Olivet Nazarene University

 

Jen (Graham) Stout ’07 thought it would just be another average trip into the dollar store to pick up some necessities. But the stop left her in tears and changed her outlook on life.

A man and his toothpaste

Jen had been on her way to the dollar store and had been ruminating all day about really wanting a new car.

“I didn’t need a new one; I couldn’t afford a new one. But, boy, did I want one, for no particular reason other than to have something new,” she remembers.

With this in the forefront of her mind, she ran into the store and scooped some items into her basket. While she waited in the checkout line, the older man in front of her didn’t have enough money to cover his total and had to give back a few items.

“This wasn’t a case of someone forgetting their money at home or losing their wallet. You could tell he just didn’t have it. He had to forego essentials like a stick of deodorant and a tube of toothpaste.”

It was the turning point for Jen. She felt her stomach pinch and she worried about this man who had so little.

“Here I was complaining that I couldn’t have a new car and this guy couldn’t even afford toiletries. I felt embarrassed. I felt vain and ridiculous.”

Jen paid for the man’s items that had to be left behind and handed them to him on her way out.

“He said, ‘Can I just give you a hug?’ He was so grateful. I could see it in his watery eyes. He offered up genuine thanks and appreciation. I walked back to that car — the one that just minutes before wasn’t quite enough was now more than I deserved. I sat at my steering wheel and cried.”

A year of AOKs

Some people might not have let this incident bother them. But Jen was strongly convicted and reminded of how much she had, and she decided to do something about it.

She started her own personal campaign for giving in small, everyday ways. She fired up a blog, Everyday Giving, and committed to a full year of acts of kindness, calling them AOKs.

That meant she needed to do something genuine and giving for 365 days straight and then share about it every day on her blog.

Jen combined ideas she researched through big-name organizations around the world with simple, quiet methods of giving to others in humble places like work, fellow drivers on the road, and within her own family and neighborhood.

“A lot of times, an AOK opportunity simply presented itself to me. At the store, I’d see an elderly person loading groceries into their car and offer to help. I’d see an overwhelmed co-worker and ask if I could take some of the load.”

Some other local ideas included volunteering at a local homeless shelter, donating canned goods to a food pantry and playing with puppies at an animal shelter.

Among other ideas, Jen donated shoes to the needy, participated in a Relay for Life, sent her grandmother flowers, donated school supplies to low-income children in America, and used her crafting skills to make baby gifts for friends and family.

Giving it up

With this goal sometimes came challenges. The effort made her constantly more conscientious, but it also created a need for organization and planning.

“Some days were definitely easier than others,” shares Jen. “I tried to plan ahead as best I could by keeping a master list of ideas. So on especially uncreative days, I would turn to my list for a quick idea. Small, simple acts of kindness can go a long way. It really is the little things.”

After 365 creative ways of giving to others, Jen has a few that stand out as favorites. She donated her hair for the third time to Locks of Love, giving her a total of 36 inches donated in six years. In addition, highlights include donating her old cell phone to help victims of domestic violence and adopting her puppy, Wrigley, from an animal shelter.

“My husband and I had actually gone to the local shelter just to play with the dogs that were up for adoption because we’re dog lovers. But we fell in love right away. Wrigley came home with us the very same day and has been a part of our family ever since!”

When Jen’s year of AOKs neared completion in 2009, she knew something in her had permanently changed.

“The year of AOKs really changed my outlook. I’m constantly looking for ways to lend a helping hand. People everywhere are in need, especially during these tight times. Just think of the difference we could make if we all helped when, where and how we could.

“Luke 6:38 says, ‘Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’”