#26 Acts Of Kindness For Newtown

I know my last few posts have had nothing to do with cars or trucks but I feel like this isn't the week to talk about that either. In the days following one of the worst tragedies of my time I have never seen a town, state, or country come together like it has since last Friday.  In my mind it is comparable to the bonding that happened post 9/11. The outpouring support to the families and everyone involved in the horrific crime that happened must help them a bit, I hope anyway. I want to believe that it warms their heart a little knowing that they have people to fall back on because in the days to come, they will definitely need it.

I read today on one of the news websites (which I'm trying desperately to avoid but I can't seem to) that their has been a #26 Acts of Kindness For Newtown proposed to anyone who wants to involve themself.  The #26 being a symbol for the 26 innocent people that lost their lives on Friday December 14th, 2012. It would be amazing if we could all set apart some time and committ to 26 acts of kindness to honor the 26 people that lost their lives last week. I believe in doing a kind act any day but there really is no better time than now to go out of your way to commit a kind act for your family, friend, neighbor, or stranger.

An example of how people are participating is like in this tweet someone posted earlier today-Just bought a cup of tea for the #Danbury cop behind me at @dunkindonuts drive thru#26acts #thankyoufirstresponders. How hard is that to buy a cup of tea for someone who puts their life on the line every single day? Not at all, but unfortunately the way things work is that usually something bad happens in order for people to open their eyes. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to realize if we could all just find a way to be kind to eachother then maybe things will get better instead of worse.

As soon as I read the post on NBC Connecticut I made a vow to myself to participate in this wonderful cause to do my part in honoring the innocent people who had their lives taken. First, I called Jet Blue to see if I could donate my Skymiles to the Parker family who from what I heard is the only family that will be traveling out of state to bury their beautiful daughter Emilie. They checked for me to see if this was possible but it wasn't. They thanked me for the offer and suggested that I look on Jet Blue's website because there are charities across the country that accept skymiles as a form of donation. Even before this horrific tragedy I have always had a close tie to giving back to the community (children in particular). I am on the FRIENDS Board for Connecicut Children's Medical Center and we spend our time raising money and having events to benefit CCMC. So I immediately looked through the list of charities having to do with "family & youth". I donated all of my skymiles to "Together We Rise" and with the miles I got 5 children entering foster care complete care packages for when they arrive at their homes. The care packages include teddy bears, blankets, and things to make them feel comforted.

1 day down-1 act completed.

-Chrissy