I love this quote! One of the beautiful things about giving, especially in the Bring Smiles program, is that we touch thousands of lives regularly. These are lives of people that we don’t even know. During several of our campaigns this year we delivered to senior communities in all 50 states, twice. These are all seniors who we have never met, seniors we have no personal information on and seniors that all deserve a little reminder that they are special. We do what we do with absolutely no expectation of repayment as all our services are funded by your donations. Unconditional giving is one of the most beautiful things in life and an integral part of how we operate.

Many people give expecting to receive. I have always been one of those people that has always enjoyed the act of giving so much that it makes me socially awkward during the holidays and birthdays. I am so excited to see others open the gifts that I have picked out for them, that when it comes to my turn it is a bit anticlimactic, at least for me. I also enjoy paying for the car behind me in the coffee line as I am able to drive away without them ever knowing who I was.

Giving is good for the soul. When it becomes an integral part of our life, it is what helps to make us well rounded people. When I first started this program we had to purchase all our cards that were delivered to seniors. Slowly as we advertised through Facebook and started to get followers, we began to receive handmade cards from some of the most generous people on the planet. In our third year of operation we have not bought a single card in 2018, yet will deliver just shy of 40,000. Think about it. All these people work tirelessly on boxes of cards that they put in the mail and trust that we are going to get them delivered to seniors. Most have never met us, but believe in what we do so much that they want to be a part of something special. Others donate their time or money to help keeping us going, all to help seniors that they have never met and who will never be able to repay them.

That is the beautiful thing about the generosity of the human spirit. The desire to do for those that paved the way for all of us is strong, bright and alive. Everyone has (or has had) a mother, grandmother, father or grandfather. We all feel that connection with the need to take care of them in those times when they can no longer take care of themselves. We feel the genuineness of doing something for those that will never repay us and that is a beautiful thing.

Have a great day and remember to be the reason someone smiles today.

Ron