Stories of Kindness from Around the World

There they were; three people yearning to connect with the folks who live in Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta. They chose an interesting day--grey, overcast, cold, rainy but something in their souls stirred them to connect with people whose faces we try not to see, whose lives and circumstances would make us cry and ask why in a world of full of so much surplus do so many have to go without? So, they set off--the three musketeers hell bent on providing some hot chocolate and pb & j sandwiches.

In the week before, rapid email fire was sent between anywhere between 2 and 5 people--different ideas were thrown about, flying kites with kids in honor of India's National Kite Flying Day or making home baked cookies to hand out. In the end, we always come back to the basics--mouth watering hot chocolate and good for yo soul peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

We set up under a gazebo. Two of us brought the hot chocolate and sandwich ingredients and the other brought a table and bread. Pretty soon, a crowd gathered around these odd looking people who had smiles on their faces and cups of steaming hot chocolate in their hands. In less than an hour, we were out of food but had an abundance of laughter, smiles, and conversations to last a long while.

We had conversations about jobs, we had conversations about using the word 'experiment'--they told us that we should not use that word because it gave off the wrong impression of what we were doing. We initially started to laugh but it stopped short when they told us about the negative association they have with that word--they were at a shelter where animal crackers had been handed out, when they looked at the box and it said not for sale. Lots of stories--stories to make you cry and stories to make you laugh.

The very last cup of hot chocolate was given to an individual who had written on his bag "Love One Another." That's all folks--come and see us again.