One day, 26 acts of kindness | Community Spirit

If there's a better way to celebrate turning a year older, we don't know what it is.

We spotted this project on the Facebook page of Sarah York, a Tacoman and fellow Stadium High School alumna, and thought you all ought to see it too.

Wednesday was York's 26 birthday, and to celebrate it she decided she would spend the day performing "random acts of kindness" - 26 of them, to be exact.

We had so much fun following her day of good deeds, that we had to bring it to the Internet (with her permission, of course). York says she took her project to Facebook to try to inspire more people than just the ones she directly helped Wednesday.

So without further ado, here's our vicarious chronicle of York's day of kindness. (Times are approximate).

Jan. 10

11:30 p.m.

Going to attempt to do Random acts of Kindness tomorrow for my 26th birthday. I'll try to keep you updated with photos and updates on facebook as much as possible. My goal is 26 - 1 for every year I have lived- but with a full work day we'll see what I can manage... Message me with any ideas. :)

Jan. 11

1. 7:30 a.m

26 random acts of kindness for my 26th birthday. -donate 2 bags of clothes.

2. 8:30 a.m.

Bought the groceries for the lady behind me at safeway. So great to see her reaction!!

3. 8:45 a.m.

2 dozen doughnuts for the office.

4. 9:30 a.m.

Let a lady in a rush cut me in line (also convinced the lady in front of me to let her cut as well) -4 unselfish" acts of kindness down, 22 to go.

5. 9:45 a.m.

Starbucks gift card and thank you note for the office cleaning lady.

6. 12:40 p.m.

Hot Starbucks for the office staff @ my doctors office and food donated to the food drive at work. 6 down, 20 to go!"

7. 1:45 p.m.

Hand written thank you and daffodils to the tacoma fire department station in Proctor.

8. 1:50 p.m.

Left this under a random womans windshield wiper (Daffodils and a kind note - see top photo).

9. 1:52 p.m.

Donated my old cell phone to the troops which helps pay for calling cards for them.

10. 1:55 p.m.

Drop off flowers to secretary at Washington-Hoyt elementary.

11. 2 p.m.

Snail mail hand written thank yous to old teachers. (Don't worry, postage is there just covered)

12. 2:40 p.m.

Gave a little girl with her mom a big soft teddybear (asked her mom first). The best part was how EXCITED the little girl was and how hard she hugged that fluffy bear. -12 down 14 to go! 26th birthday = 26 random acts of kindness

13. 3:40 p.m.

Just signed up to volunteer at a booth for the department of ecology at the home and garden show. (going to be a snooze fest so come visit!) - 13 down - 13 to go!

14. 4 p.m.

Coffee and hot cocoa for a few tacoma power employees coming in from the cold. :)

15. 6:20 p.m.

Hand out balloons to kids at target. Pretty sure they sent out a security guard (who took the pic) to make sure I wasn't crazy.

16. 6:25 p.m.

Help return carts. [At Target]

17. 6:30 p.m.

Helped a lady load some heavy purchases into her car.

18. 7:25 p.m.

Leave a big tip on a tiny coffee. — at Bertolino Bros.

19. 10:25 p.m.

Gift card for your food!! — at Applebee's Tacoma

20-21. 11:50 p.m.

Give away pull tabs and buy a 21 year old birthday boy a shot! — at Farrelli's Wood Fire Pizza (Tacoma).

22. 11:53 p.m.

Flowers to an assisted living facility.  — at The Weatherly Inn.

23. 11:55 p.m.

Flowers and a note on a soldier's car.

24. midnight

Bought the food for the person behind me in the drive thru. :) also bought coffee for the security guy @ the loose wheel. — at Jack in the Box

Jan. 12

25. 12:02 a.m. 

Gave a homeless man some Jack in the Box Tacos.

26. 12:05 a.m.

Left flowers on a random doorstep with a note.

12:07 a.m.

DONE!!

11:30 a.m.

I think my favorite part of the whole story is #26. Turns out the man who lives in the house I left the flowers at suffered the loss of his mother yesterday. He posted the act to his facebook and a random mutual friend messaged me. I can only imagine how I would feel to receive flowers from an unknown stranger on the day a parent passed away. Such a coincidence.

12:30 p.m. update

Ok, random things that I thought were funny/weird/awesome when I was doing all my kindness stuff.

One of the kids I tried to give a balloon to was NOT a fan of balloons. When I asked him if he wanted a balloon he gave me a disapproving look and a stern, "no" then kept walking with his mom. On the flip side of that I had a little boy walk up to me with wide eyes like there was a spell on him and he was hypnotized by the glorious colorful floating orbs. He was ecstatic to get a balloon.

The little girl I gave the teddy bear to was smiling so hard and looked at her mom in disbelief and practically squealed, "It's all mine?!" and gave that sucker a death-grip hug. Seemed like the mom appreciated it too.

The guy at the drive-thru window said that the 'pay it forward' thing has been happening a lot lately, which I thought was really wonderful to hear.

The woman I let cut me in line was quite surprised by my allowing her to cut even though in my mind that was one of the simplest things to do.

The woman behind me in line whose groceries I purchased for her went from shocked to really thankful. Almost teared up at that one and had to make a quick exit.

When I was returning carts at Target (while it was FREEZING outside) I found out just how hard it is to direct unruly stacked lines of carts. Those things have a mind of their own! Luckily I managed not to hit any parked cars (or small children).

Was a pretty long day and quite a bit of running around, but it was well worth it. 

I've also really enjoyed getting texts and messages from friends saying that what I did inspired them or that they did something random and kind yesterday as well.