A father and his 8 year old son joined us to fund and deliver good deeds, paying for an entire family’s items and bringing rent, birthday cake, presents, food and baby essentials to households in need. Standing in a circle with parents, children and a new teenage mentee, we watched a delivery run transform into real community, teaching a child compassion in real time and creating a ripple of belonging and hope that families now want to pay forward.
A father and his 8 year old child reached out to me and asked if they could do a couple good deeds to help give his son an opportunity to experience being a compassionate and empathetic community member who cares. They do toy and coat drives at their private school, but it doesn’t teach shared humanity or offer the experience itself. They are originally from India and believe that having community is essential to everyone’s wellness. Community helps fill in missing gaps whether it’s social, physical or anything else. They paid for an entire family’s items!
For my good deeds project, on Friday we all went on delivery runs to families in need of support. One of the families had a child with a birthday and we helped pay their rent, bought their cake, brought presents, and brought food and essential household products.
Another family had run out of baby formula and food. We brought them baby formula, diapers and food for the week. They came outside to meet us and it turns out the teenage son was looking for help with finding a career path so the man who accompanied me who was highly successful in the field offered to be his mentor. The look on that teenagers face lit up the whole town.
We all paused and appreciated the moment. Noticing the mom’s tears of joy, the smiles on our faces, and feeling our connected hearts and how everyone standing in the circle suddenly became uplifted 10 notches. We all stood there in completely different places in life, fully and completely connected, talking for over an hour. All we knew is that we had shared humanity and we all cared about each other. In that moment it stopped feeling like a delivery run and started feeling like a real community forming right in front of us.
“Teaching a child compassion in real time changes how they see the world and their role in it.”
Watching a father intentionally show his son what it means to give back and witnessing how community isn’t just something we receive, it’s something we model and pass on inspired me and changed my life too. When people come together like this, it creates belonging, mentorship, empowerment, opportunity and hope that continues. We can all change the world through one small heart led action at a time. It’s truly all it takes.
They will be helping on an on-going basis now. No set schedule but when they can, aiming for monthly. Other families on the same street will likely be getting involved now too. The ripple always continues when it’s filled with true change and high levels of positivity.
“I whole heartedly believe in your program. Thank you for helping our family get back on our feet and for changing our lives. We’re going to pay it forward once we’re stable again.”
A very special thanks to the Lakeshore Corridor Community Team for their financial support of this project!