horrible,"  After my Mom got off the phone I asked what was wrong. She said that the neighbors had no food in their house and the she didn't know what she was gonna feed her daughter.  Her husband had spent their money on beer and got angry after he came home because his wife asked for money to buy groceries.  He began to pull dishes out of the cupboards and threw them at the wall. So, on top of not having any groceries, ... Read Full Story >>

24 Hours of Non-Stop Kindness

I had titled the event “24 hours of kindness.” The goal was simple: to stay out for a full twenty-four hours without sleep, performing as many acts of kindness as possible. Thanks to our local radio station, Coast 93.1, and the support of Tim Wright and Eva Matteson, (two of the most kindhearted DJs you’ll ever meet) all of southern Maine now knew about The Kindness Center’s crazy event. Now known as “The Kindness Guy,” this was my first attempt at something this big. The local and even national media buzz was incredible. Since 9:00 that morning, two of my kindness cronies and I had been all over town delivering free baked goods to nursing homes and schools, buying coffee for strangers, giving out hugs, moving furniture, giving free city bus rides and completely flooding the town with a rainbow of flowers and balloons. Since it was April 15th, “tax ... Read Full Story >>

A Night With The Homeless

A Night With The Homeless by: Ellis Moore (Age 10)   Every Saturday or Sunday night my family and I go out and feed the homeless people in the city of Orlando. There are thousands of people across The United States without any food or shelter. My family and I have been doing this for several months.   We wanted to see what it was like in the life of a homeless person.  One special thing I like to mention is, my family and I do not eat before we begin our journey so we know how it feels to be hungry. All of the areas we go to are very dangerous. We go on streets such as, Orange blossom trail, Parramore, Gore street, Colonial Dr, and down town Orlando.   We all get together in the kitchen and prepare the food. Some of the meals are sandwiches and cookies and a bottle of water. ... Read Full Story >>

Pay-It-Forward Chain Reaction at a Restaurant

My four grown children were all home visiting this weekend so we decided to go out for brunch.  The centre of attention was my toddler granddaughter.  She had never had pancakes before so we were excited about her trying them. We always try to make our family meals special so this time we decided to order every kind of pancake they had and asked that they be served on one big family-style platter! We each took turns digging in and also feeding it to the baby, who loved them.  There was a lovely environment at the table and lots of smiles.  As I was looking around the table, enjoying this wonderful scene, a gentleman at a nearby table caught my eye.  He was eating his breakfast alone quietly, in the corner.  He frequently looked over and smiled as my granddaughter continued to entertain us all.  Suddenly, I had a great idea. I dug ... Read Full Story >>

The Smile Card Exchange

About a month ago, while in the drive through at Starbucks, I noticed a woman in a car behind me who appeared to be having a bad day. There were two kids in the back who looked to have too much energy at 8am on a Sunday morning.  The line moved slowly and at one point while pulling forward, the woman behind me bumped my car. I could tell this worried and concerned her. The entire time that I waited in line for my coffee this woman didn't smile. Looking back at her I could tell she was looking at the side view mirror wondering "Why me? Why today?" When I pulled up and paid for my coffee I requested that the Starbucks barista give the woman behind me a Smile Card and paid for her muffin and latte. Just 30 mins ago I was again waiting in line at the Starbucks. I heard a car door ... Read Full Story >>

A Five Rupee Formula for Joy

On my way out the building in the morning, I search my pockets for 5 rupee coins. If I have one, I go to the shop downstairs and buy 5 packets of Gems-- an Indian version of M&Ms. There are 3 Gems per packet, giving me 14 chances to make someone smile (there would be 15 but invariably the first Gem ends up in my own mouth!). On the first day, I gave one each to the two youngs sons of my dhobi (washerman), and to the boy who lives in the makeshift shack in front of my building. Their hands were really dirty so I put them straight into their mouths. I thought for a second about giving them an impromptu lesson in hand-washing, but they are too young to understand Hindi and I haven't learned enough Kannada to explain properly. Next time I'll pick up the basics, and use ... Read Full Story >>

Three Hours and Three Beaming Smiles

It was a hot weekday afternoon and I was on my way to volunteer at a reading session with visually impaired girls. I got in to a rickshaw and immediately struck up a conversation with the rickshaw driver.  The rickshaw driver started telling me the story of his life.  He related that he had grown up very poor and he and his siblings didn’t have much. He said he worked very hard so that he could make sure that his children had the opportunity to attend a decent school.  He said that there were many nights when he would skip dinner to make sure that they would have enough money to send the daughter on a class trip or to pay for his son to attend the computer lab.  I was profoundly moved by the simple and matter of fact way in which this man was relating this heart-melting story. When we ... Read Full Story >>

Sharing a Birthday with a Homeless Friend

I live in a big Scandinavian city that unfortunately has a lot of homeless people. Luckily there are small ways of helping them even though you may not have a lot of money.  One way to help is to buy their monthly magazine. By doing this one day,  I got to know a young homeless man who was often standing at the train station, selling the magazine. He was a refugee from another country and I can only imagine what kind of psychological scars he must have had from living in a war-torn country, escaping it and then ending up being homeless.  After a while, I discovered that his birthday was close to mine which meant that we were born under the same sign of the Zodiac, something we talked about once in a while. I met him last year shortly after his birthday, and without thinking, after congratulating him, I asked if he had had ... Read Full Story >>

A Compassion Connection at the Checkout

I was in the check-out line at a store with two cases of Ramen noodles, one case of Cup of Noodles, one case of bottled water, one pack of plastic spoons, and one box of large zip bags. 

While waiting to put them on the conveyor belt, the man in front of me put his two packs of beer on the counter and looked at the food I had placed on the belt. He asked me if that was all I had to eat and I smiled and shared that it was all for the folks that live in the camp under the freeway and behind the car wash.  He nodded, turned away and didn't look back. 

However, when the food came up to the register, he said, "I want to pay for this food also."  I stretched out my hand to shake his, but he hugged me instead.  I wanted to thank him but he hurried off and when he looked back I could see tears in his eyes. I knew that God had done something special in this man's life.

A Lunchtime Opportunity To Feed Me Plus Two

It has struck me, lately, how heightened awareness of the things going on around us can present many new helping opportunities!  Last week, I was driving through a local sandwich chain at lunchtime, when I saw two men sitting on the grass a few yards away conversing with each another. They very thin and seemed a little dirty and unkempt, and very thin. It seemed to me that they were homeless... but they were not standing around, with signs or asking for anything.    I immediately felt like I could not just buy myself a sandwich without helping them eat, too. I asked the person at the window if I could purchase two $5 gift cards. I then drove up to the two men and presented the gift cards to them. They were totally shocked! One man said "is this for FOOD?!" He immediately began thanking me, over and over again.    Both these men were tremendously grateful and verbalized ... Read Full Story >>

Compassionate Cakes for the Community

I entered the monthly Kindness contest, answering the question, "What would you do with $100 to help your community?" I said that I would buy 100 cake mixes and bake 100 cakes and deliver them to 100 different blocks in my community, encouraging the recipients to share their cakes with their neighbors! I wanted to deliver not only food for their bellies, but food for their souls! I wanted to show the love that I had for my community and encourage others to talk with or meet their neighbors! I named the idea, "Compassionate Cakes". To my surprise, my idea was chosen and a $100 check was sent to me to do my project! Now, I had to get to work. I bought the cake mixes and made "tags" telling the recipients about the project and encouraging them to visit the website, www.helpothers.org. I added a "tag" to each cake delivered. ... Read Full Story >>

My First Thanksgiving

At 47 years old who would have thought I would have been wearing a "Baby's First Thanksgiving" bib? Although I didn't actually wear a bib, last year was my first "real" Thanksgiving. I came from a broken home and when I married 25 years ago, I sought to make my family everything I didn't have growing up. I'm afraid I had that "white picket fence" mentality. Every holiday needed to be picture perfect. The food, the dishes, the house decorations, even down to the cozy sweater I had purchased especially for the occasion. I was so wrapped up in how things were suppose to be, losing sight of what meant most. So many of my years wasted on being decieved. That was then this is now. Being alone now, separated from my husband, and our son serving in the military, I was blessed to have the opportunity to truly serve. A small group of friends and ... Read Full Story >>