26 Acts of Kindness - Day 13

Today's Act of Kindness honored James Mattioli, age 6 3/4. James, or simply J as his family called him, was always the first one out of bed every morning in his home, ready to start the day. James loved to play baseball, basketball and wrestle. He would jump off the diving board at the community pool and could swim like a fish. He proudly rode his bike without his training wheels and would often tell his mom he had to go outside because "I need fresh air!" He adored his older sister, and wanted to be where ever his dad was. He was thoughtful and considerate - even forgoing a present himself not long before his death, in order to purchase a gift for his grandfather. He was a math wiz and was inquisitive - always wanting to know how everything worked. He loved to play on the family iPad and loved to spike his hair with gel and sing at the top of his lungs.

And there's one other thing he loved: Food. James was born 4 weeks early and it was an ongoing quip in their house that he came into the world early because he was hungry. =) He loved hamburgers with ketchup, his mom's french toast and his dad's omelets. And he often asked to go to Subway for dinner and would ask how old he needed to be before he could order a footlong sub.

It seemed fitting then for J's act of kindness to be food related. And since my own son's favorite dinner spot is Subway as well (where he began ordering a footlong at the age of 8 - I have no idea where it goes on his lanky frame!) we decided to head there and pick up some gift cards.  My husband and I initially bought 4 $5 gift cards - each just enough for a $5 footlong (especially here in Oregon where there's no sales tax). We could have gone anywhere and passed them out or just gave them to the next people who walked in... but we thought that giving them to some people who could really use them made a lot more sense.

We looked up the nearest homeless shelter, which happened to be in a ministry just around the corner from our children's school - we had no idea. The family drove over there and as we were pulling into the parking lot I looked at our 4 gift cards with their notes. I was suddenly struck by the hard part of doing acts of kindness. My husband referred to it tonight as "Schindler's Syndrome" - the feeling that no matter how much good you're doing it's not enough, that your heart hurts and tells you you could do more.

"I feel horrible walking into there with only 4 of these," I said frowning. My husband instantly did a U-turn. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"Back to Subway," he replied. "I'm buying 10 more. I'll just have to make sure I pack a lunch for the rest of the month."

Have I mentioned how much I love my husband?

So we went back to Subway and purchased 10 more, and then came back to the shelter. Since we'd never been there before and we weren't exactly sure of the situation inside, and since we had our kids with us in the car, we decided it would be safest if my hubby alone played the messenger for this act of kindness.

He went inside and up to the information desk. He told the man there that he was there doing a random act of kindness and he had 14 $5 gift cards for Subway, that the notes attached to 4 of them would explain why, and that he would like them to hand them out to the people there who needed them the most.

The man stared at him with a shocked look on his face. "Really?" he asked. My husband assured him he was serious. "Wow," the man replied, "that is so amazing. Thank you so much!" and he shook his hand.

And then another man walked up, "I'm the pastor," he told my husband. "No one has ever done anything like this for us before. We're so grateful!"

My husband told him we were happy to help and wished them well.  Just before he walked out the doors he heard the pastor call out to the group, "Families, I have some good news..."

Thank you, J, for filling the bellies of those in need.

"The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway." ― Mother Teresa