Week Five: Scholarship Reference Letter for a Former Katimavik Volunteer.

10 o’clock at night. Wednesday the 30^th.

I get a Facebook message from an old Katimavik volunteer. She explains that she is in the process of applying for the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award Program Scholarship. “Awesome! Good for you,” I think. “The deadline is Friday,” she continues, “so I would need it to be sent Xpresspost by tomorrow morning…” It was evident to me that she was in full panic mode. She gives her most sincere apologies for springing this on me on the very last minute and offers to repay me for the cost of the shipping. “Why not?” I think, “Seems like she could really benefit from this scholarship.” So I put my personal work load aside and start writing away. Next thing I know, it was 1 o’clock in the morning and my eyes were getting a tad weary. I had to finish it that night since I had to go in work the next morning for 9am. “Good thing I work close to a Post Office,” I thought. So I continue writing and fine tuning and at 2am, I was done. I decide to email it to myself so I could review it one last time at work with a refreshed mind and pair of eyes before sending it off. 12:30pm the next day, the Xpresspost letter was in the mailbox. I receive a message on Friday saying that she had received it. The deed was done!    

Instagram: geneseguin. #k4kproject

This is the second endorsement that I gave out to my good ol’ former Katimavikers. I received a phone call about three weeks ago from an employer wanting to do a reference check for another one of my volunteers. Not too long after, I received a message from her saying that she got the job for which she had applied. Now here’s to hoping that everything will work out for this little bird too.

Glad to see that Competency 8 is being fulfilled! 

(Katimavik peeps will get this...)

Thoughts on the project so far

I've been feeling pretty good about where the project has been heading lately and the surprising amount of attention that it's been getting! 

• A francophone radio show, Vaguefm, from the Penetanguishene area has talked about it on air last Wednesday (which yes, has made my mom pretty proud); 
• The kind folks from Pay It Forward Saint John, who are the people that have inspired me to do this project in the first place, have been tweeting away about it and have distributed it by email in their large networks; 
• The traffic on the blog has been increasing exponentially, attracting people from the US, Germany, France, the UK, Argentina, Nigeria and Singapore; 
• Lastly, I’ve been getting some random amazing feedback from acquaintances and from people that I have never met before. 

All of this to me translates to potentially having had a small impact in some people’s lives and I’m hoping that it has encouraged them to do a couple of random acts of kindness themselves.   

G.

Introduction

What is this all about?

I have made a New Year’s Resolution for 2013. This year, I have committed myself to accomplishing one random act of kindness per week for the next 52 weeks. In other words: complete 52 gestures that will hopefully make a small impact in the lives of the people around me. A Pay It Forward kind of thing, ya dig?

I will be documenting everything on this blog every Sunday in order to make me more accountable and to motivate me to fully carry through with this commitment. I will also tweet away: @genseguin and Instagram it all for your viewing pleasure (yes, friends, I have finally given into the world of Instagram):  geneseguin. As this is also a sort of a personal, social and at some degree, a spiritual experiment, I will also try to document (whenever I can) if I feel like I am myself getting somehting in return. Just for added fun, ya know?

Not only would I ideally wish to make this a collaborative project in which some people can take part in, by either suggesting ideas or by even helping to accomplish them if they want, but I would also like to potentially create a sort of Pay It Forward snowball effect. If this motivates some people to accomplish even the littlest of things in their daily routines, like holding the door for someone, or to simply smile to a stranger, then I will have achieved my goal. So if you do end up deciding to yourself do an act of kindness, please do not hesitate to share with me and I will add it to this blog!

How Did It All Start?

While I was at the gym (on December 30^th, 2012 to be exact), I was watching CBC News when Saint John’s, NB Pay It Forward Campaign came to be the headline. I was so interested and inspired by this Campaign that I started thinking… what could I do in order to have that positive impact in some people's lives. I have always loved and have been fascinated by the Pay it Forward concept: how one simple gesture put forward by someone can mean the world for someone else and how it can potentially inspire others to do the same. I also loved the selfless and anonymous aspect of it as well – of how one can do this favour without having any expectations of having it be returned. After giving it some thought, I didn’t want to do one simple thing and call it a day. I wanted it to be bigger than that and have something constant but that was also achievable. So I decided to merge my New Year’s Resolution of being more kind to this idea and this project was the result.

Learn more about the PIF bracelets here.

I have to say that another big inspiration for this idea was Sonja Adcock’s incredible story of completing 52 marathons in 52 weeks at 52 years old in order to raise money for Ottawa’s The Snowsuit Fund. Listen to the story here at 9:15 minutes or read about it here. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Adcock when I was working as a Publicist to reach out to media to cover this amazing challenge that she put forth for herself. After hearing her talk to the media about waking up at 3:30am on every Sunday of every week to complete her runs, on days where it was snowing, raining or not, I thought this woman personifies the “if there is a will, there is a way” proverb. As a busy woman, wife and mother, she still managed to complete her goal. This meant that anyone could do it. And so I decided to do so – with my own personal touch.

Ms. Adcock completing one of her 52 marathons.

Lastly, I would be lying if I were to say that some of my motivation for this did not come from being a Project Leader for Katimavik earlier in 2012. Living in a house with 9-11 volunteers who very unselfishly gave their time to organizations in two communities across Canada over the span of six months makes you realize things. Things such as that there are some amazing people in the world, that there is a way to positively impact the people around you if you set your mind and heart to it. So yes, some of this has been inspired by my 19 volunteers who have graced my life. It was very much a two way mentorship/teaching position that I was in.  

Cupcakes that my dear Katimavikers prepared
for me on my first day. 

As this is also a sort of a social, and at some degree, a spiritual experiment, I will also try to document (whenever I can) how I feel the universe is “thanking me” in response of these random acts of kindness. Just for added fun, ya know? 

So voilà, that is my story. Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2013 for everyone!


G."I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, br wise, and that you will always be kind."- Neil Gaiman