Good Deeds Day 2013

GOOD DEEDS DAY

Good Deeds Day is an annual celebration of good deeds. All over the world, hundreds of thousands choose to volunteer and help others, putting into practice the simple idea that every single person can do something good, be it large or small, to improve the lives of others and positively change the world.Good Deeds Day will take place March 10, 2013.

Taken from the Good Deeds Day website. 

Good Deeds Day was started in Israel in 2007 by local philanthropist and business woman Shari Arison. Since then it has spread to over 30 countries worldwide. It's as simple as it sounds. We celebrated it here in Israel yesterday, March 5th, but the rest of the world is doing it on Sunday 10th March. 

Nearly 400,000 people here signed up for more than 5,000 good deed projects. Here's one that I love that happened at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.

DD and I went to another Good Deeds event in our neighbourhood - The Yedidya Bazaar. Organized by  Noomi Stahl and her team of volunteers, I was aware that they had been collecting all and any second-hand goods. I thought it was just going to be a massive jumble sale with proceeds going to charity. I had some books to donate and I wanted to give my support so we went. I took some money of course and laid out the ground rules to DD on the way there. "We can each choose one thing." I knew there were going to be a lot of books and toys as well as clothes, shoes, and household stuff.

So we get there and see an enormous hall full of all of the above and nobody is selling. People seem to be taking whatever they want, bagging it and walking off. Strange. Obviously I asked and found the most brilliant system going on. You take what you want and pay 2 shekels (approx 30p) for each item on your way out. And at the exits there were indeed tables manned by volunteers who were counting items as customers left.

We came out with 4 books for DD, 1 book for me, and a box of Mickey Mouse jigsaw puzzles. (6 items = 12 shekels or about 2 GBpounds). I had taken proper money and I was prepared to pay something decent for charity and come away with a couple of things. However, the real good deed was seeing many people who were kitting out their entire family with the clothes - people who wait all year for this event. People for whom 2 shekels an item is a Godsend.

My friend told me that they made over 4,000 shekels the first day (they run it for two days) - that's more than 2,000 donated items gone to new homes. I'm saving up all my hand-me-downs and pass-me-ons for the Yedidya Bazaar next year.

Anyone got any Good Deeds Day stories to share?