One Grace Brethren church in Canada is reaching out to its community through a “re-gifting” concept. This article appears in today’s Milton (Ontario) Champion:
Local church gives out $50 to each family at recent service
Recipients asked to use money to perform acts of kindness
By Stephanie Hounsell
Have you experienced a random act of kindness lately? A free coffee? A shoveled driveway?
If you have, you just may have been “re-gifted.”
A local church — the Village Community Church — recently invested $2,500 to carry out a unique initiative to spread unexpected kindness throughout the community.
Each family that attended the church December 2 received an envelope containing $50. They were asked to use that money in any number of creative ways to brighten someone’s day.
“This year we wanted to do something groundbreaking,” said lead pastor Rob Stanley.
“The whole idea is an attempt to go viral with the idea of giving.”
Along with the good deed, participants were asked to leave behind a “re-gift” card with their first name written on it.
The card explains a bit about the initiative, and asks the recipient to in turn pay forward their own act of kindness, writing their own name on the card and passing it along.
The idea is for each card to be passed along several times — tangible proof of a good deed being carried forward.
“Instead of adopting a family and helping them, or raising money for other charitable needs, we’re trying to take things to a more grass roots level by empowering all of our people to make a difference,” Stanley said.
The church has also created a website, www.re-gift.ca, for residents to share stories, get giving ideas and comment on how their lives have been touched by the campaign.
The Village Community Church meets at Galaxy Cinemas every Sunday at 10 a.m.
For more information, visit www.villagechurch.ca.