Spreading Joy to Others

I like to spread joy especially during the holiday season whether it is joy to my kids, joy to my friends and co-workers, or joy to people I don't even know.

Since playing The Grocery Game, I have been able to enjoy huge savings to my wallet at the grocery and drug store. Those savings are to the tune of 50% or over $100 per week. That is a lot to a woman who has 4 kids to raise and a lot of household overhead. Every little bit helps.

I am in the cherry picking stage of my grocery game which means that my stockpile is hugely overflowing and ,therefore, my need list is quite small. I am no longer in the stage where I have to go to the store weekly unless to go for some milk, bread or produce.

But this week my list had some really great deals on it so I decided to go shopping for our church food bank. I spent about $20 to get approximately $50 worth of food for the bank including pasta, crackers, stuffing, gravy, and lots of canned vegetables. I feel so totally good about this because I really love helping others in this manner and the grocery game allows me to do this even more than I originally thought.

I think that everyone should give something even if very small to those in need.

anysoldier.com

Today I heard about this website called anysoldier.com. I heard that it was a website where you can get paired up with a soldier and donate goods to him or her. Thinking that was a really neat gesture, I went to the site and started lurking around. There are hundreds of soldiers names on this site and many of them have posted messages on their board asking for the things that their units need the most. I decided that it was too much work to go looking through all the soldiers so I found a button where a soldier gets randomly selected for you. So that was what I did.

We got paired with a Marine stationed in Iraq. He says that his unit has a microwave so they would really appreciate canned foods such as soups and ravioli. They also could use toothpaste, mouthwash, and baby wipes. It doesn't seem like much to ask for considering they are fighting for our freedom. So I registered and sent away for his address and it was emailed to me shortly thereafter. The post office even gives you a flat rate for this project. How cool is that?

So off I go to the drug store to buy some canned goods, toothpaste, mouthwash and wipes. I think I might even pack up some fun stuff like crossword puzzles and Famous Amos Cookies.

So here is to Major Tom Birney in the US Marines and his unit of 21 other soldiers. Your package is on its way.