40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 18

Saturday, November 29 - Write and send 5 thank you notes.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 17

Friday, November 29 - Donate to a Salvation Army red kettle

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 16

Thursday, November 27 - Donate to pajamaprogram.org

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a great day with family and friends counting our blessings. I hope you did too.

For today's good deed I donated to www.pajamaprogram.org/ .

Pajama Program is a national 501(c)3 organization that provides new pajamas and books to children in need, many waiting and hoping to be adopted. The organization recently launched the nationwide One Million Good Nights initiative to collect one million new pajamas and books for children in need by the end 2015. Snuggling up in cozy new pajamas with their very own new book gives these children a secure and nurturing ‘Good Night’ at bedtime. You can help by joining our campaign to deliver One Million Good Nights to children who need them most.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 15

Wednesday, November 26 - Leave an extra big tip.

Nate and I had supper at the local watering hole here in New Pal called 'Round the Corner Pub. We left a 100% tip in cash for our waitress, wrote a short "Happy Holidays" note and snuck out the door before she found it.  I didn't take a picture of our bill, didn't think that would be very cool.  But it was fun.

If you're ever hungry while in the New Pal area, 'Round the Corner Pub is pretty tasty. 4.5 stars on Yelp. Kids are welcome too.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/round-the-corner-pub-new-palestine

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 14

Tuesday, November 25 - Donate a gently used coat and hand warmers to a homeless shelter.

In the Indy area, Wheeler Mission has mini-barns in certain church parking lots to collect donations.

You can find the locations here: http://wheelermission.org/ways-to-help/giving-items-to-wheeler/donation-drop-off-locations/

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 13

Monday, November 24 - Make a treat for your office janitor.

I made pumpkin muffins and my co-worker Kym pitched in some nice lotion.  We added a quick thank you note. I can't wait till Naomi gets here to discover this.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 12

Sunday, November 23 - Hide a dollar in the toy section of a dollar store.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 11

Saturday, November 22 - Leave coupons in the grocery next to the items on the coupons.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 10

Friday November 21 - Leave a treat for the mailman.

I made a loaf of pumpkin bread and left it in the mailbox with a short thank you note.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 9

Thursday, November 20 - Made treats for college students and challenged them to do good deeds too.

I was at Purdue today for a continuing education training,  While I was there I stopped by the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) office and dropped off goodies to some surprised students.  I was in APO while at Purdue.  Its a service fraternity, so this is right up their alley.  I wrote them a note explaining this whole plan of mine and challenged them to do three good deeds.  I hope they join me.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 8

Wednesday, November 19 - Donate to a toy drive.

The seventh grade is having a toy drive at school.  I think Colin probably wished I bought more boy-ish toys, but he took them to school anyway.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 7

Tuesday, November 18 - Send a care package to soldiers.

I don't know anyone who is currently deployed, so my plan was to bake up a bunch of homemade goodies and ship them out to some random soldier.  Fortunately before I did all that I did a quick web search to find a place that would help me send my package to a particular soldier.  That's when I found out that, unless you know the soldier, they throw away all homemade foods.  After a little bit more web searching I happened upon this website called www.operationgratitude.com which sends packages to soldiers.








It costs them $15 to send a care package.  Since they are a non-profit company, donations are tax deductible!

This is what their website says "About Operation Gratitude"

Operation Gratitude annually sends 150,000+ care packages filled with snacks, entertainment, hygiene and hand-made items, plus personal letters of appreciation, to New Recruits, Veterans, First Responders, Wounded Warriors, Care Givers and to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed overseas. Our mission is to lift the spirits and meet the evolving needs of our Active Duty and Veteran communities, and provide volunteer opportunities for all Americans to express their appreciation to members of our Military. Each package contains donated product valued at $75-100 and costs the organization $15 to assemble and ship. Since its inception in 2003, Operation Gratitude volunteers have shipped more than One Million Care Packages.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 6

Monday, November 17 - Make baked goods and deliver to a local mechanics, tire or autobody shop.

The downtown Indy Firestone got some pretty tasty pumpkin muffins today.  And it was a cold day today.  A rough day to be a mechanic, I'm sure.

If you're keeping track at home, you might notice that I was supposed to pick up trash along a street or park.  However, the weather wasn't conducive to this activity today, so I switched it up.  Again, flexible.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 5

Sunday, November 16 - Make a positive shout out on social media

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 4

Saturday, November 15 - Cut out snowflakes for the Indiana State Museum holiday train.

I was going to open the door for someone, but the opportunity didn't present itself.  I'm nothing if not flexible.

Sorry, I didn't think to take a picture.

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 3

Friday, November 14 - Find a book in the library about budgeting or being thrifty and leave a note of encouragement and gift card in it.

And I got super lucky because they gave me the Target gift card for donating blood the day before.  Perfect timing!!

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 2

Thursday, November 13 - Donate Blood

40 Days of Good Deeds - Day 1

Wednesday, November 12 - Donate to a food drive or food pantry.

Lucky for me, Colin and Megan's school was having a food drive. So I just sent a couple bags with them to school :) 

40 Days of Good Deeds Calendar

I finalized the list and have assigned each deed to a day. Tomorrow I'll begin the 40 Days of Good Deeds project.  I hope you'll join me in as many of these as you are able.

One of the coolest coincidences I have noticed so far is about days 2 and 3.  On day 2, if you donate blood in Central Indiana, you will receive a $10 gift card to Target.  Then on day 3, you can use that gift card to hide it in a book at the library.  So anybody, well any eligible donor, can do it!!

40 Days of Good Deeds - Draft List

Believe it or not, I'll be turning 40 at the end of the year.  December 22 to be precise.  To celebrate this event, I want to do "40 Days of Good Deeds" between November 12 and December 21.  I'd really love for my friends and family to join in as they are able.  I have completed the first step - a draft listing of the deeds I plan to do.  My next step will be to plot them on a calendar.  I intend on doing the easier ones through the week and the more difficult ones on the weekends.

See below for the draft list.  Please let me know if you have any comments or ideas on these.

Less than two weeks till we get started!!  I'm pretty excited.

1. Tape envelope of change to vending machine
2. Adopt a family for Christmas/participate in an angel tree
3. Find a book in the library about being thrifty or  saving $ and leave a note of encouragement and gift card in it.
4. Donate blood
5. Give flowers to someone
6. Pick up trash along a street or park
7. Give a lottery ticket to someone
8. Feed a parking meter
9. Send a care package to soldiers
10. Pay for the following car's car wash
11. Sanitize someone's desk while they are at lunch
12. Leave an extra big tIp
13. Donate a gently used coat, gloves, hats and/or a bunch of hand warmers to a homeless shelter.
14. Write a poem for someone 
15. Make a clothing donation
16. Donate to a food drive or food pantry
17. Write thank you notes to at least five people.
18. Donate to a Salvation Army red kettle
19. Make a positive shoutout on social media
20. Call a lonely person
21. Clean the snow off someone's car
22. Invite someone over for dinner
23. Leave coupons in the grocery next to the items on the coupons.
24. Open the door for someone and hold it.
25. Leave your mailman a treat.
26. Make a treat for your office janitor.
27. Offer to watch a friend's kids.
28. Compliment 3 strangers.
29. Hide a dollar in the toy section of the dollar store.
30. Write a thank you note to a teacher.
31. Donate pjs to pajamaprogram.org (carters stores)
32. Donate to a toy drive
33. Tell a manage of good service you got at a store or restaurant.
34. Donate some school supplies to a local school.
35. Make some home made cards and deliver to a local assisted living. Visit with the recipients if the opportunity presents itself.
36. Make baked goods & deliver to a local mechanics, tire, or autobody shop.
37. Drop off some coloring books and crayons to a hospital waiting room.
38. Donate hand imprint sets to a hospital maternity unit.
39. Leave diapers and wipes on a public changing table.
40. Bring a meal to a family in need (recent birth, sickness, or loss)