Mercy mission: 26 kind deeds
Ihad $100 in my pocket and more than 100 ideas on how to show kindness to strangers.
My 12 News assignment last week was to join the #26acts socialmedia campaign to do something kind in our community, as a way to honor the memory of the 26 lives lost in a Newtown, Conn., school.
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This was going to be an easy, fun and feel-good assignment for a political reporter who doesn’t get much of either most days.
The cash came from the 12 News kitty. Many of the ideas came from 100-plus Facebook friends.
But I had just four hours to perform those good deeds for our 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts, with no advance setup. (The demands of TV are not kind.)
I did the math: 26 acts in four hours. More than one good deed every 10 minutes.
The social-media hashtag was #26acts. For me, it was #26actsNOW.
The Facebook ideas were thoughtful and creative: Pay down a layaway plan. Read to children. Deliver a meal to a senior citizen. But there wasn’t enough time for prep or setup. I made a mental note to do them on my own.
So the plan was simple: Do the most good in a small area of down-
town Phoenix with the least investment of time.
Many people suggested buying light-rail passes for strangers. I was going to give three away at rush hour.
But when I offered them, riders told me, “No thanks. I can ride free.”
Is this Metro Light Rail’s #12,000,000acts of kindness? I thought I would have to replace those light-rail passes with hugs. I didn’t need to.
I handed out blankets to a homeless couple in Hance Park, underwear and socks to the MANA veterans-support group, dog food to the Arizona Animal Welfare League, and stuffed animals and children’s books to the UMOM center for homeless families.
I stood in a McDonald’s drive-through lane with $5 gift cards, paid for a stranger’s coffee at Giant coffee and a salesman’s lunch at Ed’s Hotdoggery near the courthouse.
There were roses for a security guard and an expression of gratitude to a teacher. A woman helping a co-worker’s family received a hand moving boxes.
A Marine veteran in a wheelchair needed money for food for his brother (I gave him $10). A man with a cardboard sign near I-10 got the five singles in my wallet. A Phoenix school-maintenance employee was thrilled to have $20 to fill up his pickup at the gas station.
I will never forget the responses — gratitude, surprise and, for a moment, a connection.
The #26acts took just a little time and just a little money.
I did all those good deeds and more, with our social-media producer Tauhid Chappell and photographer Rick Leabo, in just four hours.
I’ve been asked how much cash I handed out; it was $35 total. Anything else of value could have come from your home.
So what can we do every day? What can we do in a week? In a year? #26acts … and counting.