By GipsySoul, A Cape Ann Angel
I was recently inspired by a very cool experiment done by our friends at
HelpOthers. They invited folks who visit their website to contribute their best idea as to what they would do with an extra $100 if it were given to them to spread kindness in their community. Awesome ideas were posted in response.
It occured to me that it would be quite easy and fun to bring together 10 Cape Ann Angels to explore a few out-of-the-box ways to engage our community in a public brainstorming about what might be the most inspiring use of $100 to spread kindness on Cape Ann.
Here are a few possibilities as a starting point...
One strategy could be to have each of these 10 angels interview 10 people in the community about how they would use that $100, making sure we include a wide spectrum of folks (the mayor, a few city councilors, police officers, highschool students, artists, local merchants, random folks walking down the street etc.). Another (or additional) strategy could be to ask the leaders of a few local congregations and youth groups to participate in this experiment and ask their members what they would do with that $100. We probably could also ask the local paper to put that question in a free ad in the week end edition.
Whatever strategies we pursued, we would post the best ideas on our website and ask the local paper to publish them as well. We could also perhaps ask our friends at Help Others whether they might be able to set up a page for this Cape Ann experiment so that we could actually vote on each others' ideas.
Mind you, this is not a theoretical exercise. Cape Ann Angels just happened to have received a gift of $500 to give away as part of a flow fundingexperiment. This means that we are actually in a position to reward the top 5 best ideas that come out of our community brainstorming!
If you would like to join Cape Ann Angels and attend the in-person gathering where we will choose our strategies for planting the seeds of a local kindness movement, please email team@capeannangels.org
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Cape Ann Angels Spread Their Wings!
On May 29th an unexpected storm swept through Cape Ann. It was a storm of Cape Ann Angels. What is the effect of a storm such as this you may ask? Pure joy, love and excitement! Over twenty folks, the majority youth, gathered with folks from HelpOthers (www.helpothers.org), Yes! (www.yesworld.org) and the Kindness Center in Maine the UU Church vestry to figure out how to bring "random acts of kindness" to the Cape Ann area in a way that would bring smiles to people faces and warmness to the hearts.
Leaders from different local efforts that connect, inspire and empower young and old alike, joined forces in a way that inspired our area youth to go out and do "random acts of kindness." After a brief discussion and some strategic planning over pizza and soda pop we decided to go out and hand smiley face balloons and hand made flowers to unsuspecting folks. We also handed them a card that asked folks to pass the kindness forward.
Oh yes, the youth were a little hesitant at first and maybe a bit shy but once they made contact with their first suspect they wanted more. One youth went out and bought a couple of scratch tickets and handed them to two women sitting at an elderly complex. The women were surprised and chatted with the young man for a long while. As he walked away the joy they felt in having this contact kept them chatting to him as he walked down the block. He wondered when the chatting might stop.
An older youth went to one of the local grocery stores and recognized a young man she knew from grade school. She said she had bullied this poor guy to no end. It was never ending torture for him each time she bullied him. On this day, she went up to him and said, "Hello." He hesitated and stepped back, sure she was still a bully. She handed him the smiley faced balloon and apologized for all the agony she caused him in their younger days. He accepted the balloon with tears in his eyes.
One of the adults went to the Boulevard and came upon two men. She asked them if they'd like a flower. Upon accepting, one of the men mentioned his Mom had just passed away three weeks ago. He continued to talk about an illness that runs in the family and how he needed to be checked for it. As he told the story she watched him twist and turn the flower into a whole other look. It appeared he was releasing feelings he would not otherwise had a chance to get out.
A mother coming out the side door of a church from a narcotic anonymous meeting with a crying child was handed a balloon. The child and the mother walked down the street smiling. A man from a foreign country standing outside a coffee shop said it was the first time since he'd been in the US that someone came up to him and handed him a gift. One person from the group picked up trash along the way. She felt very humbled. A group of youth spoke to an elderly man sitting by himself at the fisherman's statue. He told them stories about family members lost at sea. As they spoke, one of the youth and man found out they were related when they mentioned the names of folks they knew. They had never met before this.
When some folks were asked if they wanted a balloon, they asked how much. Some even declined. But as we spread out over the different areas and saw the impact on folks with these balloons and flowers, we felt the difference we made in the short time it took to cover the area. When we gathered back at our central meeting spot to tell our stories, there was a different energy in the room. There was a different energy all around Gloucester's downtown area that evening. You can see pictures here.
Big smiles from the West Coast,
In the doing of "random acts of kindness," time, space and people were transformed into another dimension. A dimension of human kindness! I suspect there will be a flood of Cape Ann Angels around more and when you least expect it.
Barefoot Diva, Cape Ann Angel
Leaders from different local efforts that connect, inspire and empower young and old alike, joined forces in a way that inspired our area youth to go out and do "random acts of kindness." After a brief discussion and some strategic planning over pizza and soda pop we decided to go out and hand smiley face balloons and hand made flowers to unsuspecting folks. We also handed them a card that asked folks to pass the kindness forward.
Oh yes, the youth were a little hesitant at first and maybe a bit shy but once they made contact with their first suspect they wanted more. One youth went out and bought a couple of scratch tickets and handed them to two women sitting at an elderly complex. The women were surprised and chatted with the young man for a long while. As he walked away the joy they felt in having this contact kept them chatting to him as he walked down the block. He wondered when the chatting might stop.
An older youth went to one of the local grocery stores and recognized a young man she knew from grade school. She said she had bullied this poor guy to no end. It was never ending torture for him each time she bullied him. On this day, she went up to him and said, "Hello." He hesitated and stepped back, sure she was still a bully. She handed him the smiley faced balloon and apologized for all the agony she caused him in their younger days. He accepted the balloon with tears in his eyes.
One of the adults went to the Boulevard and came upon two men. She asked them if they'd like a flower. Upon accepting, one of the men mentioned his Mom had just passed away three weeks ago. He continued to talk about an illness that runs in the family and how he needed to be checked for it. As he told the story she watched him twist and turn the flower into a whole other look. It appeared he was releasing feelings he would not otherwise had a chance to get out.
A mother coming out the side door of a church from a narcotic anonymous meeting with a crying child was handed a balloon. The child and the mother walked down the street smiling. A man from a foreign country standing outside a coffee shop said it was the first time since he'd been in the US that someone came up to him and handed him a gift. One person from the group picked up trash along the way. She felt very humbled. A group of youth spoke to an elderly man sitting by himself at the fisherman's statue. He told them stories about family members lost at sea. As they spoke, one of the youth and man found out they were related when they mentioned the names of folks they knew. They had never met before this.
When some folks were asked if they wanted a balloon, they asked how much. Some even declined. But as we spread out over the different areas and saw the impact on folks with these balloons and flowers, we felt the difference we made in the short time it took to cover the area. When we gathered back at our central meeting spot to tell our stories, there was a different energy in the room. There was a different energy all around Gloucester's downtown area that evening. You can see pictures here.
Big smiles from the West Coast,
In the doing of "random acts of kindness," time, space and people were transformed into another dimension. A dimension of human kindness! I suspect there will be a flood of Cape Ann Angels around more and when you least expect it.
Barefoot Diva, Cape Ann Angel
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