Generosity Karma

You either give because you genuinely care or because you have a very clear memory of when YOU received much-needed help and wish to return that blessing. When you are in desperate times and someone steps up to help, you have a moment to breathe without struggling. Even if all that is given is a cup of coffee and like so many people, I enjoy when the holiday flavors reach Starbucks or Coffee bean. I look forward to my first cup of Pumpkin Spice Latte or Butter Cookie latte. There have been quite a few times where that was not even in the books for me but this was not one of them. I had successfully ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte and a Peppermint Mocha Latte (for my assistant) and was exiting our offramp when I spotted him.

Unfortunately, this is far too common today but there he was on the corner. One shoe had a gaping hole that spread over a majority of his toes. A few pairs of pants that he had layered for warmth along with a few shirts and a hoodie. Half of a frayed blanket was thrown over his shoulder and he held his sign with a smile “Will work for food”. I have NO idea how this man ended up in this position but what I do know is that NO ONE chooses to be.

I had an overwhelming feeling to get to him but I was sitting in the far right lane. Thankfully, even without coffee in me, I was able to figure out how to get to his corner. Not too many vehicles were thrilled about my maneuvers but that voice in my head was determined to get to him. The lights on this particular corner are the longest EVER and today this was an advantage. As I approached, I rolled my window down to speak to him. He started to list what he was capable of and explain that he had not eaten in three days and would be willing to do just about anything. The desperation in his voice heartbreaking and before I knew what was happening I handed him the tray of coffees.

In a flurry of thank you from this kind soul, I told him that I am so sorry that he has found himself in such a position and that I hope it gets better, somehow. Surprisingly he answered quickly, “It already has because now I can be warm as more generous people like you stop and give what they can”. WOW! What an amazing attitude to have in such a desolate situation! But that was all that would be said because my light had changed and I HAD to go. Driving away in tears had me swimming around in what truly transpired. He had nothing and yet he gave me so much more than most people ever have, hope on display.

When I walked into the office with no coffee at all, glances were hesitantly questionable. It was nowhere near normal for me at the time. There was only one brave soul that could muster up asking me if I was ok and that was my assistant(remember the second coffee). I don’t know how long I had been sitting there when she did but I popped off with “why?”. “YOU have no coffee and it’s 6am!” she abruptly shouted, “now what’s wrong?”. I said nothing was but that I wanted her to get our leads together for a meeting after work.

I never bombarded any of my staff with lengthy meetings and it was generally after work so this was not abnormal. She pulled it together and showed back up in my office with coffee, one of the reasons she is so amazing and still is. We worked for a non-profit organization so being broke was common, unfortunately. But even in being broke, we managed to do some pretty amazing things and this was going to be one of them.

In our meeting I shared what occurred that morning and that I somehow felt that a good majority of our families were suffering. Maybe not quite as bad as my corner gentleman, but I felt they were. Immediately staff started sharing the families they encountered and that turned our meeting into a good three-hour jam on how to help. We decided to start with the kids. They are much easier to get information out of. One quick drawing game and we knew what most of our families needed. We tried to store donated items at our various locations but they were not too cooperative. I managed to store some at my house until my husband found it. But what ultimately ended up happening was we focused on one family each and dropped off bags like Santa does, in the middle of the night.

My staff that year shared with me that it was the best year of Christmas Break that they had ever worked. It wasn’t my objective to have them learn or experience anything. I simply did not want anyone going without and I knew that we had hundreds of children at the beginning. I remember one of the staff whisperings to me “that’s my moms’ jacket, oh Miss Rachel do you really think she didn’t have one?”, she was only 18 but I could see her experiencing Generosity Karma as the ah-ha moment settled in.

People take for granted the simplest of things like a jacket when it’s cold, or a cup of coffee to survive trying times. And those same people will shout from the mountain tops that everybody has the same opportunities that they just didn’t jump on. Newsflash, they didn’t or they wouldn’t be in the position they are in. NO ONE decides at age five that they want to be homeless or desolate when they grow up. There is a story behind why they got there and almost always, a who. The difference is, there are more naysayers in this world than there are good samaritans. But those who are know-how incredibly unique of a feeling it is to give to someone who is in dire need and those people are rich.

If you want to catch a ride on this karma train you have to get out there and give. Go through your house and grab all of that stuff cluttering up the place. You know, the stuff you have looked at but never used in forever, and start loading it up. Sure you could bring it to Goodwill or Savers but people will have to purchase these items from there. I like to bring it to shelters and missions. It is at these places that desperate situations are occurring. Women’s shelters, group homes, and missions all take in desperate people seeking help. Some have escaped gruesome situations and could use comfort. Of course, you always need to call and ask where and when. You can’t just show up randomly especially if people are hiding there.

Get everyone in the spirit of making someone else’s life easier! Involve the whole family. When my kids were little I started a tradition at Thanksgiving where we went through toys, books, and clothes to choose what would find a new home that needed it. I’m not saying it was easy but I can be pretty convincing. Especially when they were with me all the time and saw how a lot of the kids in our program had little to nothing. In fact, if one of them mentioned they knew exactly who to give it to, I let them. We delivered items to Shriners, McDonald House, and to neighborhoods, we knew some of the families. Do you know that with each year that passed my girls asked for less and less? And with each of those years, we did more and more together. I wouldn’t give up any of that for that all the money in the world and it is exactly why I call it Generosity Karma. Nothing monetary can replace sincerity from one human being to the next. It is a memorable experience for both parties involved. Instant boost to your inner spirit. Try it! I dare you to.