It’s official: The Australian chapter of Pass it Forward is coming of age. As of today, over one and a half thousand people have visited our web site and read well over five thousand pages. Our goal when we started the movement was ambitious (to inspire 1 million acts of kindness by the year 2012 that would otherwise not have happened), and we are probably a long way from achieving it; yet it is undeniable that the continuous energy put into the movement has generated a momentum of its own.

It is not surprising then that in the December edition of Reader’s Digest an article mentioned our movement and published some of our ideas. The article was entitled “Why Kindness is Good for you”, and made the case for acquiring the habit of giving in our daily lives.

I have scanned the article and posted it in the images below; to enlarge so that you can read it, simply click on each of the images.

1. Being kind is not difficult – you just need to look for oppotunities
2. Being kind is not expensive – sometimes all it takes is a bit of time and the cost of a stamp
3. Passing kindness creates a virtuous cycle that never ends. 

I hope you enjoy the story:  

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month.The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about howmuch she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words: 

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. 

I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her. You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith. 

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, ‘To Meredith , ‘in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ‘When a Pet Dies.’ Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven.

Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.

Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way, I’m easy to find, I am wherever there is love.

Love,

God

 

What is the most scarce resource we have? Time. You can’t save it, invest it, make more of it, or even spend it. You can only use it – and you can only use it Now.

And what is the most abundant resource we have? Love. The more you give it away, the more you have, and the more you get back. It never runs out, and we have infinite reserves in our hearts.

These two timeless principles are used beautifully by Alonso Alvarez Barreda in the video he produced for the Fourth annual Short Film Online Competition in Cannes, 2008 (you can watch the movie by clicking here or at the end of this post). In this story , a few words make someone’s day, all because a stranger was willing to give some knowledge, time, and love to another person.

I suggest you watch it; reflect it; and learn.

HISTORIA DE UN LETRERO (THE STORY OF A SIGN)

In a previous reflection, we discussed the need to balance giving and receiving in your life (link). This week, I will show how adopting a giving attitude can land you big money. In the case of a lucky Samaritan, it will mean landing a cool $1 million dollars.

The Big Give: Reality TV, Oprah style

If you have watched Oprah before, you will probably have seen some of her TV stints at generosity. Whether you like her show or not, it is undeniable that Oprah has a generous soul. In a number of episodes, she has given some serious gifts to those in the audience, including cars, Plasma TVs, and other high-value items (link). In other cases, she has given money away, with the clause that the recipients are not to spend it on themselves, but rather must Pass it Forward (link).

Now Oprah has outdone herself by taking previous executions of ‘Giving’ to a new level. If you have watched shows such as Donald Trump’s The Apprentice (link), Australian Idol(link), or the infamous Big Brother (link), then you are familiar with the standard ‘Reality TV’ format: A bunch of aspirants will start a contest, with one of them being ’evicted’ every week. Oprah’s Big Give uses the same concept, but the tasks given to participants each week are based around helping someone in need.

$1 million dollars as prize money? Cool!

But competitors in this new Reality TV show don’t know that at the end of the rainbow there is a very neat gold pot with $1 million dollars in prize money. This is Oprah’s way of rewarding those that excel at the art of helping others. Apparently, Oprah wanted those in the contest to have a somewhat altruistic motive behind their efforts, so the prize was kept a secret until the end of the show. In the words of Ellen Rakieten,Winfrey’s TV partner since 1986 and co-executive producer of the show, “The fact [that] people had no idea there was a prize at the end makes it very pure“.

So if money or fame are not the apparent goal, why do people spend a significant part of their life to participate in this TV Show? Apparently they were all big fans of Oprah to start with; and were emotionally invested in earning Oprah’s grace & praise. For skeptics, the lure of TV fame and potential earnings after the show finishes will put a shade of impurity behind their motives; yet it is pretty clear that to win in this game, you must have a big heart, and a ton of practical wisdom to make altruism work in the real world.

When good motives are not good enough

As with every Reality TV show, part of the appeal will be in the frictions and challenges that arise every time you put a group of strangers working together. Just because there is a great cause behind them, it doesn’t mean that friction, bickering, and high emotions will be absent. As the series progresses, the challenges given to contestants grow in difficulty, increasing at the same time the pressure on contestants; and with it the likelihood of explosive (and highly entertaining) moments.

According to Andrew Ryan, an Arts reporter in the Canadian Globe&Mail that got a sneak preview of the series, the first episode is full of difficult moments:

“People get lost on the freeway, and contestants [were] frustrated in their attempts to mount immediate charity events to raise money for their subject. Nerves frayed, and cat-fights broke out” (link)

Casting allegedly was not aimed at choosing personalities that would clash, as is the case in many other Reality TV Shows; and whilst producers had a choice on whether to show those moments or not, it is clear that given the format selected for the show, this is a feature that will be expected by its viewers.

Does this diminish the goal? Does it make Oprah’s efforts less valuable? I don’t believe it does. If you have tried to carry out good and altruistic deeds before, you too will known that helping others can be hard work. Making that aspect of giving more clear and visible to viewers will allow everyone to make more informed choices. It also helps Good-Samaritans-to-be in having a more realistic perspective of what it will take; and make them more prepared for those times when things won’t go their way. This in turn will allow them to realise that overcoming obstacles is a normal part of the process of helping those in need.

Helping people help themselves

Back to the show: In order to win, contestants must take the hard approach to helping those in need. As the Chinese proverb says, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime“. With $2,500 as seed money at the start of each episode, Oprah’s Big Give contestants are supposed to show the person how to get out of trouble for good, rather than to provide temporary reprieve from difficult times.

There is also little in the way of choice about who to help: A panel of 3 judges who will make the decisions on which contestant to evict after each episode is also responsible for choosing the ’cause of the week’ for each team at the start of each episode.

Whether you’re in it for its entertainment value, for its ideas on how to make the world a better place; or simply because you’re a big fan of everything Oprah touches, Oprah’s Big Give is a recommended show for the comming TV season.

May the best Samaritan win.

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Links

• Oprah’s Big Give (link)
• Review of Oprah’s Big Give in the Globe&Mail (link)
• Oprah gives gifts to her audience (link)
• As seen in Oprah: Passing kindness forward (link)
• A Balanced perspective: Give as much as you receive (link)
• The Apprentice (link)
• Australian Idol(link)
• Big Brother (link)

The first story they share is touching, as it shows how a seemingly small act of kindness can change someone’s life:

On Nov. 15 of last year, I was leaving South Hills Village mall when I lost my footing on a curb. I fell and hit my head, hard.

I was lucky to have two strangers stop to help me. Little did I know just how fortunate I would turn out to be.

The man and the woman firmly ignored my request to let me just get up and proceed to the T station. They knew that I needed immediate medical attention.

The woman parked her SUV in a way that shielded me from traffic and passers-by, and covered me with a wrap so that I would stay warm. The man called 911 and acted on its instructions not to let me move.

They both stayed with me until the ambulance arrived.

At UPMC Presbyterian, I was found to have bleeding on my brain. Emergency surgery was performed.

If those two people had let me go up and go on my way, I would not be here to write this letter.

I didn’t get your names. Wherever you are, let me say to you, with no exaggeration:

Thank you for saving my life.

– PAULETTE DOBROVOLSKIS, South Side

I hope next time you see someone having a bad fall, you will feel inspired to help them instead of laughing at them, as many of us do these days.

Today I came across an article that describes how a US-based bank started giving 5% of its profits to employees, and asking them to pass the money forward to someone who needs it. You can read the full article here.

One thing that many Australians don’t realise is just how socially responsible one of their banks, Westpac, really is. One of their HR policies allows employees to take one day off every year to donate to charitable organisation. As bank with over 30,000 employees, this effectively translates into about 82 years of labour for non-for-profit organisations – EVERY YEAR!! It is absolutely staggering. Obviously, not everyone is disciplined enough to make the most of the policy and use one day every year for someone who needs it; but even if only 10% of its’ workforce uses the entitlement (8 years of labour every year? Not bad!), it is still a significant amount of time that non-for-profit organisations would not have received from volunteer.

One product I have really loved from this same bank that makes it far easier to give money to those in need is the Westpac Gift card. You go to a branch; decide how much money will the gift card have; add $5 to cover the cost of the card, and you get back a DEBIT MASTERCARD. Yup, that is right. It is effectively the same as a “pre-paid” credit card with a limit you chose. You can then give this card to whomever you choose: a single mum you know is going through some trouble; a homeless person; or your neighbour whose car got smashed by a tree in the latest storm.

I wish more banks thought of – and acted on – ideas to make the world a better place…