This month I helped coordinate a special week for my host company, Marketing Associates (MA), to give back to the community. From February 10th-14th volunteers from my host company delivered random acts of kindness to unsuspecting people around Detroit. I also managed a social media campaign to raise money for Motor City Blight Busters.
To kick off MA’s Random Acts of Kindness Week, we donated 50 cups of coffee to customers at The Roasting Plant. The coffee shop was very excited to be involved and wanted to pay it forward as well so they matched our 50 cup donation. Throughout the day 100 cups of fresh Roasting Plant coffee were given out to unsuspecting customers. It was great to see the engagement on social media of recipients tweeting pictures of their free coffee and using the hashtag #MAgives to benefit Motor City Blight Busters.
MA wanted to brighten the day for the patients at DMC Children’s Hospital so on Tuesday we donated a bunch of balloons to the children’s rooms. Wednesday was spent donating the delicious bagels from The Detroit Institute of Bagels to local police and fire stations. The officers were slightly confused at first when they saw a group of volunteers walk in to simply donate bagels to them, but were eventually excited and grateful for the delivery. Thursday, MA recognized the hardworking teachers and staff at Cornerstone Charter Schools by donating 8 dozen Just Baked cupcakes to the school. We ended our Random Acts of Kindness Week by delivering flowers and Valentines to the Presbyterian Villages of Michigan senior community.
Throughout the week, MA also encouraged its employees, community partners and social media community to get involved with Random Acts of Kindness Week by simply paying it forward with a tweet. MA agreed to donate $1 to Motor City Blight Busters each time the hashtag #MAgives was shared on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. We had amazing engagement all week long and reached our goal of 1,000 shares, retweets and likes of the hashtag. I’m excited to present a check for $1,000 to Motor City Blight Busters next week!
I love the idea of random acts of kindness and think it should extend beyond just one week a year. Paying it forward can completely turn someone’s day around and I love the idea of surprising unsuspecting people. So surprise someone this week and make their day!
–Meagen