Our “Do Something” Project

19 posted on September 19, 2008
POSTED IN: Authenticity

Lisa and I were inspired to put a project into motion by Mandy Thompson’s ‘Do Something’ series of blog posts (Thanks Mandy for the extra kick in the butt those posts provided to get this done).

Since we moved here over the summer we’ve been thinking of small, simple ways we could love and serve the community around us. A little over a month ago Lisa came up with awesome idea of making and serving a free lunch for the entire staff at our kid’s school. So Lisa went shopping and picked up everything we needed – lunch meat, wraps, lettuce, fruit, chips and brownie mix – and we put the plan into motion.

Teachers Appreciation Lunch
Even before we served the lunch we were getting awesome feedback from the staff at school. Lisa volunteers during the week and had teachers coming up to her and telling her how excited they were about the lunch.

The night before we baked the brownies and cut up all the fruit. It turns out washing and cutting enough grapes and pineapple for 50+ people took longer than I thought! The morning of the luncheon we made all the turkey wraps and boxed everything up to take to the school.

We made a special little note that we put on each table in the teacher’s break room letting them know how much we appreciated them for all they did. The response from the teachers was overwhelming. They kept telling us how amazing this was and how nobody had ever done anything like this for them before.

Lisa and I decided that we’re going to make some form of outreach to our school and teachers a monthly event and we’re already coming up with ideas for the next project.

Remember, reaching out to and serving the community around you doesn’t always have to be something huge. There’s plenty of projects you can do for even cheaper like buying a case of bottled water and handing out cold water in a park on a hot day.

Remember, these projects aren’t sneaky ways of slipping people a track or inviting them to church. They’re simply tangible ways of showing others the love of Christ. You’ll be amazed at the doors that will open all on their own.

Bringing It Home:
What projects have you done or talked about doing in your community? Let’s share some ideas for simple, practical ways we can show Christ’s love and brighten the day of the people around us. If you do something be sure to write about it and link back here and here and tell us about it.

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 9:02 am and is filed under Authenticity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

26 Comments

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  1. Visit My Website

    September 19, 2008

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    1 Abbey said:

    I totally know what it feels like to stand there for hours at a time making food…rotisserie chickens, chicken salad with grapes cut in half, every kind of vegetable salad you can imagine, sandwiches and wraps, cheeseballs…the list goes on! Oh, the deli is a fun place, especially when we get to clean up at night. lol
    On a different note, Random Acts of Kindness are AWESOME!!! I’ve had two youth groups hold free car washes…And I remember the free water thing. Coolness. I think they can be done on an individual basis too…my last one was, anyway. =)



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    September 19, 2008

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    2 Aaron said:

    Awesome post Brad, and cool graphic! I think I’ve seen that somewhere before… ;) Actually, tomorrow our youth group is doing a Random Act of Kindness at a local garage. The guy that runs the garage agreed to donate his time, and he’s changing the oil while the youth wash the outside and vac the inside of the cars of single parents and senior citizens at the church. Should be fun!



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    September 19, 2008

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    3 Brad Ruggles said:

    @Aaron – Dude, that’s awesome! What a great idea! Let me know how it goes.



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    September 19, 2008

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    4 Roxanne Kristina said:

    Found you via Mandy. If she says your cool then it’s a done deal, you’re on my link list. Let me know if problem. I honestly don’t have that exciting of a blog – busy mom running self ragged like all other mothers serving as professional chef, taxi driver, nurse, counselor, professional shopper for their kids :0)… but, try my best to keep up with all you cool people. Thanks for doing His good work. Bless you and your wife.

    Roxanne

    Roxanne Kristinas last blog post..Chick Coolness…



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    September 19, 2008

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    5 Brandee said:

    WOW!! Brad and Lisa… what you did was awesome! Reading your post brought a smile to my face.

    One of the ladies I work with was recently diagnosed with stage four cancer. She is not doing well, and her family is struggling financially with the loss of her income while she undergoes treatments. All of the agents at our office have stepped up to the plate and each night, we rotate making homemade dinners and taking them to her family so they don’t have to worry about meal times. I am amazed at how everyone’s mood has shifted here… her illness has brought us all closer and shown us just how precious the people around us are. She’s one of our own, you know?

    Thanks for the reminder that it’s the little things that matter the most!



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    September 19, 2008

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    6 Evan Courtney said:

    Great idea!
    Might be something I have to borrow.

    btw.
    love how your rolling the wraps with no gloves.
    lol.jk.

    Evan Courtneys last blog post..Olympics and Baptism



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    September 19, 2008

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    7 Laura Carney said:

    What a beautiful thing…I’m sure it just gave those teachers an incredible boost and literally made their whole day. We have such tremendous potential to lift up those around us. But few actually do something so intentional about it. I look up to you and Lisa so much.

    Laura Carneys last blog post..Dusty, Vivid, Telling, Full of Heart…



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    September 19, 2008

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    8 April said:

    Us teachers love free food! ;)

    Btw… I am personally of the opinion that you should lose the beard.

    Yay! We get to see you guys next weekend!!



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    September 19, 2008

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    9 Brad Ruggles said:

    @Brandee – What a great idea! I love that your whole office is being intentional about helping her out and how it has brought everyone together as a result.

    @Evan – Ha ha, nice catch! We both washed out hands before we wrapped (at least I think I did…) :-)

    @Laura – It was really neat to see their expressions of thanks and the smiles on their face. Making their day helped make ours.



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    September 19, 2008

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    10 Brad Ruggles said:

    @April – Yeah, I’ll be shaving it before Courtney’s wedding next weekend. Bye-bye beard.



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    September 19, 2008

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    11 Shanda said:

    This was an awesome idea…

    I serve as an Americorps member with destitute people who are living with mental illnesses. I take them to grocery shop, food pantries, the movies, classes for independent living, doctor’s appointments. You name it…we do it.

    We just found out that the program will change next year…and these people will lose these services.

    My focus this year is to recruit, inspire, and train others to come alongside me. To see the needs of these people and “do something”.

    I’ve also been inspired to minister to my neighbors, not convert them. We have “repurposed” our garage as a game room/art studio and we open it up almost every evening for a couple of hours for the neighborhood kids to come and play. It keeps my kids and the others from endlessly running up and down the road. We are toying with the idea of a block party/carnival maybe in the spring. I see it as a way to build relationships with these kids who seem to have little parental supervision.

    Sorry this is so long, didn’t know I had that much to share.

    Shandas last blog post..These are a Few of My Favorite Things…



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    September 20, 2008

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    12 Double A-ron said:

    nice job! way to bribe the teachers into giving chloe A’s :P not that she needs any help in that area cause i’m sure she already has them :)



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    September 20, 2008

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    13 love said:

    Incredible way to be in the Earth but not OF it!

    Great Example.

    Pity about the beard. That was an awesome Tom Cruise pose you had going in the family photo! :-)

    <B

    loves last blog post..Bill of Rights.



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    September 20, 2008

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    14 alece said:

    what an awesome idea. i think that’s so great that you guys did that! and i love how it gives us all a great idea of something practical we can DO that can really make a difference.

    aleces last blog post..bunkum: klem



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    September 20, 2008

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    15 gchyayles said:

    Came over from Mandy’s blog. What an awesome act of service! God bless :)

    gchyayless last blog post..I have sinned



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    September 20, 2008

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    16 Juli Jarvis said:

    Great post — the food looks great! I actually started reading to elderly people once/week this year. They all have macular degeneration, so are not able to read our weekly small-town newspaper. It was pretty funny too — I was reading the “75 years ago” column to them, and came across a story about one of them! lol They all agreed–this made their day!

    Juli Jarviss last blog post..Babies and Mothers



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    September 20, 2008

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    17 Ryan Detzel said:

    Sweetness.



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    September 20, 2008

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    18 Rachel Rowell said:

    That is so awesome! Way to go guys!



  19. Visit My Website

    September 21, 2008

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    19 annie said:

    That is so cool, Brad! (I’m sorry I’m late coming over. I’m coming via Mandy’s site.) Your idea is fantastic, and I love that you even have pictures! :) Great!

    annies last blog post..DO: give what you have



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    September 21, 2008

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    20 Terrace Crawford said:

    Brad, you never cease to amaze me.

    Terrace Crawfords last blog post..Former Korn Leader Coming to Town



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    September 22, 2008

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    21 Michelle Bentham said:

    Brad,

    I love on teenagers… Two come to my house hungry for God’s Word on Monday nights. They are friends of my daughter and so we four get together and hash out our questions and find the answers in God’s Word.

    I facilitate at a crisis group for Bereaved Parents, and after my son died in 2005 we returned to the waiting room where we lived for 8 days after his accident to serve Christmas Eve dinner to the people in the waiting room. That was such a precious time. No one would come up and prepare a plate at first – our entire small group from church came up and brought food, my family (parents and a few others) got in on it as well, and many went around an prayed with people in the waiting area.

    The staff from the ICU came out and said, we remember you and your family. Thank you so much for coming here.

    anyway… You are so right. My daughter came home with a project for us to do – it is to shoot free throws to raise money for orphanages and schools in Africa… When we get more into it – I will write about her project and post about it over at my blog. She is very excited!

    Blessings and thanks for reading my post about the ROOV!

    Michelle Benthams last blog post..Frazzled…



  22. Visit My Website

    September 22, 2008

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    22 Louise said:

    yes Yes YES – this is what it’s all about. Thanks for a great idea.

    You might like this one:

    A friend taught me a long time ago how much fun it was to pay for the person behind you at a toll gate.

    In support of random acts of senseless kindness!

    Louises last blog post..School’s out – Live it



  23. Visit My Website

    September 22, 2008

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    23 Emily Rowe said:

    That’s awesome! I am on the PTA Team and we do an appreciation lunch for our teachers each year, so I’m looking forward to hearing your other ideas because I’d love to do something like that! Thanks, Emily

    Emily Rowes last blog post..Jordan’s Jaunt!



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    September 23, 2008

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    24 Got to love it!!! « shanepadgett.com said:

    [...] Got to love it!!! I’m behind on my blog reading…been busy at Church…well being the Church.  Speaking engagements have been crazy…hopefully I can slow down a little..until God calls me again. Ha! Was checking Brad’s blog out from a couple of days ago and I ran into a very simple, but incredible “hands and feet” moment. Check it out and be sure to leave him a comment.  Enjoy…http://www.bradruggles.com/2008/09/19/do-something/ [...]



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    September 23, 2008

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    25 Shane Padgett said:

    Made my day bro! Been doing similar acts…makes me praise my Jesus for your family even more. keep doing it BIG.
    -Shane

    Shane Padgetts last blog post..Got to love it!!!



  26. Visit My Website

    September 24, 2008

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    26 mandythompson said:

    OH MAN!

    wow.
    You were right – this was amazing! :) I’m so glad I finally had time to catch up on all this. Brad! I’m amazed!!!

    Y’all are just awesome! I have friends who are teachers and I KNOW they’d be blessed by this kind of gesture.

    Y’all’ve made my day!

    mandythompsons last blog post..It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas



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