A Thanksgiving Story
I received a phone call on Tuesday from a close friend. In a rushed excited tone, the friend told me that they had bought twelve turkeys and wanted to know if the Random Acts of Kindness group I coordinate would be willing to distribute the turkeys to families in need for Thanksgiving. I, of course, without hesitation said "Yes!"

After work, I ran home and met my friend. One by one frozen turkeys were placed in the trunk of my car. Volunteers met me at various locations and each turkey was delivered to families in need. I had one turkey left that would be picked up very early the next morning by one of the recipients. I had never met her so I told her to knock on my front door really loud and I would hear her. When I woke up the next morning to the knock, I jumped out of bed with excitement. I opened the door and told her that she was the best wake up call ever because of the joy knowing that Thanksgiving would be special for her family with the donated turkey. She smiled and she was very happy to receive a turkey for her family, especially since they're experiencing some hardships. We hugged after I gave her the turkey. As she was leaving, I couldn't help but think - it all started with twelve turkeys.

Part of my routine in the morning is to check my email before I head into work. When I did, I was floored to see that there were several responses that had come back from local organizations and agencies when I had inquired if there were any families that they knew of in need of a turkey. They had families that would welcome a donated turkey.

Except, I no longer had turkeys. They were all gone.

One thing I absolutely knew was we were not going to turn any families in need away. I put an ask out on social media for more turkeys (if you need any restoration of faith in humanity, keep reading). The offers to donate turkeys started coming in. I started matching up volunteers to recipient locations. Volunteers helped deliver them to recipients. We had a collection hub at one location where the property manager helped collect the turkeys and deliver them to recipients. More and more volunteers reached out and donated sides to go with the turkeys to several locations!

It all started with twelve turkeys and within a 24-hour period, we delivered over thirty-four turkeys (and a couple of hams) to families in need. That number is still climbing.

"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” Scott Adams

More From 106.9 KROC-FM