February 6, 2025 • 47 mins
What if a simple gathering with friends could spark a movement that transforms your community and brings warmth to those in need? In this episode, we unravel the heartwarming journey of Michelle Christensen from Golden Valley, Minnesota, who turned a craft night with friends into an inspiring initiative called One Good Deed. From creating little free libraries to organizing large-scale donation events, Michelle shows us the power of collective goodwill and how small acts of kindness can cascade into significant change. Her story is a testament to how personal connections and a dash of creativity can inspire a community to come together in support of others.
Join us as we embark on a remarkable journey featuring stories of unexpected kindness and community connections. You'll hear about the evolution of One Good Deed, starting from a single coach bus filled with donations and propelled by an anonymous donor to a multi-bus operation. Experience the joy of scarf bombing events and distributing essentials to the unsheltered, where everyday people, including a charismatic bus driver, join hands to spread warmth and compassion. This episode captures the spontaneous acts of generosity that arise when a community rallies together, creating a ripple effect that touches countless lives.
Each chapter of Michelle's journey is filled with moments that highlight the importance of collaboration and the impact of monthly acts of kindness. Discover the diverse range of activities planned by One Good Deed, from creating cards for seniors to Earth Day cleanups, all aimed at supporting various causes and fostering a sense of shared humanity. Michelle's initiative, supported by partnerships with organizations like the Animal Humane Society, showcases how dedication and empathy can bring people together to make a meaningful difference throughout the year. Tune in to be inspired by stories that remind us of the incredible capacity for kindness in our communities.
#community #homeless #empathy
This podcast is a proud member of the Mayday Media Network. If you have an idea for a podcast and need some production assistance or have a podcast and are looking for a supportive network to join, check out maydaymedianetwork.com.
Like what you hear on the podcast? Follow our social media for more uplifting, inspirational and feel-good content.
It's one thing to highlight the kindness that we see in the world, but it's another to, as I put in many of my social media posts, #bethechange. I am donating all of my royalties from the sale of my book, Change A World; In Order to Change The World to local and national non-profits. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello there and welcome.
You are listening to theKindness Matters podcast and I
am your host, mike Rathbun.
What is this podcast all about?
It's about kindness.
It's a pushback againsteverything negative that we see
in the news and on social mediatoday, and it's a way to
(00:20):
highlight people, organizationsthat are simply striving to make
their little corner of theworld a little better place.
If you want to join in on theconversation, feel free, Go
ahead and follow us on all ofyour social media feeds.
We're on Facebook, instagram,tiktok.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
(00:42):
Check us out.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
Check us out and, in themeantime, so sit back, relax,
enjoy and we'll get into theKindness Matters podcast.
Hey, hello and welcome everybodyto the show.
Thank you so much for the giftof 30 minutes of your time To
(01:03):
tune in and listen to thisepisode.
I am so happy that you're here.
As I usually say, if there'ssomething in this podcast that
inspires you or motivates you,that's fantastic, and feel free
to share it with your friendsand family.
Family, I was just okay, so I'msure most of you, or some of
(01:31):
you, have, at some point in yourlife, just gotten together with
old friends and maybe done acraft night.
Maybe you do it every month,maybe you rotate who does it?
Is that you Do you ever do that?
Did you then, through thatcraft night, make a positive
difference in the life ofhundreds, if not thousands, of
(01:53):
people who more than deserved it?
Michelle Christensen fromGolden Valley, minnesota, has
absolutely done that and I am soexcited to share her story with
you.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Welcome to the show, michelle.
Hello, mike, thank you forhaving me.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I feel like I mean because you've done a lot of
these type of things before,haven't you?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Correct, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
And like I can just be like one of the other people
besides CNN that interviewed youfor a podcast.
That is so cool.
I listened to it.
I don't know if I told you, butI did listen to it and it was
absolutely fantastic.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
But let's talk beginnings,because this all started when
(02:49):
you and some of your friends,your kids, were growing up and
moving on with their lives and,as kids do, they tend to get
their own lives and you didn'twant to lose that connection.
So what happened then?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Correct.
So what happened was I gatheredwith three other girlfriends,
moms that I didn't want to loseconnections with, and one thing
that we all shared in common wasjust trying to do crafty things
, and not that we werenecessarily adept at it, but we
(03:24):
were going to give it our bestshot and, in the meantime, just
connect in friendship more thananything else.
So we decided to gather once amonth and we would each take
turns hosting at our homes andcoming up with the craft that we
would be trying, we would beattempting to do.
So we each took turns.
The first time I had a craft todo, I work in construction and
(03:50):
the very first thing that we didwas little free libraries, and
they donated the wood andthere's carpenters at my company
, so they made them and I wentto Sherwin-Williams and they
donated some paint.
(04:10):
And so our very first thing ittook us multiple weeks or
multiple meetings, it took uslike three different meetings,
but we had them crafted, wepainted them and we had four
little free libraries to justeither put in our own yards or
to put out.
So things go along.
Another three months go along,my friends take their turns and
(04:34):
the next time it comes to be myturn.
We were talking about thelittle free libraries and what
we're going to do.
But in the meantime it was thefall, the autumn time of year,
and I had gone through some ofmy winter items and was just
kind of arranging, taking stock,wanting to get things on sale
if possible, and realized that Ihad a whole bunch of extra
(04:58):
gloves, Kind of laughed tomyself and asked my friends both
the ones, all of them that werewith me crafting, but also in
my Facebook that if anybody hadsome extra items that I decided
that I wanted to take any extradown to local shelters because I
(05:20):
volunteer as an individual atshelters and I knew that, even
though I had that, many othersdid not and I wanted to share
what I had.
So I reached out into mypersonal community and then I
got a very huge response, a huge, wonderful response from my
personal community, and Ithought, hmm, this seems to be
(05:43):
something that everybody cancontribute to.
Everyone was very excited, verykind, went through their kids'
items, went through theirpersonal items.
My mother-in-law has some.
So I thought you know what?
I'm just going to open this upa little bit.
So I went into my professionalcommunity.
I've been in construction for25 years now.
Back then it was almost goingon 20 years.
(06:05):
So I felt comfortable to sendan email to my professional
contacts and just said hey, I'mcollecting winter items for the
unsheltered to bring them downto shelters.
If you wouldn't mind justputting a collection box in your
lunch room or just a little,something, that would be
wonderful and I would reallyappreciate it.
Something that would bewonderful and I would really
(06:26):
appreciate it.
And the response from thatcommunity was tremendous as well
.
I received feedback both byemail, phone calls, whatnot, and
beyond having the collectionboxes being put out, I had
people sending checks to me aswell, to Michelle Christensen,
and those people sent littlenotes with them saying fill the
(06:48):
gaps, fill whatever it is thatyou don't have that you want to
put into that population beyondyour hats, gloves and scarves.
So that was very lovely andthis whole time the response was
tremendous.
Didn't realize it, and so I wasjust managing it as I was going
along.
(07:08):
So I started collecting lateSeptember, we started going
through and I realized byprobably mid-October about a
month in that I had way too muchfor the shelters, because they
typically don't have a lot ofextra room.
They don't have a lot of extraroom.
They don't have a lot of extraspace and people were being so
(07:29):
generous that I needed to dosomething other than just go to
the shelters.
There needed to be kind of aplan B.
So I thought to myself, whereelse can I put these?
And I thought at this point,why not just go to where the
unsheltered really truly live,and not all unsheltered or in
(07:51):
need people use social services.
And so I live in theMinneapolis twin city area and
oftentimes you'll be driving andyou'll see that person on the
corner or you'll see the personunder the bridge and you know
that they're just simply outlooking for cover, they're
looking for something warm.
So what I did was I went intothe parks, kind of scoped out
(08:15):
the situation, looked around.
By the time we're a month in,month and a half in, I looked at
one park in Minneapolis and onepark in St Paul and thought
this is going to be where we putour items.
And so then the next step to mewas we have to identify that
these are the items that arepurposely, intentionally, put
(08:35):
out for that population.
So I came up with a tag.
It's about I would say it'smaybe five inches long by maybe
three inches wide, colorful, onehole punched, and it says take
me, I'm not lost, I'm yours.
And so my intention was to takethose tags and to put the tags
(08:55):
onto each item that we weregoing to place out in the park,
so the community that neededthose items would know that
those were for them.
And then the community thatdidn't need those items knew to
just leave them right where theywere If they weren't going to
take them.
They were meant to be there.
And then, in the process, as I'mgoing through and I'm kind of
(09:16):
coming up with a bit of a plan,I called the city of Minneapolis
, I called the city of St Paul,asked them what the rules and
regulations were, to make surethat our hard work wouldn't be
wasted, taken in an adverse way,because it was simply meant in
kindness, and so I didn't wantany kind of darkness to come
upon the shine.
(09:37):
And they said as long as youpull permits through the city of
Minneapolis, we'll know thatyou're there, we'll tell the
park workers not to pickanything up and thank you very
much, thank you for seeing ourcommunity.
The need is there, and so thatvery first year we came up, we
had about a hundred bags ofdonations and in the process of
(09:58):
collecting all of thosedonations.
I had put a message out andsaid thank you to everybody, and
I had a lot of personal peoplesay I'd like to help you put
that out in the parks.
I'd like to help you bring itto the shelters.
I'd like to help you put thatout in the parks.
I'd like to help you bring itto the shelters.
I'd like to help you put it outin the parks.
And I realized very quicklythat I had over 40 people that
(10:21):
wanted to help me, and so I wentback to my professional
population that had granted meand given me their funds and I
said to them in an email thankyou so much for your generosity.
I did not foresee this, butthere's so many people that want
to share in this act ofkindness that I feel like I need
(10:41):
to rent a coach bus and I needto use your money to pay for
that bus.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
And.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I wanted to be very transparent about what I was
doing with their money becauseit was just coming to Michelle
Christensen.
So I went ahead, I got anestimate from Loren's bus and I
attached it to the email and Isaid this is how much I'll be
spending on the bus.
Thank you for understanding andyour grace in me making this
(11:08):
decision.
And within an hour I receivedback from the bus company a paid
in full receipt from ananonymous donor.
So someone within thatcommunity, besides giving us,
granting us funds to just fillthe gaps, they also someone in
that group, also paid for ourbus, which was not inexpensive
(11:32):
it was around no, I can imagine.
We did this in 2017.
And I believe the first billwas very close to $750.
So it wasn't a small gift atall.
So we went forward.
We put the tags.
I had volunteers come to myhouse every Wednesday in
December.
We started putting the tags onthe items.
(11:52):
We attached them with a verylarge safety pin so those can be
utilized by those that are outunsheltered as well.
Safety pins are a really bigthing.
They can hold pieces ofclothing together or layers
together, so every piece of whatwe were doing was going to be
utilized.
So we got our 100 bags.
I had my 56 volunteers.
(12:13):
The bus sat 56 people.
We got a coach bus.
We took the 100 bags ofdonations, we stuffed it into
the belly of the bus and I hadmaps of Loring Park and Kellogg
Park and those were the firsttwo parks that we did, and so
when I came up with an itineraryfor the bus company, it was
(12:35):
Loring Park first.
We were going to take 50 bagswith the people that were on the
bus.
We were going to go out intothe parks and put all of those
tagged items out, and then wewere going to travel to the St
Paul Park, Kellogg Park, and dothe same thing in that park.
So that's exactly what we did.
We gathered, we gather.
Even now, we gather the firstSunday of every January and we
(12:58):
go out with whatever donationsthat we have.
We're now up to two coach buses, so I have about 112 volunteers
per.
We call it scarf bombingbecause it's an explosion of
kindness.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
When I came up with the name.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
There wasn't noticeable strife in the world.
It wasn't necessarily somethingthat I intentionally named it
that just because it felt likeit was just such a huge gift
that everywhere you look everytree limb, every bench we even
(13:36):
put items on the ground.
We'll put like trail mix andwool socks and first aid kits.
We'll put those in Ziplocs onthe ground, even if we have to
because we run out of places toput our donations, because
there's just so many, which isbeautiful.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That's a nice problem to have.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
It's amazing and wonderful and it's all due to
all of those donations and allof the whole event.
It's all volunteer based,whether it's you're just
donating or you come to tag oryou get on the bus.
Some people do all three, somepeople only do one, and every
(14:15):
single intentional act countsand gets us to where we need to
go to complete the event in themanner that it is, and it's
wonderful and it's beautiful andit's grown.
It's grown now for eight years.
This is our eighth year.
We just did our scarf bombingon January 5th, so that is the
(14:37):
beginning of our eighth year.
Scarf bombing is the firstevent that One Good Deed started
from, which is the name of ourvolunteer group in Golden Valley
, and we've been around now forgoing on eight years and scarf
bumming is one of our events.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, because you do.
I mean.
That in and of itself isamazing, and you probably could
stop right there if you wantedto, but you do so much more Now.
Before we go on to that, though, you told a story when we were
chatting about.
Was it the bus driver?
Yes, the first time.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yes.
So the very first time that thebus came to my home and the very
first year that we went out, Ihad people gather in my home.
We gathered into teams and weloaded the donations onto the
bus, and before the bus took offfrom my house, everybody that
had volunteered they all knew me, but they didn't know each
(15:41):
other, and so when I got intothe bus, I asked for the
microphone from the bus driver,calmed all the giddiness and all
the chit-chatting and kind ofexplained to everybody in the
bus exactly what we were doing.
So everybody was on the samepage before we took off for the
park, and after I explainedeverything to everybody, I
(16:04):
turned back around and I wassitting at the front of the bus,
because, of course, you have acoach bus on a residential
street.
All of the volunteers hadparked up and down the street
and it was winter, so there'ssnow banks all over the place,
and so I was very cognizant oftrying to help the bus driver
navigate tight corners gettingon and off residential streets.
(16:26):
So I was sitting right in thefront seat.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
And as I sat down and people started calming down in
the back a little bit, the busdriver turned to me and she said
this is really, really neatwhat you're doing.
She did not know what herjourney was for, she just knew
where we were going.
And she said I didn't know thatthere was such a thing.
And I said you know, we justkind of came up with it.
And she said I would.
And we start taking off.
(16:48):
And she said I would and westarted taking off and she said
I would really like to help.
And I said well, we wouldn't begetting anywhere without you
driving us and I'm very, veryappreciative for that.
Thank you for navigating andgetting us safely to where we
need to go.
And she said no, really, I wantto do it, I want to help.
And I said okay.
(17:14):
And when we had gathered in myhome, I gave everybody snacks.
We used the restrooms, wefilled our coffee cups, because
none of that is out there whenwe go out into the parks, and so
I had extra muffins, extrapastries, and we brought
everything onto the bus.
I told people please fill up,but anything that we don't eat
or use here we're going to bringon the bus and we're going to
give to the people in the parkas well as the winter items.
(17:37):
So we had a lot of pastries andsuch on the bus and so when the
bus driver said she wanted tohelp, we were going towards
Loring Park and there's an exiton 94 as you're going towards
Loring Park and it's calledDunwoody Boulevard and it brings
you down.
That's the exit you take to getto Lorain Park.
And as you're navigating yourway to Lorain Park and coming
(18:01):
off the freeway, there'sconcrete medians to your left to
make it two-way traffic andthere's always unsheltered
people right in those concretemedians, right at the stoplights
.
And so I told her, as we werejourneying on the freeway,
there's going to be people onthose concrete medians.
And she said okay, and I said wecan give them some of these
(18:23):
pastries and everything was upby us in the front of the bus
and she said okay, and I said so.
When you're coming off the exitramp.
And she said okay, and I saidso.
(18:48):
When you're coming off the exitramp, instead of going in the
right lane, like we wanted to toto get to the park, I said if
you go in the left-hand lane andthe light turned red and the
person was there and she saidwhat do I do?
And I said open your window.
So she opened the window andthe person looked at her and she
said now what?
And I said, well, ask them ifthey'd like a muffin.
So she did and the person saidyes, I would love a muffin.
(19:09):
And she said now what?
And I said give them a muffin.
So we had those really bigmuffins.
I don't know if you're fromaround here, but we had those
really big.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Perkins muffins, where they can only fit four in
a pie box.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
They are so big for muffins, right.
And I made sure that I gotdouble chocolate chip and I
wanted to give everybody a wholebunch of energy and sweetness
before they went out.
So we got she took a really bigdouble chocolate chip muffin
and she she held it out thewindow and she said would you
like this muffin?
And he said yes.
And he started coming over tothe bus and she leaned out and
(19:46):
she gave him the muffin and hesaid thank you.
And she said now what?
And I said give him the box,you know, ask him if he wants
more.
And he said thank you.
And she said now what?
And I said give them the box,you know, ask them if he wants
more.
And he said yes.
And she said now what do I do?
And I said give them the box.
Give them the whole box ofmuffins, because oftentimes
you'll see one unshelteredperson, but they're within a
community.
(20:06):
They're taking turns or it'sjust it's more convenient for
them where they are, but theyhave their own community as well
and they take care of eachother.
So you may see one, but there'salways going to be four or five
more.
And there's happens to be abridge, probably within a block
and a half of that location, andI know that there's family that
(20:27):
live up in the eaves underneaththe bridges, so I knew that the
food was going to goimmediately underneath that
bridge.
So she got to help.
She was just tearful and sograteful and had an amazing
experience.
So we get into the righthandling.
We go to Loring Park.
(20:48):
She pulls in, she opens the busdoors I had already kind of
explained everything to thevolunteers she hops out of the
bus, opens up the bellies of thebus and we take out 50 bags.
We have four teams on a bus, soeverybody if there's 56 people,
they're just divided into fourteams and I have a leader per
(21:09):
team.
I have a leader per team.
So if you're out in the parkyou know who your leader is, if
you have any questions, if youwant to go back to the bus, but
then that way too, we don'tleave the park without everybody
being accounted for.
That team leader knows thatthere are 12 people.
There are 14 people.
Those people know to check inwith that team leader and I
(21:29):
wanted to make sure that no oneleft the park.
I told them don't go to DunnBrothers for coffee, Don't try
to find a bathroom, you need tostay here.
We have 45 minutes.
So we did our scarf bombing inLorain Park and then the
volunteers I gave them atimeframe of please come back to
the bus by 1230.
If you're done before, come andsit on the bus and wait 12 30.
(21:52):
We counted heads and we were onour way to the next park, which
was Kellogg Park, and we had totake another very skinny street
and we started turning thecorner and the light in front of
us that we needed to turn toget onto the freeway, to turn
red and the Walker Art Center isright in front of us.
Very tight turn Again.
(22:13):
I'm sitting in the front of thebus and I can hear this chitter,
chatter in the back of the busand by now people were just
beyond themselves about whatthey did.
They were just, they hadmoments of real clarity and
kindness and they just lovedwhat they did.
And so the din on the bus wasjust tremendous, and so I'm
(22:36):
trying to help her navigate theskinny street and I hear in the
back of the bus I hear thiswoman say Joe, Joe, and she's
talking a little bit louderabove and I can hear and I'm
like, oh my gosh, what's goingon?
So I turn around and there'snothing really.
And then I hear her say itagain.
She's like Joe, my blanket, it'smoving.
(22:56):
And so I turn around and I lookat her and she's about halfway
back on the bus and I look ather and she's just loud enough
where the other people on thebus are kind of looking at her
too to see what is she talkingabout.
So her husband looks out thewindow.
He happened to be in the windowseat and he looked out the
window and his wife had put outa neon pink blanket and it was
(23:21):
visible from where she was.
Even though we were away fromthe park, she could see it was
moving and he said somebody hasyour blanket.
And so somebody.
In the time it took us to loadthe bus and go around the corner
, we did not see manyunsheltered people out looking.
(23:42):
They knew that we were coming.
I had given the shelters in thearea flyers about two weeks
beforehand and said please sharethis with your community.
We're going to come on thisdate at this time and please let
them know that if there'sanything out there with this tag
, they can have it.
Food, tents, sleeping bags,items, it doesn't matter, it's
(24:02):
for them, it's purposed.
And so they knew that we weregoing to be out in the parks and
they were waiting.
They were waiting for us toleave and that's exactly what
happened.
We got on the bus, we left andwe hadn't even turned the corner
to get on the freeway and thiswoman saw her pink blanket
moving because somebody wasunderneath the blanket and had
(24:26):
taken it.
So when her husband saidsomebody took your blanket, all
of a sudden I felt a shift onthe bus because everybody went
over to that side of the bus tosee if their items yes, they
kind of lean, but they wanted tosee if their items were being
(24:50):
taken and used, and it wasamazing and beautiful and
heartwarming.
It was amazing and so by thetime we turned onto the freeway,
I swear people were seeingwheels on the bus go round and
round and you know old McDonaldand they were just having a
blast in the back.
They were getting to know eachother.
(25:12):
I heard things like you onlylive four blocks from us.
Our sons played hockey together.
Oh, I know her, I work with her, so beyond-.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
So it's a real community.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Yeah, beyond giving into a community, they were able
to also receive from thecommunity of kindness that they
were sitting in, and it was verylovely to watch all of the
connections happen, even thoughI was at the front of the bus.
I didn't see it all, but I sawenough of it and I could feel it
(25:45):
on the bus.
It was amazing.
So we ended up going to KelloggPark and we did the exact same
thing by the time we got out.
You know they were old hands,they knew what they needed to do
.
But I will share one otherlittle story, and I'll be quick.
I don't know if I've sharedthis with you before, but we got
to Kellogg Park and there'snowhere to park a bus on Kellogg
(26:06):
Boulevard.
It's just a two way, both ways.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Yeah, if you're not familiar with St Paul.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Those both ways.
Yeah, if you're not familiarwith St.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Paul, those streets over there are nuts Well, and
there's nowhere to park unlessyou go into a ramp.
There's just nowhere to park,there's no metered parking,
there's no nothing.
And so Kellogg Park sits, theMississippi River sits on the
right-hand side, and thenKellogg Boulevard sits on the
left, and then the park sits inbetween the river and the road.
(26:35):
So we were doing kind of arectangular strip park and the
bus driver didn't know where topark and I said let's do this,
just put the bus here, meaninglike just beyond, just right
behind a stoplight.
And I said just flip on yourhazards and we'll be quick.
And she said I want to helpagain.
(26:55):
And I said okay, here's whatI'll do.
I'll stay on the bus, you cango out and you can scarf bomb,
but don't go too far, because ifa police officer comes, I need
you to come back on this bus andI need you to drive this bus.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
I do not have a license that says I.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
She was just.
She was so eager to help that Ididn't.
I wanted to find a way to lether help.
So that's exactly what we did.
She threw on.
She threw on the blinkers.
So I'm sitting on the bus andI'm watching, and I can kind of
see all of the volunteers atthis point I can make sure that
no one's really leaving the parkand then all of a sudden I look
up and we're sitting behind.
It's a two lane.
(27:35):
Kellogg Boulevard is a two lane, and so we're in the right or
right most lane, with thehazards on, behind a stoplight.
People are going around us,it's not a problem at all.
But I look and there's a carthat is on the other side of the
intersection of the stoplight,in front of us, in the right
hand lane, with their hazards on, and I'm like, oh no, people
(27:57):
are going to, people arestarting to park on the road.
This is a parking spot.
And then another car came, andthen another car came.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Look what you started .
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So there was three cars all with their hazards on,
and I'm looking out the front ofthe window and I'm like this is
going to become a problem.
So I'm just getting ready toget the bus driver and the next
thing I know I see people getout of all three of the cars.
They open up their trunks andthey pull out their own blankets
, their own jackets, their ownemergency kits from the backs of
(28:28):
their cars.
They had followed us fromLorain Park.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
And they wanted and I don't I don't know who they are
, I just watched them do it andthen they got back in their cars
and they left.
But they went up to thevolunteers and every volunteer
had like a Ziploc full of extratags, extra pins, hand warmers,
just in case they met a personin the park somebody might need
something.
And so they went up to thevolunteers.
(28:55):
The volunteers took a new tagwith a pin and they gave their
items to my volunteers to putout into the park because-.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Oh my gosh, you talk about the ripple of kindness.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
It was amazing.
I saw it only because I wassitting on the bus.
Had I not been sitting on thebus waiting, I would have missed
the whole transaction, and soit was just.
It was an amazing.
For me personally, it was thecherry on top, and the reason
why it was.
It was the sprinkles, and itwas a lot of work to organize
(29:33):
all of that together, and that,to me, was that and the pink
blanket.
Those two moments were veryinstrumental.
And then the last we get back onthe bus, we come back to my
home.
Everybody's getting off the bus.
I'm thanking everybody inperson because they're all my
friends and they were allhelping me, michelle, and so I
(29:55):
wanted to thank everybody.
So I thanked everybody inperson as they were getting off.
And the first I don't know likefive or six people that got off
the bus.
They're like hey, michelle,what are you going to do next?
What are you going to do next?
And I said, geez, I think Imight take a deep breath because
that was a lot.
That was three months of work.
He kind of joked about it, saidthank you to everybody and I
said thank you to the bus driver, and then I turned around and
(30:18):
I'm a bit petite, I'm five two.
So I stood on the top of thebus steps and I looked and my
front yard was filled withpeople.
None of the volunteers had leftand so I said no, really, thank
you so much.
You guys, feel free to use myrestroom.
Thank you so much.
The Vikings were playing, peoplehad things to do and I didn't
(30:41):
want them to feel like they hadto stay.
And somebody in the back ofthat crowd said what are you
going to do next?
And I looked at everybody andrealized that I hadn't seen it,
but a general shift in all ofthose people collectively had
(31:04):
happened, probably in the bus, Iwould guess on the way back
home, like I heard people say Idon't want this to end, I want
to keep doing this.
Do we have any more?
Can we go to another park?
Um, and that was lovely, but Ithink once everything was kind
of done and set and it soakedinto people's heart space, they
(31:25):
wanted to do more, and so itbecame a verbal question once
they needed to end the event IfI do more, will you help me?
And they all said yes, and soOne Good Deed our group of
volunteers that has now beenaround for eight years.
(31:45):
That is how One Good Deedstarted was in my front yard
after our first year of scarf,because I wanted to make crafts
with moms that I didn't want tolose connection with.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Wow, it's amazing, it's amazing, it's amazing.
So go ahead.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
It's only grown.
It's only grown from there.
The events that we do.
We do one good deed a month.
That's the name of our group isone good deed, and we
intentionally do one good deedin kindness a month.
So scarf bombing is our Januarygood deed.
In February we're making cardsfor seniors and I think I have
(32:28):
we're doing, we're gathering onFebruary 8th and I believe I
have 65 volunteers signed upalready, which is amazing.
But what we'll do is we coverfour senior campuses, so we have
200 cards that we're kind ofobligated to make so we can give
them to four campuses and thenany extra I will give to Meals
(32:52):
on Wheels.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Oh nice, so they can put them out with their meals,
yep.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Perfect.
They tuck them into the meals,and the cards are meant for a
piece of kindness for peoplethat don't necessarily either
get visitors or they don't havethe ability to connect.
They just they're eithermobility.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Probably homebound or .
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Okay, yep.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
So last year we made 650 cards, so Meals on Wheels
received 450 cards.
To put in plus, we covered thefour campuses, and it's amazing.
So this year, with 65volunteers to this point, we'll
probably end up with maybe 80people.
But one of the other thingsthat I really intentionally do
(33:35):
with One Good Deed is I makesure that, whatever good deed
we're doing, all of thematerials, the venue, all of the
details of the event are takencare of.
And all I ask for as theorganizer of One Good Deed, all
I ask for is your kindness andyour time.
You don't have to bringmaterials, you don't have to pay
(33:57):
anything.
All you have to do is come tothe venue for the time that
we're there or given.
If it's a three hour event andyou can only give an hour,
that's okay too.
But, like for our card makingactivity, I've got the paper,
the stamps, the stickers, thebling all of that will be
sitting there and a plethora ofsneaky snacks and beverages
(34:19):
because I'm a hostess, so buteverything, literally, that you
need to just rest in kindness,it's all there.
You just need to bring youractual kindness and helping
hands and heart to the event,and that's every event that we
do.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Now, so okay, that January and February.
What else do you do during theyear, I know?
And how long did it take you todecide?
I want to do something everymonth.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
I would say the first year was a lot of learning how
much I could give because I dohave a full time job as well.
So one gooded is a 501c3nonprofit, both state and
federal.
We're tax exempt and we'vegrown into that.
But it takes a lot of time toorganize and the good deeds that
(35:13):
we have we have 12 a year but Ihave several partners,
nonprofit partners that One GoodDeed supports.
On the backside that it's notan event you wouldn't see it as
something that you couldparticipate in, but we support
other nonprofits that maybedon't have their status so they
(35:34):
can receive the benefit ofkindness.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
I saw on your website that you partnered with the
Animal Humane Society.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
So, like in March, like some of our events, it did
take a minute, I would say thefirst year, but then I just kind
of I wanted to do a little bitof everything for everyone so
there'd be an appeal foreverybody.
March is recognized asInternational Women's History
Month and so we host a.
(36:05):
It's a International Women'sDay, kind of like a showcase.
I invite 36 women-run,women-inspired, women-centric
whether it's the League of WomenVoters or a needle workers
group or Her Self Health, whodoes women only health items
(36:26):
concerns.
I have I rent a space of hugegymnasium.
I invite 36 different no,there's no overlapping but 36
kind of different organizationsor businesses to come there and
just be present, answerquestions.
If somebody wants to sign upfor a class, they want to find
(36:47):
out more about something, butit's free to the vendor and it's
free to the public.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
One good DP is for your space and it's just about.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Here are some things that are out there for you, and
we do it in the vein tocelebrate women, just because
that's March's event, and ofcourse we get men and kids and
it's, it's lovely.
Last year, I think, we hadabout 400 people come and attend
, just kind of walk through.
So the lovely part is is that ifyou're coming as a guest A,
(37:18):
there's no charge at all.
But you can walk into thisgymnasium and you can take all
the time that you want and youcan bounce off every table or
three.
Whatever speaks to you, you canspend that amount of time there
with them and get one-on-one,face-to-face answers.
How does this look?
(37:38):
Do you have another chapter inmy area?
Whatever the question may be,that's what those people at the
table are there for.
They want to share what they do, and it's specific, but it does
apply.
If you're a loving partner, tosay a woman, and she's asking
questions, you can stand rightthere as her male counterpart or
(38:02):
female counterpart or whoeveryou are as her partner.
You can stand there and hearthe same things she's hearing
and say, hey, you know what,I've got a question.
Could that be something I couldparticipate in too, or whatnot?
So that's March April.
We do an Earth Day communitycleanup.
March April, we do an Earth Daycommunity cleanup.
I get a 20-yard dumpsterdonated and we fill it up to the
(38:24):
top.
I had last year, I think we had45 volunteers.
We break up into teams and wehave garbage bags and we just
fill the dumpster and we go outfor four hours.
I have Boy Scout troops, girlScout troops, church groups,
clubs, organizations.
That's April.
(38:44):
May is Flags for Fort Snellingand the Animal Humane Society
Walk for Animals.
We're walk ambassadors for them, so we kind of fill their gaps.
We're just the people that walkaround to make sure that if any
participant has a question,where's the restroom, where's
the start line?
that's what we do and then,flags for Fort Snelling.
We put flags at Fort Snelling,we sign up for shifts.
(39:08):
So if that's something thatspeaks to you, that's a very
hard organization.
Those gaps fill really fast.
But I get dedicated slots allweekend and people can sign up
for that.
Slots all weekend and peoplecan sign up for that.
We have a charity garage sale.
In June last year we made$8,000 for charity.
The year before was 9,000.
(39:28):
And we have two nonprofits.
All the money that we make wedonate into the two nonprofits.
So everybody that wants todonate items like, let's say,
the epilepsy truck is comingaround or the veterans truck is
coming around you put your stuffdown at the curb and they pick
it up.
We at One Good Deed will takethat beginning.
(39:48):
We start in mid-May and westart taking donations in.
We put everything out.
I have five yards five fullfront yards full of items and
what happens is we puteverything out and nothing is
priced.
It's free will pricing andeverything that we make is
considered an in-kind donation.
(40:09):
So one person can come up andsay this book is 25 cents to me
and the next person can say thisbook is a hundred dollars to me
and to us it doesn't matterbecause all of the money goes to
our supported nonprofits.
But it's a wonderful, beautifulway to donate and repurpose
(40:33):
your items to someone else.
And then we do have people.
I go to shelters in our areawhere the garage sale is.
People.
I go to shelters in our areawhere the garage sale is and I
put posters up and I say ifyou're in need or you're
unsheltered, come, and so we'llget that population as well
where they come.
And they'll come up and I seeit all the time.
(40:55):
You know they'll have a couplebags worth of stuff and they'll
be like it's fantastic, it's.
You know they'll open up theirwallet kind of paw through and
they'll be like is $7 enough?
And I'll say you know, five isenough, five is enough.
And you know what?
You've got three ones.
I need ones.
I'll take those three ones.
You.
They may not want to do aformal donation into a nonprofit
, but they know who we supportand so they'll come in and
(41:29):
they'll support that nonprofitthat way.
That's June, july.
We kept the little freelibraries.
We do 30 little free librariesevery year.
They're all made.
I have the paint, the brushes,everything.
Everything is donated and we'reup to.
We did our 200th little freelibrary last year, so now we'll
be up to 230 this year, that'scrazy.
(41:51):
And we do kindness, we do.
We paint kindness rocks thelittle ones that just aren't old
enough to paint yet, because weget families for that activity.
So I'll have a separate littlearea where they can make
friendship bracelets and theycan paint rocks and they can do
whatever.
And then we have the kids andthe families that are a little
bit older and can hold apaintbrush and kind of do a good
(42:13):
job of it.
They paint their libraries.
And then when they're donepainting their libraries, they
take them home into theircommunities, their front yards,
wherever they want, and theyplant their Little Free Library
for free.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
I was thinking of doing that this year because I
have a great space for it at myhouse, but I've never built one.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Yep.
Well, you should come and paintone.
I should, if you want to paintone, I can get you one, that's
not a problem, and my carpentersthat do them.
Now it's a retired men's groupthat meets every week and they
actually make my little freelibraries and then I donate to
them and they meet every week tobe in service.
So they've done many things forone good deed.
(42:55):
It's amazing.
And they make beds for fosterchildren.
So they turn around and takethe money that I donate to them
for making the libraries and thebeds come in kits already, but
they buy the bedding, they buythe mattress and the sheets and
everything else.
So when they're going to afoster home to install a bed,
(43:15):
they've got the pieces for thebed, but then they've also got
the bedding and they havepitchers.
But they fix bikes and they domemorial crosses for the fire
department.
I mean, they just want to be inservice.
So they make my little freelibraries every year and they
love it.
They love being purposed, theyknow what they're doing.
(43:36):
Um, and it's a, it's a ripple,it goes all the way.
If I didn't have them, Icouldn't do little free
libraries.
The families couldn't plantthose in their communities.
August we do backpacks forunsheltered youth.
September we do fleece tieblankets, for we did 200 this
September and we tuck teddybears in the blankets.
(44:01):
We did 50, we gave to theRonald McDonald House, 50 to
Foster Minnesota, 50 to HennepinHealthcare and 50 to Hennepin
County First Responders for thebacks of their cars and
ambulance.
October we do comfort care forcancer patients because Cancer
(44:22):
Awareness Month is October.
So we'll do mastectomy pillows,port covers, chemo caps.
We do that November.
We do cards for seniors again,but we do Thanksgiving because
that's a very popular thing andpeople really volunteers like
that activity and there's a lotof people that love those cards.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
Oh sure.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
And then December we start kind of going full tilt,
getting ready for scarf bombing.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
So, that's.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
I just leave that open.
So that's our schedule in anutshell, wow.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Michelle, this is so amazing, and all because you
wanted to stay close to yourfriends as the kids moved off.
I mean, it just started sosimple and so organically and
that is so amazing.
I cannot thank you enough foryour time today.
It has been the absolutepleasure of a lifetime to talk
(45:19):
with you and hear your story.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Wonderful Well.
Thank you so much for having meand sharing our ripple of
kindness.
It really is out there.
Our group started with 100people, or 56 people that first
year, and now we're up to over1,700.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
And so oftentimes.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
I just want to let people know that it really
kindness, really does still liveand thrive, and sometimes it's
a little hard to see, but if youfind the right place you'll
find it.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
And your, your organization is one good deedorg
, and I will have the link forthat in the show notes.
So anybody who wants to knowwhat's going on, or wants to
volunteer or wants to donate,that's the place to do it.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
Wonderful.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
You're welcome.
Have a great weekend, my friend.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
I want to thank you for taking this time to listen
to this episode with my guest,michelle Christensen.
I hope you're able to takesomething positive from the time
you spent with us.
Maybe you'll be inspired, maybeyou'll be motivated, maybe
you'll be moved.
If you experienced any of thosepositive feelings, please
consider sharing this podcastwith your friends and family.
(46:36):
I'm always striving to offeryou a better podcast, so give me
some feedback.
Let me know how you think I'mdoing.
Offer suggestions for shows.
You can do that by emailing meor leaving me a message on my
socials.
It would mean the world Also.
Feel free to follow us on oursocials like Facebook, instagram
(46:56):
, linkedin and TikTok.
This podcast is part of theMayday Media Network.
If you have an idea for apodcast and need some production
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(47:18):
Movie Generation Mixtape In aPickle radio show, wake Up and
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We will be back again next weekwith a new episode and we would
be honored if you would join us.
You've been listening to theKindness Matters Podcast.
I'm your host, mike Rathbun.
(47:38):
Have a fantastic week.
Well, hello there and welcome.
You are listening to theKindness Matters podcast and I
am your host, mike Rathbun.
What is this podcast all about?
It's about kindness.
It's a pushback againsteverything negative that we see
in the news and on social mediatoday, and it's a way to
(00:20):
highlight people, organizationsthat are simply striving to make
their little corner of theworld a little better place.
If you want to join in on theconversation, feel free, Go
ahead and follow us on all ofyour social media feeds.
We're on Facebook, instagram,tiktok.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
(00:42):
Check us out.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
Check us out and, in themeantime, so sit back, relax,
enjoy and we'll get into theKindness Matters podcast.
Hey, hello and welcome everybodyto the show.
Thank you so much for the giftof 30 minutes of your time To
(01:03):
tune in and listen to thisepisode.
I am so happy that you're here.
As I usually say, if there'ssomething in this podcast that
inspires you or motivates you,that's fantastic, and feel free
to share it with your friendsand family.
Family, I was just okay, so I'msure most of you, or some of
(01:31):
you, have, at some point in yourlife, just gotten together with
old friends and maybe done acraft night.
Maybe you do it every month,maybe you rotate who does it?
Is that you Do you ever do that?
Did you then, through thatcraft night, make a positive
difference in the life ofhundreds, if not thousands, of
(01:53):
people who more than deserved it?
Michelle Christensen fromGolden Valley, minnesota, has
absolutely done that and I am soexcited to share her story with
you.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Welcome to the show, michelle.
Hello, mike, thank you forhaving me.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I feel like I mean because you've done a lot of
these type of things before,haven't you?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Correct, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
And like I can just be like one of the other people
besides CNN that interviewed youfor a podcast.
That is so cool.
I listened to it.
I don't know if I told you, butI did listen to it and it was
absolutely fantastic.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
But let's talk beginnings,because this all started when
(02:49):
you and some of your friends,your kids, were growing up and
moving on with their lives and,as kids do, they tend to get
their own lives and you didn'twant to lose that connection.
So what happened then?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Correct.
So what happened was I gatheredwith three other girlfriends,
moms that I didn't want to loseconnections with, and one thing
that we all shared in common wasjust trying to do crafty things
, and not that we werenecessarily adept at it, but we
(03:24):
were going to give it our bestshot and, in the meantime, just
connect in friendship more thananything else.
So we decided to gather once amonth and we would each take
turns hosting at our homes andcoming up with the craft that we
would be trying, we would beattempting to do.
So we each took turns.
The first time I had a craft todo, I work in construction and
(03:50):
the very first thing that we didwas little free libraries, and
they donated the wood andthere's carpenters at my company
, so they made them and I wentto Sherwin-Williams and they
donated some paint.
(04:10):
And so our very first thing ittook us multiple weeks or
multiple meetings, it took uslike three different meetings,
but we had them crafted, wepainted them and we had four
little free libraries to justeither put in our own yards or
to put out.
So things go along.
Another three months go along,my friends take their turns and
(04:34):
the next time it comes to be myturn.
We were talking about thelittle free libraries and what
we're going to do.
But in the meantime it was thefall, the autumn time of year,
and I had gone through some ofmy winter items and was just
kind of arranging, taking stock,wanting to get things on sale
if possible, and realized that Ihad a whole bunch of extra
(04:58):
gloves, Kind of laughed tomyself and asked my friends both
the ones, all of them that werewith me crafting, but also in
my Facebook that if anybody hadsome extra items that I decided
that I wanted to take any extradown to local shelters because I
(05:20):
volunteer as an individual atshelters and I knew that, even
though I had that, many othersdid not and I wanted to share
what I had.
So I reached out into mypersonal community and then I
got a very huge response, a huge, wonderful response from my
personal community, and Ithought, hmm, this seems to be
(05:43):
something that everybody cancontribute to.
Everyone was very excited, verykind, went through their kids'
items, went through theirpersonal items.
My mother-in-law has some.
So I thought you know what?
I'm just going to open this upa little bit.
So I went into my professionalcommunity.
I've been in construction for25 years now.
Back then it was almost goingon 20 years.
(06:05):
So I felt comfortable to sendan email to my professional
contacts and just said hey, I'mcollecting winter items for the
unsheltered to bring them downto shelters.
If you wouldn't mind justputting a collection box in your
lunch room or just a little,something, that would be
wonderful and I would reallyappreciate it.
Something that would bewonderful and I would really
(06:26):
appreciate it.
And the response from thatcommunity was tremendous as well
.
I received feedback both byemail, phone calls, whatnot, and
beyond having the collectionboxes being put out, I had
people sending checks to me aswell, to Michelle Christensen,
and those people sent littlenotes with them saying fill the
(06:48):
gaps, fill whatever it is thatyou don't have that you want to
put into that population beyondyour hats, gloves and scarves.
So that was very lovely andthis whole time the response was
tremendous.
Didn't realize it, and so I wasjust managing it as I was going
along.
(07:08):
So I started collecting lateSeptember, we started going
through and I realized byprobably mid-October about a
month in that I had way too muchfor the shelters, because they
typically don't have a lot ofextra room.
They don't have a lot of extraroom.
They don't have a lot of extraspace and people were being so
(07:29):
generous that I needed to dosomething other than just go to
the shelters.
There needed to be kind of aplan B.
So I thought to myself, whereelse can I put these?
And I thought at this point,why not just go to where the
unsheltered really truly live,and not all unsheltered or in
(07:51):
need people use social services.
And so I live in theMinneapolis twin city area and
oftentimes you'll be driving andyou'll see that person on the
corner or you'll see the personunder the bridge and you know
that they're just simply outlooking for cover, they're
looking for something warm.
So what I did was I went intothe parks, kind of scoped out
(08:15):
the situation, looked around.
By the time we're a month in,month and a half in, I looked at
one park in Minneapolis and onepark in St Paul and thought
this is going to be where we putour items.
And so then the next step to mewas we have to identify that
these are the items that arepurposely, intentionally, put
(08:35):
out for that population.
So I came up with a tag.
It's about I would say it'smaybe five inches long by maybe
three inches wide, colorful, onehole punched, and it says take
me, I'm not lost, I'm yours.
And so my intention was to takethose tags and to put the tags
(08:55):
onto each item that we weregoing to place out in the park,
so the community that neededthose items would know that
those were for them.
And then the community thatdidn't need those items knew to
just leave them right where theywere If they weren't going to
take them.
They were meant to be there.
And then, in the process, as I'mgoing through and I'm kind of
(09:16):
coming up with a bit of a plan,I called the city of Minneapolis
, I called the city of St Paul,asked them what the rules and
regulations were, to make surethat our hard work wouldn't be
wasted, taken in an adverse way,because it was simply meant in
kindness, and so I didn't wantany kind of darkness to come
upon the shine.
(09:37):
And they said as long as youpull permits through the city of
Minneapolis, we'll know thatyou're there, we'll tell the
park workers not to pickanything up and thank you very
much, thank you for seeing ourcommunity.
The need is there, and so thatvery first year we came up, we
had about a hundred bags ofdonations and in the process of
(09:58):
collecting all of thosedonations.
I had put a message out andsaid thank you to everybody, and
I had a lot of personal peoplesay I'd like to help you put
that out in the parks.
I'd like to help you bring itto the shelters.
I'd like to help you put thatout in the parks.
I'd like to help you bring itto the shelters.
I'd like to help you put it outin the parks.
And I realized very quicklythat I had over 40 people that
(10:21):
wanted to help me, and so I wentback to my professional
population that had granted meand given me their funds and I
said to them in an email thankyou so much for your generosity.
I did not foresee this, butthere's so many people that want
to share in this act ofkindness that I feel like I need
(10:41):
to rent a coach bus and I needto use your money to pay for
that bus.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
And.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I wanted to be very transparent about what I was
doing with their money becauseit was just coming to Michelle
Christensen.
So I went ahead, I got anestimate from Loren's bus and I
attached it to the email and Isaid this is how much I'll be
spending on the bus.
Thank you for understanding andyour grace in me making this
(11:08):
decision.
And within an hour I receivedback from the bus company a paid
in full receipt from ananonymous donor.
So someone within thatcommunity, besides giving us,
granting us funds to just fillthe gaps, they also someone in
that group, also paid for ourbus, which was not inexpensive
(11:32):
it was around no, I can imagine.
We did this in 2017.
And I believe the first billwas very close to $750.
So it wasn't a small gift atall.
So we went forward.
We put the tags.
I had volunteers come to myhouse every Wednesday in
December.
We started putting the tags onthe items.
(11:52):
We attached them with a verylarge safety pin so those can be
utilized by those that are outunsheltered as well.
Safety pins are a really bigthing.
They can hold pieces ofclothing together or layers
together, so every piece of whatwe were doing was going to be
utilized.
So we got our 100 bags.
I had my 56 volunteers.
(12:13):
The bus sat 56 people.
We got a coach bus.
We took the 100 bags ofdonations, we stuffed it into
the belly of the bus and I hadmaps of Loring Park and Kellogg
Park and those were the firsttwo parks that we did, and so
when I came up with an itineraryfor the bus company, it was
(12:35):
Loring Park first.
We were going to take 50 bagswith the people that were on the
bus.
We were going to go out intothe parks and put all of those
tagged items out, and then wewere going to travel to the St
Paul Park, Kellogg Park, and dothe same thing in that park.
So that's exactly what we did.
We gathered, we gather.
Even now, we gather the firstSunday of every January and we
(12:58):
go out with whatever donationsthat we have.
We're now up to two coach buses, so I have about 112 volunteers
per.
We call it scarf bombingbecause it's an explosion of
kindness.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
When I came up with the name.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
There wasn't noticeable strife in the world.
It wasn't necessarily somethingthat I intentionally named it
that just because it felt likeit was just such a huge gift
that everywhere you look everytree limb, every bench we even
(13:36):
put items on the ground.
We'll put like trail mix andwool socks and first aid kits.
We'll put those in Ziplocs onthe ground, even if we have to
because we run out of places toput our donations, because
there's just so many, which isbeautiful.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That's a nice problem to have.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
It's amazing and wonderful and it's all due to
all of those donations and allof the whole event.
It's all volunteer based,whether it's you're just
donating or you come to tag oryou get on the bus.
Some people do all three, somepeople only do one, and every
(14:15):
single intentional act countsand gets us to where we need to
go to complete the event in themanner that it is, and it's
wonderful and it's beautiful andit's grown.
It's grown now for eight years.
This is our eighth year.
We just did our scarf bombingon January 5th, so that is the
(14:37):
beginning of our eighth year.
Scarf bombing is the firstevent that One Good Deed started
from, which is the name of ourvolunteer group in Golden Valley
, and we've been around now forgoing on eight years and scarf
bumming is one of our events.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, because you do.
I mean.
That in and of itself isamazing, and you probably could
stop right there if you wantedto, but you do so much more Now.
Before we go on to that, though, you told a story when we were
chatting about.
Was it the bus driver?
Yes, the first time.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yes.
So the very first time that thebus came to my home and the very
first year that we went out, Ihad people gather in my home.
We gathered into teams and weloaded the donations onto the
bus, and before the bus took offfrom my house, everybody that
had volunteered they all knew me, but they didn't know each
(15:41):
other, and so when I got intothe bus, I asked for the
microphone from the bus driver,calmed all the giddiness and all
the chit-chatting and kind ofexplained to everybody in the
bus exactly what we were doing.
So everybody was on the samepage before we took off for the
park, and after I explainedeverything to everybody, I
(16:04):
turned back around and I wassitting at the front of the bus,
because, of course, you have acoach bus on a residential
street.
All of the volunteers hadparked up and down the street
and it was winter, so there'ssnow banks all over the place,
and so I was very cognizant oftrying to help the bus driver
navigate tight corners gettingon and off residential streets.
(16:26):
So I was sitting right in thefront seat.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
And as I sat down and people started calming down in
the back a little bit, the busdriver turned to me and she said
this is really, really neatwhat you're doing.
She did not know what herjourney was for, she just knew
where we were going.
And she said I didn't know thatthere was such a thing.
And I said you know, we justkind of came up with it.
And she said I would.
And we start taking off.
(16:48):
And she said I would and westarted taking off and she said
I would really like to help.
And I said well, we wouldn't begetting anywhere without you
driving us and I'm very, veryappreciative for that.
Thank you for navigating andgetting us safely to where we
need to go.
And she said no, really, I wantto do it, I want to help.
And I said okay.
(17:14):
And when we had gathered in myhome, I gave everybody snacks.
We used the restrooms, wefilled our coffee cups, because
none of that is out there whenwe go out into the parks, and so
I had extra muffins, extrapastries, and we brought
everything onto the bus.
I told people please fill up,but anything that we don't eat
or use here we're going to bringon the bus and we're going to
give to the people in the parkas well as the winter items.
(17:37):
So we had a lot of pastries andsuch on the bus and so when the
bus driver said she wanted tohelp, we were going towards
Loring Park and there's an exiton 94 as you're going towards
Loring Park and it's calledDunwoody Boulevard and it brings
you down.
That's the exit you take to getto Lorain Park.
And as you're navigating yourway to Lorain Park and coming
(18:01):
off the freeway, there'sconcrete medians to your left to
make it two-way traffic andthere's always unsheltered
people right in those concretemedians, right at the stoplights
.
And so I told her, as we werejourneying on the freeway,
there's going to be people onthose concrete medians.
And she said okay, and I said wecan give them some of these
(18:23):
pastries and everything was upby us in the front of the bus
and she said okay, and I said so.
When you're coming off the exitramp.
And she said okay, and I saidso.
(18:48):
When you're coming off the exitramp, instead of going in the
right lane, like we wanted to toto get to the park, I said if
you go in the left-hand lane andthe light turned red and the
person was there and she saidwhat do I do?
And I said open your window.
So she opened the window andthe person looked at her and she
said now what?
And I said, well, ask them ifthey'd like a muffin.
So she did and the person saidyes, I would love a muffin.
(19:09):
And she said now what?
And I said give them a muffin.
So we had those really bigmuffins.
I don't know if you're fromaround here, but we had those
really big.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Perkins muffins, where they can only fit four in
a pie box.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
They are so big for muffins, right.
And I made sure that I gotdouble chocolate chip and I
wanted to give everybody a wholebunch of energy and sweetness
before they went out.
So we got she took a really bigdouble chocolate chip muffin
and she she held it out thewindow and she said would you
like this muffin?
And he said yes.
And he started coming over tothe bus and she leaned out and
(19:46):
she gave him the muffin and hesaid thank you.
And she said now what?
And I said give him the box,you know, ask him if he wants
more.
And he said thank you.
And she said now what?
And I said give them the box,you know, ask them if he wants
more.
And he said yes.
And she said now what do I do?
And I said give them the box.
Give them the whole box ofmuffins, because oftentimes
you'll see one unshelteredperson, but they're within a
community.
(20:06):
They're taking turns or it'sjust it's more convenient for
them where they are, but theyhave their own community as well
and they take care of eachother.
So you may see one, but there'salways going to be four or five
more.
And there's happens to be abridge, probably within a block
and a half of that location, andI know that there's family that
(20:27):
live up in the eaves underneaththe bridges, so I knew that the
food was going to goimmediately underneath that
bridge.
So she got to help.
She was just tearful and sograteful and had an amazing
experience.
So we get into the righthandling.
We go to Loring Park.
(20:48):
She pulls in, she opens the busdoors I had already kind of
explained everything to thevolunteers she hops out of the
bus, opens up the bellies of thebus and we take out 50 bags.
We have four teams on a bus, soeverybody if there's 56 people,
they're just divided into fourteams and I have a leader per
(21:09):
team.
I have a leader per team.
So if you're out in the parkyou know who your leader is, if
you have any questions, if youwant to go back to the bus, but
then that way too, we don'tleave the park without everybody
being accounted for.
That team leader knows thatthere are 12 people.
There are 14 people.
Those people know to check inwith that team leader and I
(21:29):
wanted to make sure that no oneleft the park.
I told them don't go to DunnBrothers for coffee, Don't try
to find a bathroom, you need tostay here.
We have 45 minutes.
So we did our scarf bombing inLorain Park and then the
volunteers I gave them atimeframe of please come back to
the bus by 1230.
If you're done before, come andsit on the bus and wait 12 30.
(21:52):
We counted heads and we were onour way to the next park, which
was Kellogg Park, and we had totake another very skinny street
and we started turning thecorner and the light in front of
us that we needed to turn toget onto the freeway, to turn
red and the Walker Art Center isright in front of us.
Very tight turn Again.
(22:13):
I'm sitting in the front of thebus and I can hear this chitter,
chatter in the back of the busand by now people were just
beyond themselves about whatthey did.
They were just, they hadmoments of real clarity and
kindness and they just lovedwhat they did.
And so the din on the bus wasjust tremendous, and so I'm
(22:36):
trying to help her navigate theskinny street and I hear in the
back of the bus I hear thiswoman say Joe, Joe, and she's
talking a little bit louderabove and I can hear and I'm
like, oh my gosh, what's goingon?
So I turn around and there'snothing really.
And then I hear her say itagain.
She's like Joe, my blanket, it'smoving.
(22:56):
And so I turn around and I lookat her and she's about halfway
back on the bus and I look ather and she's just loud enough
where the other people on thebus are kind of looking at her
too to see what is she talkingabout.
So her husband looks out thewindow.
He happened to be in the windowseat and he looked out the
window and his wife had put outa neon pink blanket and it was
(23:21):
visible from where she was.
Even though we were away fromthe park, she could see it was
moving and he said somebody hasyour blanket.
And so somebody.
In the time it took us to loadthe bus and go around the corner
, we did not see manyunsheltered people out looking.
(23:42):
They knew that we were coming.
I had given the shelters in thearea flyers about two weeks
beforehand and said please sharethis with your community.
We're going to come on thisdate at this time and please let
them know that if there'sanything out there with this tag
, they can have it.
Food, tents, sleeping bags,items, it doesn't matter, it's
(24:02):
for them, it's purposed.
And so they knew that we weregoing to be out in the parks and
they were waiting.
They were waiting for us toleave and that's exactly what
happened.
We got on the bus, we left andwe hadn't even turned the corner
to get on the freeway and thiswoman saw her pink blanket
moving because somebody wasunderneath the blanket and had
(24:26):
taken it.
So when her husband saidsomebody took your blanket, all
of a sudden I felt a shift onthe bus because everybody went
over to that side of the bus tosee if their items yes, they
kind of lean, but they wanted tosee if their items were being
(24:50):
taken and used, and it wasamazing and beautiful and
heartwarming.
It was amazing and so by thetime we turned onto the freeway,
I swear people were seeingwheels on the bus go round and
round and you know old McDonaldand they were just having a
blast in the back.
They were getting to know eachother.
(25:12):
I heard things like you onlylive four blocks from us.
Our sons played hockey together.
Oh, I know her, I work with her, so beyond-.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
So it's a real community.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Yeah, beyond giving into a community, they were able
to also receive from thecommunity of kindness that they
were sitting in, and it was verylovely to watch all of the
connections happen, even thoughI was at the front of the bus.
I didn't see it all, but I sawenough of it and I could feel it
(25:45):
on the bus.
It was amazing.
So we ended up going to KelloggPark and we did the exact same
thing by the time we got out.
You know they were old hands,they knew what they needed to do
.
But I will share one otherlittle story, and I'll be quick.
I don't know if I've sharedthis with you before, but we got
to Kellogg Park and there'snowhere to park a bus on Kellogg
(26:06):
Boulevard.
It's just a two way, both ways.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Yeah, if you're not familiar with St Paul.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Those both ways.
Yeah, if you're not familiarwith St.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Paul, those streets over there are nuts Well, and
there's nowhere to park unlessyou go into a ramp.
There's just nowhere to park,there's no metered parking,
there's no nothing.
And so Kellogg Park sits, theMississippi River sits on the
right-hand side, and thenKellogg Boulevard sits on the
left, and then the park sits inbetween the river and the road.
(26:35):
So we were doing kind of arectangular strip park and the
bus driver didn't know where topark and I said let's do this,
just put the bus here, meaninglike just beyond, just right
behind a stoplight.
And I said just flip on yourhazards and we'll be quick.
And she said I want to helpagain.
(26:55):
And I said okay, here's whatI'll do.
I'll stay on the bus, you cango out and you can scarf bomb,
but don't go too far, because ifa police officer comes, I need
you to come back on this bus andI need you to drive this bus.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
I do not have a license that says I.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
She was just.
She was so eager to help that Ididn't.
I wanted to find a way to lether help.
So that's exactly what we did.
She threw on.
She threw on the blinkers.
So I'm sitting on the bus andI'm watching, and I can kind of
see all of the volunteers atthis point I can make sure that
no one's really leaving the parkand then all of a sudden I look
up and we're sitting behind.
It's a two lane.
(27:35):
Kellogg Boulevard is a two lane, and so we're in the right or
right most lane, with thehazards on, behind a stoplight.
People are going around us,it's not a problem at all.
But I look and there's a carthat is on the other side of the
intersection of the stoplight,in front of us, in the right
hand lane, with their hazards on, and I'm like, oh no, people
(27:57):
are going to, people arestarting to park on the road.
This is a parking spot.
And then another car came, andthen another car came.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Look what you started .
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So there was three cars all with their hazards on,
and I'm looking out the front ofthe window and I'm like this is
going to become a problem.
So I'm just getting ready toget the bus driver and the next
thing I know I see people getout of all three of the cars.
They open up their trunks andthey pull out their own blankets
, their own jackets, their ownemergency kits from the backs of
(28:28):
their cars.
They had followed us fromLorain Park.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
And they wanted and I don't I don't know who they are
, I just watched them do it andthen they got back in their cars
and they left.
But they went up to thevolunteers and every volunteer
had like a Ziploc full of extratags, extra pins, hand warmers,
just in case they met a personin the park somebody might need
something.
And so they went up to thevolunteers.
(28:55):
The volunteers took a new tagwith a pin and they gave their
items to my volunteers to putout into the park because-.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Oh my gosh, you talk about the ripple of kindness.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
It was amazing.
I saw it only because I wassitting on the bus.
Had I not been sitting on thebus waiting, I would have missed
the whole transaction, and soit was just.
It was an amazing.
For me personally, it was thecherry on top, and the reason
why it was.
It was the sprinkles, and itwas a lot of work to organize
(29:33):
all of that together, and that,to me, was that and the pink
blanket.
Those two moments were veryinstrumental.
And then the last we get back onthe bus, we come back to my
home.
Everybody's getting off the bus.
I'm thanking everybody inperson because they're all my
friends and they were allhelping me, michelle, and so I
(29:55):
wanted to thank everybody.
So I thanked everybody inperson as they were getting off.
And the first I don't know likefive or six people that got off
the bus.
They're like hey, michelle,what are you going to do next?
What are you going to do next?
And I said, geez, I think Imight take a deep breath because
that was a lot.
That was three months of work.
He kind of joked about it, saidthank you to everybody and I
said thank you to the bus driver, and then I turned around and
(30:18):
I'm a bit petite, I'm five two.
So I stood on the top of thebus steps and I looked and my
front yard was filled withpeople.
None of the volunteers had leftand so I said no, really, thank
you so much.
You guys, feel free to use myrestroom.
Thank you so much.
The Vikings were playing, peoplehad things to do and I didn't
(30:41):
want them to feel like they hadto stay.
And somebody in the back ofthat crowd said what are you
going to do next?
And I looked at everybody andrealized that I hadn't seen it,
but a general shift in all ofthose people collectively had
(31:04):
happened, probably in the bus, Iwould guess on the way back
home, like I heard people say Idon't want this to end, I want
to keep doing this.
Do we have any more?
Can we go to another park?
Um, and that was lovely, but Ithink once everything was kind
of done and set and it soakedinto people's heart space, they
(31:25):
wanted to do more, and so itbecame a verbal question once
they needed to end the event IfI do more, will you help me?
And they all said yes, and soOne Good Deed our group of
volunteers that has now beenaround for eight years.
(31:45):
That is how One Good Deedstarted was in my front yard
after our first year of scarf,because I wanted to make crafts
with moms that I didn't want tolose connection with.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Wow, it's amazing, it's amazing, it's amazing.
So go ahead.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
It's only grown.
It's only grown from there.
The events that we do.
We do one good deed a month.
That's the name of our group isone good deed, and we
intentionally do one good deedin kindness a month.
So scarf bombing is our Januarygood deed.
In February we're making cardsfor seniors and I think I have
(32:28):
we're doing, we're gathering onFebruary 8th and I believe I
have 65 volunteers signed upalready, which is amazing.
But what we'll do is we coverfour senior campuses, so we have
200 cards that we're kind ofobligated to make so we can give
them to four campuses and thenany extra I will give to Meals
(32:52):
on Wheels.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Oh nice, so they can put them out with their meals,
yep.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Perfect.
They tuck them into the meals,and the cards are meant for a
piece of kindness for peoplethat don't necessarily either
get visitors or they don't havethe ability to connect.
They just they're eithermobility.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Probably homebound or .
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Okay, yep.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
So last year we made 650 cards, so Meals on Wheels
received 450 cards.
To put in plus, we covered thefour campuses, and it's amazing.
So this year, with 65volunteers to this point, we'll
probably end up with maybe 80people.
But one of the other thingsthat I really intentionally do
(33:35):
with One Good Deed is I makesure that, whatever good deed
we're doing, all of thematerials, the venue, all of the
details of the event are takencare of.
And all I ask for as theorganizer of One Good Deed, all
I ask for is your kindness andyour time.
You don't have to bringmaterials, you don't have to pay
(33:57):
anything.
All you have to do is come tothe venue for the time that
we're there or given.
If it's a three hour event andyou can only give an hour,
that's okay too.
But, like for our card makingactivity, I've got the paper,
the stamps, the stickers, thebling all of that will be
sitting there and a plethora ofsneaky snacks and beverages
(34:19):
because I'm a hostess, so buteverything, literally, that you
need to just rest in kindness,it's all there.
You just need to bring youractual kindness and helping
hands and heart to the event,and that's every event that we
do.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Now, so okay, that January and February.
What else do you do during theyear, I know?
And how long did it take you todecide?
I want to do something everymonth.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
I would say the first year was a lot of learning how
much I could give because I dohave a full time job as well.
So one gooded is a 501c3nonprofit, both state and
federal.
We're tax exempt and we'vegrown into that.
But it takes a lot of time toorganize and the good deeds that
(35:13):
we have we have 12 a year but Ihave several partners,
nonprofit partners that One GoodDeed supports.
On the backside that it's notan event you wouldn't see it as
something that you couldparticipate in, but we support
other nonprofits that maybedon't have their status so they
(35:34):
can receive the benefit ofkindness.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
I saw on your website that you partnered with the
Animal Humane Society.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
So, like in March, like some of our events, it did
take a minute, I would say thefirst year, but then I just kind
of I wanted to do a little bitof everything for everyone so
there'd be an appeal foreverybody.
March is recognized asInternational Women's History
Month and so we host a.
(36:05):
It's a International Women'sDay, kind of like a showcase.
I invite 36 women-run,women-inspired, women-centric
whether it's the League of WomenVoters or a needle workers
group or Her Self Health, whodoes women only health items
(36:26):
concerns.
I have I rent a space of hugegymnasium.
I invite 36 different no,there's no overlapping but 36
kind of different organizationsor businesses to come there and
just be present, answerquestions.
If somebody wants to sign upfor a class, they want to find
(36:47):
out more about something, butit's free to the vendor and it's
free to the public.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
One good DP is for your space and it's just about.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Here are some things that are out there for you, and
we do it in the vein tocelebrate women, just because
that's March's event, and ofcourse we get men and kids and
it's, it's lovely.
Last year, I think, we hadabout 400 people come and attend
, just kind of walk through.
So the lovely part is is that ifyou're coming as a guest A,
(37:18):
there's no charge at all.
But you can walk into thisgymnasium and you can take all
the time that you want and youcan bounce off every table or
three.
Whatever speaks to you, you canspend that amount of time there
with them and get one-on-one,face-to-face answers.
How does this look?
(37:38):
Do you have another chapter inmy area?
Whatever the question may be,that's what those people at the
table are there for.
They want to share what they do, and it's specific, but it does
apply.
If you're a loving partner, tosay a woman, and she's asking
questions, you can stand rightthere as her male counterpart or
(38:02):
female counterpart or whoeveryou are as her partner.
You can stand there and hearthe same things she's hearing
and say, hey, you know what,I've got a question.
Could that be something I couldparticipate in too, or whatnot?
So that's March April.
We do an Earth Day communitycleanup.
March April, we do an Earth Daycommunity cleanup.
I get a 20-yard dumpsterdonated and we fill it up to the
(38:24):
top.
I had last year, I think we had45 volunteers.
We break up into teams and wehave garbage bags and we just
fill the dumpster and we go outfor four hours.
I have Boy Scout troops, girlScout troops, church groups,
clubs, organizations.
That's April.
(38:44):
May is Flags for Fort Snellingand the Animal Humane Society
Walk for Animals.
We're walk ambassadors for them, so we kind of fill their gaps.
We're just the people that walkaround to make sure that if any
participant has a question,where's the restroom, where's
the start line?
that's what we do and then,flags for Fort Snelling.
We put flags at Fort Snelling,we sign up for shifts.
(39:08):
So if that's something thatspeaks to you, that's a very
hard organization.
Those gaps fill really fast.
But I get dedicated slots allweekend and people can sign up
for that.
Slots all weekend and peoplecan sign up for that.
We have a charity garage sale.
In June last year we made$8,000 for charity.
The year before was 9,000.
(39:28):
And we have two nonprofits.
All the money that we make wedonate into the two nonprofits.
So everybody that wants todonate items like, let's say,
the epilepsy truck is comingaround or the veterans truck is
coming around you put your stuffdown at the curb and they pick
it up.
We at One Good Deed will takethat beginning.
(39:48):
We start in mid-May and westart taking donations in.
We put everything out.
I have five yards five fullfront yards full of items and
what happens is we puteverything out and nothing is
priced.
It's free will pricing andeverything that we make is
considered an in-kind donation.
(40:09):
So one person can come up andsay this book is 25 cents to me
and the next person can say thisbook is a hundred dollars to me
and to us it doesn't matterbecause all of the money goes to
our supported nonprofits.
But it's a wonderful, beautifulway to donate and repurpose
(40:33):
your items to someone else.
And then we do have people.
I go to shelters in our areawhere the garage sale is.
People.
I go to shelters in our areawhere the garage sale is and I
put posters up and I say ifyou're in need or you're
unsheltered, come, and so we'llget that population as well
where they come.
And they'll come up and I seeit all the time.
(40:55):
You know they'll have a couplebags worth of stuff and they'll
be like it's fantastic, it's.
You know they'll open up theirwallet kind of paw through and
they'll be like is $7 enough?
And I'll say you know, five isenough, five is enough.
And you know what?
You've got three ones.
I need ones.
I'll take those three ones.
You.
They may not want to do aformal donation into a nonprofit
, but they know who we supportand so they'll come in and
(41:29):
they'll support that nonprofitthat way.
That's June, july.
We kept the little freelibraries.
We do 30 little free librariesevery year.
They're all made.
I have the paint, the brushes,everything.
Everything is donated and we'reup to.
We did our 200th little freelibrary last year, so now we'll
be up to 230 this year, that'scrazy.
(41:51):
And we do kindness, we do.
We paint kindness rocks thelittle ones that just aren't old
enough to paint yet, because weget families for that activity.
So I'll have a separate littlearea where they can make
friendship bracelets and theycan paint rocks and they can do
whatever.
And then we have the kids andthe families that are a little
bit older and can hold apaintbrush and kind of do a good
(42:13):
job of it.
They paint their libraries.
And then when they're donepainting their libraries, they
take them home into theircommunities, their front yards,
wherever they want, and theyplant their Little Free Library
for free.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
I was thinking of doing that this year because I
have a great space for it at myhouse, but I've never built one.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Yep.
Well, you should come and paintone.
I should, if you want to paintone, I can get you one, that's
not a problem, and my carpentersthat do them.
Now it's a retired men's groupthat meets every week and they
actually make my little freelibraries and then I donate to
them and they meet every week tobe in service.
So they've done many things forone good deed.
(42:55):
It's amazing.
And they make beds for fosterchildren.
So they turn around and takethe money that I donate to them
for making the libraries and thebeds come in kits already, but
they buy the bedding, they buythe mattress and the sheets and
everything else.
So when they're going to afoster home to install a bed,
(43:15):
they've got the pieces for thebed, but then they've also got
the bedding and they havepitchers.
But they fix bikes and they domemorial crosses for the fire
department.
I mean, they just want to be inservice.
So they make my little freelibraries every year and they
love it.
They love being purposed, theyknow what they're doing.
(43:36):
Um, and it's a, it's a ripple,it goes all the way.
If I didn't have them, Icouldn't do little free
libraries.
The families couldn't plantthose in their communities.
August we do backpacks forunsheltered youth.
September we do fleece tieblankets, for we did 200 this
September and we tuck teddybears in the blankets.
(44:01):
We did 50, we gave to theRonald McDonald House, 50 to
Foster Minnesota, 50 to HennepinHealthcare and 50 to Hennepin
County First Responders for thebacks of their cars and
ambulance.
October we do comfort care forcancer patients because Cancer
(44:22):
Awareness Month is October.
So we'll do mastectomy pillows,port covers, chemo caps.
We do that November.
We do cards for seniors again,but we do Thanksgiving because
that's a very popular thing andpeople really volunteers like
that activity and there's a lotof people that love those cards.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
Oh sure.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
And then December we start kind of going full tilt,
getting ready for scarf bombing.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
So, that's.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
I just leave that open.
So that's our schedule in anutshell, wow.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Michelle, this is so amazing, and all because you
wanted to stay close to yourfriends as the kids moved off.
I mean, it just started sosimple and so organically and
that is so amazing.
I cannot thank you enough foryour time today.
It has been the absolutepleasure of a lifetime to talk
(45:19):
with you and hear your story.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Wonderful Well.
Thank you so much for having meand sharing our ripple of
kindness.
It really is out there.
Our group started with 100people, or 56 people that first
year, and now we're up to over1,700.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
And so oftentimes.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
I just want to let people know that it really
kindness, really does still liveand thrive, and sometimes it's
a little hard to see, but if youfind the right place you'll
find it.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
And your, your organization is one good deedorg
, and I will have the link forthat in the show notes.
So anybody who wants to knowwhat's going on, or wants to
volunteer or wants to donate,that's the place to do it.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
Wonderful.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
You're welcome.
Have a great weekend, my friend.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
I want to thank you for taking this time to listen
to this episode with my guest,michelle Christensen.
I hope you're able to takesomething positive from the time
you spent with us.
Maybe you'll be inspired, maybeyou'll be motivated, maybe
you'll be moved.
If you experienced any of thosepositive feelings, please
consider sharing this podcastwith your friends and family.
(46:36):
I'm always striving to offeryou a better podcast, so give me
some feedback.
Let me know how you think I'mdoing.
Offer suggestions for shows.
You can do that by emailing meor leaving me a message on my
socials.
It would mean the world Also.
Feel free to follow us on oursocials like Facebook, instagram
(46:56):
, linkedin and TikTok.
This podcast is part of theMayday Media Network.
If you have an idea for apodcast and need some production
assistance, or have a podcastand are looking for a supportive
network, to joinmaydaymedianetworkcom and check
out the amazing shows on there,like Afrocentric, spoiled by
(47:18):
Movie Generation Mixtape In aPickle radio show, wake Up and
Dream with D Anthony Palin,stacks of Packs and the Time
Pals.
We will be back again next weekwith a new episode and we would
be honored if you would join us.
You've been listening to theKindness Matters Podcast.
I'm your host, mike Rathbun.
(47:38):
Have a fantastic week.
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