I'm not certain about this, but I think the fall is a time that non-profits reach out to the community for funding.

I love seeing how creative organizations can be in their social events designed to engage folks in both taking action & in funding their varied missions to help others.  Often cocktails are involved, so that's mixes it up a bit!

I just received an evite from my friend inviting "Mommys To Help Mommys."  The jist of it was to get together informally at my friend's house to enjoy cocktails & snacks, and to hear stories of incarcerated women getting to visit with their children.  It is a sad, compelling scenario---especially if you are a mom---to think of being seperated from your children.  My friend was requesting $25 for the evening to go to www.letstart.org.

One of the gals hosting this get-together works with Let's Start, and said this to me in a separate email:

Hey friends,

Emma here.  I had to share this story from my gal-pal Amy, a math teacher in San Diego

"Hey Em...I found out about a neat story this weekend and wanted to share it with you...We were hanging out with one of the new teachers at our school this weekend (who happens to live down the street...very cool!) and of course, I was intrigued with all her pictures hanging on the wall, and then there was one that immediately caught my eye: it was an older woman with a great quote that said "Fostered Goodwill. And 100 Kids." So, I ask about it, also noting that the picture was on one of many billboards put out by the foundation, "For a Better Life," that I have seen on various roadtrips. Sure enough, Carol Donald, the older woman, is Megan's grandmother, and her story is being advertised around the country, along with people like Ghandi, Einstein, Mother Teresa, and others who inspire like herself.  Just thought you might like this story."

Amy was so right.  I LOVE this story because it focuses on everyday people (just like Kat's Kindness Contest).

Living kindly is about the little things we do when we can, out of love & concern & the goodness of our hearts.  It's not revolutionary or life-changing, it's just normal life, a little kinder.  It's for those of us who aren't saints or geniuses, but we are the ones who can pat each other on the backs and pull each other up from sadness or set-back.

Ann Marie emailed me with many ideas of kindness but said none were "good enough" for my contest. I protested! I said any act of kindness - no matter how large or small - deserves to be acknowledged. And sometimes it's the small ones that are more meaningful because they are often just incorporated in your everyday life. Which means you live a kind life everyday. And isn't that the whole point? In her words:

Kindness I: my coworker Mr. Ed (we tease him, but he goes by his last name) bought me coffee. I hadn’t asked, but he thought of me which was awesome! Kindness II: My friend got married and is planning on giving me old dishes and pots and pans. Woo-hoo! Kindness III: When I walking from the airplane to the terminal, an older woman tripped and fell. She seemed to be alright, but from all around, people were offering to help. Some people carried their bags, some got a chair from the employees, and some offered her their seat.

And then Ann Marie followed up with another one - she really had kindness on the brain!

Oh, oh, here’s another! My wonderful friend sent me a card out of the blue! To let me know that even if boyfriends come and go, girlfriends are forever.

My good friend Brian works really hard and works really long hours so I was happy to see this story he shared about an act of kindness toward him which hopefully helped those long hard hours. In his words:

So, one of my buddies took some time out of her schedule to select some mellow tunes from her vast & eclectic musical library, put them on some uber-cool CDs, and mailed them to me with a hallmark-inspiring note… all to help me pass along the work week a little more smoothly.

I had a small contest on my blog with a small giveaway. And my (small) readers came through! The contest was to share a kindness story and here is the winning entry provided from my friend Laura. I would say Laura is a kind person and I loved this story about her kindness toward someone as well as the train conductor's kindness toward her and a stranger. Ripple effect? Possibly. In her words:

This morning as I stood in line for the train with my bike I struck up a conversation with the attractive-20-something-styl’n guy next in line. It turns out he had never taken his bike on the train before and was a little nervous about it. Feeling like an expert with my three weeks of bike/train commuting experience I explained the details of tags, lines, order of stacking, etc. I also explained that there was a good chance we would get turned away from the train because it was a bullet and those tend to fill up. Sure enough the conductor counted us off and pointed at me saying “last one.” Everyone behind me in line groaned including the new guy. He looked pretty destressed and I wasn’t in a rush to get to work (duh!) so I offered him my place on the train. Wait! It’s not over. As we were discussing and I was insisting the conductor overheard and said “Your first day riding? I can’t turn you away. I’ll take both of you. Get on.” So we did. The end.