Every month it is important to give back to others in some form or fashion. If you don’t currently practice doing random acts of kindness, I challenge you to start this month. These are mostly small acts that have the potential to make a huge difference in someone’s life (maybe even your own). Do one a day, one a week, or one this month, but I challenge you to give back.

1. Send a card or letter to anyone.

2. It’s Giving Tuesday – Give to a charity. If you don’t know of any good ones, consider giving to Courage Conquering Cancer. We have no paid employees. We help breast cancer patients who have just been told they have cancer and need breast surgery. We gift mastectomy kits to as many women as we have funds to support. Every dollar, even $1, counts, so give what you are able and we will use it to help someone.

3. Bake or buy a sweet or salty treat and take it to your neighbor even if you don’t know them.

4. Tape $0.50 to a toy or candy vending machine, so the next kid that wants a random prize can have it.

5. Call up someone you haven’t spoken to in over a month and catch up.

6. Go to an event at a local elementary, junior high, or high school in your area. Walk up to a random kid who performed or played and tell them they did a great job.

7. Send flowers or cookies to someone you love for no reason other than to say, “I love you.”

8. Smile at a stranger.

9. Pray for someone you don’t particularly like every day for a week.

10. Praise your boss for something they do well.

11. Buy a gift card for the store you are at for an amount you feel like you can afford. Then hand it to someone either standing behind you in line or someone walking into the store whenever you’re walking out.

12. Serve someone wo lives with you by doing their least favorite chore.

13. Go through a drive thru and instead of ordering something for yourself, pay for the person behind you.

14. Shovel snow off someone’s drive or sidewalk or clear snow/ice off the car parked near yours. Or in my neck of the woods, rake up a bag of leaves for a neighbor.

15. Donate food to your neighborhood food pantry.

16. Volunteer somewhere.

17. Walk around the block in your neighborhood and pickup trash.

18. Take Sonic and/or Starbucks cards to your local fire department, ER, police department, school, etc.

19. Drop school supplies off at a local elementary school. (Pencils, eraser tops, glue, crayons, notebook paper, prizes are in high demand this time of year)

20. Invite someone over to play cards or a board game.

21. Go to a restaurant. Order water and nothing else. Ask the server what he/she wants for Christmas. After drinking the water, leave a “Merry Christmas” note with a tip in the amount of what dinner and a tip would have cost you.

22. Collect all your box tops and drop them off at your local elementary school.

23. Offer to watch a friend’s kids so they can go Christmas shopping or enjoy a date night with their spouse.

24. Tell someone the story of Jesus.

25. Go to church and celebrate the Gift of Jesus.

26. Support a local small business.

27. Take hard candy or chewing gum to an infusion lab.

28. Leave $5 worth of quarters at the self-serve car wash or the laundromat.

29. Order someone a surprise off of Amazon and send it to them without a gift receipt.

30. Tell someone they look nice in whatever they are wearing.

31. Give your spouse, your child, your parent, or your grandparent a funny card just to make them smile.

Shhh….don’t tell anyone what you’ve done this month. Take note of the smiles, the joy, and the way giving makes a difference in their lives and in yours. And remember the reason for the season.