Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Good Deeds Day 2013

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?

10 comments:

  1. I loved the flash waltz at Hadassah. I watched it twice and it bought tears to my eyes each time. It was such a beautiful idea to bring comfort and joy to so many people who weren't expecting it, in this way! Creating easy opportunities to give and receive is key I think. Here once a year the mail carriers leave a brown bag by your mail box and ask you to fill it with food. You leave it by your mail box a week later and they collect it. It is so briiliantly simple and easy to give.
    Gilly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love it when the simplest ideas are the best.

      Delete
  2. Diane and Conor in Cary, NCMarch 7, 2013 at 6:50 PM

    M.S.M - Wow, what a great idea, and thank you for sharing! I am the new Sisterhood president at my temple and I think I will incorporate this Good Deeds Idea as a Sisterhood sponsored event. Makes it easy to collect, plus, the congregation can clean out their accumulated stuff, good deeds, Spring cleaning and the money system makes it easy peasey. Loved the flash waltz too at Hadassah. One day our family will be able to see it in person. I showed it to my DS as an inspiration for a medical career, and he said nope, still gonna be a Navy Seal, mommy! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should do the bazaar thing Diane - it's such a brilliant concept.

      Delete
  3. What a great idea! Love the idea of the bazaar and saves all the hassle for the sellers as well! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Totally. You just have to get into the mind-set that it's not about raising as much money as possible for charity but rather about helping those in the community who need it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's really wonderful - love the idea of a good deeds day! Community recycling - love it, and you came away with some nice things too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, definitely win-win-win-win (decluttering - money for charity - cheap clothes for those who need - us).

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Sure is. I'm writing this as I gear up for the 2014 bazaar next week.

      Delete