Ideas for Random Acts of Kindness

Whitney's First Annual RAOK Day is coming up in ONE WEEK!  If you haven't read what that's all about yet, GO HERE (or click the button below).  Here are some ideas of Random Kindnesses to do in this next week/her birthday.  
 

The possiblities are endless, really.  And your creativity is only limited by how much time you want to spend doing a Random Act of Kindness (RAOK)!  So here are some ideas to get your mind going!  I've split them up into two groups: the Plan Ahead RAOK's and the Truly Random RAOK's.  :)

PLAN AHEAD RAOK's:

1. Make some Valentine cards for a nursing home (or children's hospital) in your area.  (Afterall, Valentine's Day is just 3 days after Whitney's birthday!)  You can usually deliver these to the front desk and they will hand them out to their residents (or patients).

2. Do you crochet?  How about making some simple baby hats to help stop unnecessary infant deaths in countries with high infant mortality rates?!  Check out Caps for Good.  Here's another link that tells you about it.  I just learned how to crochet these caps using their simple pattern and already have about a dozen to send in!  They're quick and easy.  Caps need to be sent in by the 28th of February.  

3. Make a Thank-you note for your mail carrier.  Stick it in the mailbox with a candy bar or something.  

4. Clean out your closet and take your "haven't-worn-in-a-season" clothes to Goodwill.

5. Do the same thing with your kids' toys.

6. Bake some goodies for your neighbors, church secretaries, or other people in your life. 

7. Hand write some snail mail letters to grandparents, aunts or uncles you haven't seen in a while.

 

TRULY RANDOM RAOK's:

1. Return shopping carts to the store.

 2. Give a homeless man your change.

3. Give gloves/scarves to a homeless person.

4. Leave encouraging comments on blogs you read, but don't usually comment on.

5. Pay for someone's Starbuck's behind you.

6. When you go out to dinner, buy an extra $20 gift card, and hand it to someone when you walk out.

7. Leave a baggie of quarters taped to the vending machines in your local hospital.  

 

There are a ton of other things you can do... I hope these get your mind thinking!  The RAOK's don't have to be big or burdernsome... its supposed to be FUN!  And giving back!

From Stacey S

Stacey sent me this great picture that she made on her computer... such talent!  I love the angel wings!  Thank you, Stacey, for remembering Whitney with us as her birthday approaches.  

You can see the rest of Whitney's Name Gallery pictures by clicking the photo below:

And if you're wondering what's up with this name thing, click HERE.  :-)

Snow Angel~

My friend, Angel, from Missouri just sent me this great picture from Snowpocalypse 2011.  :)  I cannot believe all the snow that is covering the mid-west!  Crazy!  Thank you so much for taking this picture for us, Angel!!  Stay warm and cozy!! :)

You can see the rest of Whitney's Name Gallery pictures by clicking the photo below:

And if you're wondering what's up with this name thing, click HERE.  :-)

 

What's Up With This RAOK Thing?

February 11, 2011
First Annual Whitney Jill
Random Act of Kindness (RAOK) Day!   

Here's the deal on this special day:

On Friday, February 11, Sean and I will be spending our day doing 31 random acts of kindness... that is one RAOK for each week I was pregnant with Whitney.  We were so blessed by the kindness of others that we felt this was the perfect way for us to celebrate the short life of our beautiful daughter.

Many of the people who blessed us were complete strangers, but their prayers and support meant the world to us.  We wanted a way for those people (YOU!), as well as our family and loved ones to be a part of Whitney's birthday celebration, too.  BUT, since our family literally lives all over the world, your typical birthday party would prove to be impossible.  

So what better way to celebrate together than to have a "virtual" RAOK day in Whitney's honor??  Here are the details on how you can get involved:

1. Sometime around Whitney's birthday (February 11th), do a random act of kindness (RAOK)... it can be for a stranger, a friend, a family member... anyone!  You can do one thing, or several things... it doesn't matter!   (Click here if you need ideas for a RAOK)

2. If you can/want to, take a picture of you or your family doing the RAOK!

3. Come back to this blog (it will be on the home page) and leave us a comment letting us know how you "celebrated" Whitney's birthday with us.  (In other words, tell us what your RAOK was!)  You can also email me with your RAOK (and picture, if you have it): sheyennew (at) gmail.com

That's it!  Pretty simple, huh?  A few days after our celebration, I"ll post a big summary of all the fun things Sean and I did, as well as the things all of YOU did!  I am so excited to hear from you guys, and please know ahead of time how much it means to us each and every time you let us know you're thinking of Whitney.  I can't think of any better way to celebrate her life than to share love and kindness with the people around us.  

Sooooo... get your thinking caps on and get ready to bless some unexpecting person with your kindness!  

We'd also love it if you help spread the word about our RAOK Day.  You can take this button and put it on your blog (just copy the HTML in the box below the button), or link to this page via your blog, Facebook or Twitter!  This truly is a "more the merrier" kinda thing!  

<a href="http://www.whitneyjill.com/raok-day.html" _mce_href="http://www.whitneyjill.com/raok-day.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/SheyenneW/Blog%20Buttons/RAOKButton-2.jpg" _mce_src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/SheyenneW/Blog%20Buttons/RAOKButton-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Whitney Jill"></a>

Sweet Little Ladybug- From Alice

A good friend of our family, Alice, made this for us months ago... and I completely forgot to add it to Whit's Name Gallery!  I'm sorry Alice!  I absolutely LOVE this beautiful cross-stitch bookmark... although I'm not using it as a bookmark right now.  It was just too pretty... more like a piece of art, so we framed it!  I love how delicate the border on this is, and of course, the sweet little ladybug is perfect!

Thank you so much Alice!!

You can see the rest of Whitney's Name Gallery pictures by clicking the photo below:

And if you're wondering what's up with this name thing, click HERE.  :-)

Wordle from Tabitha

I am continually amazed and impresse with how creative you guys are with your name gallery pictures!!!  This one came from Tabitha, a woman I met through our online Birth Board/Discussion group.  She is also pregnant and due around the same time I am.... thank you so much for creating this Wordle for Whitney!!

You can see the rest of Whitney's Name Gallery pictures by clicking the photo below:

And if you're wondering what's up with this name thing, click HERE.  :-)

 

Canada Represent! From Annie

A blog reader, Annie just sent me this great name picture for Whitney's gallery.  She is from Milton, Canada and noticed that WHitney didn't have any representation from Canada in her name gallery, so she created this on the computer for us!

I love it!  Thank you so much for taking the time to create this for us, Annie!

You can see the rest of Whitney's Name Gallery pictures by clicking the photo below:

And if you're wondering what's up with this name thing, click HERE.  :-)