The 30 Day Spreading Joy Challenge for May 2009

I'm currently working at making this blog a better blog by taking Problogger's 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. His recent challenge was to write an article that would "Call Your Readers to ACTION". After giving it some thought, I decided since May was just around the corner, I'd challenge YOU to take Spreading Joy's 30 Day Challenge.

This 30 Day Challenge is designed to help build "giving" habits. It can be random acts of kindness to strangers, giving food to the homeless, send an encouraging note/card or planning a special game night with your family - something that you wouldn't normally do. Not only do strangers need kindness, but our families do too. There is no right or wrong way, you simply need to commit to it - one thing a day for 30 days.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Take used magazines to Nursing home.

2. Buy a 6 pack of Reese Cups and give them away randomly.

3. Donate used books or clothing to a Women's Shelter or if you are in NC donate to Spreading Joy. Many of these places do not re-sell items, but they give them away to people who can use them.

4. Buy several bottles of flavored coffee creamer and let everyone at work know they are welcome to it.

5. Purchase a couple of cakes and take them to a local men's shelter. What a sweet treat for them!

6. Pass on a book that you've enjoyed.

7. Make a financial contribution to your favorite charity or to Spreading Joy Corporation. Even designate it towards our Back To School 2009 project.

8. Start an "Others" box and purchase toys to donate at Christmas time for deserving children.

9. Help a local food pantry. Many food pantries PURCHASE their food from food banks and then distribute the food freely. Take several bags by and drop off to help re-stock their pantry.

10. Purchase a dozen biscuits are on sale for $1 from McDonald's and put them in the "common area" of your work place. The first 12 co-workers that get there will welcome the surprise!

11. Sign up and commit to the 30 Day Challenge! Not only will it encourage me, in the fact that I'm able to make a difference, but it will encourage others to take the challenge as well.

12. Tell others about Spreading Joy and just how easy it is.

13. Purchase a box of Little Debbie Oatmeal cakes - place a label on it that says you are Spreading Joy and then give them out. For around $1.50 - you can give away 12 cakes which will make at least 12 people smile. This is what we did as shown by the picture. The label reads "I'm taking the 30 day challenge of doing one thing for one person each day. See how you can make a difference - go to www.spreadingjoycorp.com ." (Did anybody notice that there are only 11 cakes? My daughter was very happy!)

My challenge to you is to SIGN UP and commit to a month of giving. You can either "track" your giving in the comment section of this article or on our "Tell Me Your Story" page. Either one can be updated at any time. If you choose to use the comment section, you'll have to post a new comment each time you want to tell us about your giving. On the "Tell Me Your Story" section, you can simply add a new thread - just as I did with March.

I would LOVE to be able to report back to you at the end of the month all the things that were done to make a difference.

So, are you up for the challenge? Will you commit to 30 days of giving? I hope you'll sign up. I can't wait to show you what a huge difference a group of people can and will make!