Making a difference one random act of kindness at a time

Do you ever think about how your actions affect others? What if a simple, random act of kindness could change someone's day or life for the better?

Last Saturday, I got to put this idea to the test. A group of us from the Naperville and surrounding areas joined with ePIFany Now to spread random acts of kindness throughout the Naperville area.

"ePIFanyNow (Pass It Forward) participants find ways to burst ‘balls of stress’ by touching peoples’ lives no matter how small, simple, or insignificant the act of kindness. We are a not-for-profit, grassroots movement endeavoring to create positive change throughout our community and beyond."

On Saturday afternoon I joined with my new friends James and Laurent to perform some random acts of kindness. We headed off in the new Chevy Volt (must say that the Volt is a very cool car, it was a real treat to be able to drive one of these electric cars the day it was available for sale).

Our first act of kindness started on our way to our first destination. Stopping at Jewel for supplies, there was a Cub Scout Troop selling popcorn. I don't know about you, but I often say no thank you to the boys at grocery stores. See we have family and neighbors from whom we buy these items. But today was different. So we bought some popcorn and went shopping

Then it was on to spend some time at Sunrise of Naperville. I is an assisted living home for the elderly. We brought cookies, flowers and Halloween/fall cards (with stamps) to share with the residents. These residents and volunteers responded with broad smiles and statements of gratitude.

Since we had a little time left before meeting back with the group, we decided to visit Nichols library. We decided to hide dollar bills in children's books and paid for the next 10 DVD rentals. So if you got a free DVD or found a random dollar bill in your library book it was from us at ePIFanyNow.

So throughout Naperville on Saturday you may have seen random acts of kindness. Whether it was Operation Homecoming handing out cookies and cheer on the Riverwalk or a Fire Department getting pizza and wings, we all did a little to bring a smile on someone's heart.

The best part about the whole afternoon is that we got people to think. Maybe our show of kindness inspired another to give a dollar at the checkout line for breast cancer, pick-up a neighbor's trash or just act a little nicer.

In the end, it doesn't matter the grandness or simplicity of your charitable gesture. What matters is that you have acted with the gratitude in your heart and gave of yourself.