It may not be a pumpkin carriage, but as midnight struck, the same flair of kindness reined in a new year. Random Acts supporter Teresa Geurts took up the fairy godmother’s mantle, by granting well over 100 small wishes.
Seed of Inspiration
The seed of inspiration came from a viral video where a young girl visits a nursing home to ask the residents for their three wishes. Their minds were not set on large or grandiose items but instead on simplicity and practicality. “They ask for simple things, like a good book, a greeting card, or even a snack. It was that video that inspired us to reach out to our community with simple gestures to lift their spirits,” Teresa said.
She teamed up with the Fox Valley Kindness Connection, a non-profit organization located in Wisconsin, to provide free items to those in need. Sending their idea out into the ethers of social media, they created a group to gather both wishes and delivery addresses to those in their area. The recruitment process then excitedly began to find others who were willing to share their joy of giving.
A Hundred Small Wishes
Their first visit was to a local fast-food joint named Tom’s Drive In. A driveby turned into the manager poking her head out. Her excitement dial hit full blast as her voice beckoned throughout the entire establishment, “Guys! Fox Valley Kindness Connection is here for Grant a Wish Day!”
The second stop was for someone roaming the streets, a police offer shading his eyes from the sun. He accepted the bag of wishes thinking it was now his duty to give them out. To his surprise, they were entirely for him. They ended their day at a diehard Batman fan’s birthday party. With only six goody bags left, they wanted to give one to him and each attendee. Luckily, upon doing a headcount of those in attendance, by some chance, there were six. It meant each child received a bag. Before bidding farewell, they sang the Batman theme song together.
“We really made people’s days, just with simple gestures! Some people found their goody bags when they returned home, and they posted on the Facebook site thanking ‘The Genie,'” Teresa said. The goodness spread throughout the community was also felt and embraced by the ones doing the act. Even those having a bit of a hard time found relief for a little while through helping others.
