This morning at 9:30 a.m. will mark the National Day of Mourning for Sandy Hook School victims. It's hard to believe it was a week ago when everything sits fresh, still lucid in my mind.
But beyond a moment of silence, there are means to channel our grief.
Last weekend just after the tragic shooting, journalist Ann Curry tweeted about gifts of giving that has sparked an international movement:
"Imagine if all of us committed to 20 acts of kindness to honor each child lost in Newtown. I'm in. If you are #20Acts"
Since then, the number has been bumped up to #26Acts to include the adults killed in the tragedy. Curry's twitter has been flooded with accounts of anonymous acts of kindness—how individuals give to charity (like $300 worth of groceries to a local food bank) or pay for a bill, a receipt or a gift card for a stranger:
"Saw an older woman eating dinner alone at a restaurant. Secretly bought her dinner for her. That's one. ª#26Acts"
"Paid off layaway at Kmart for 2 families with children. Cashier & I both cried. #26Acts"
ª"#26Acts, my 9 yr old nephew gave homeless man leftovers from dinner then found him & gave him his $3 allowance as well."
#26Acts is a means for us to take this horrible and mournful moment in history and trump it by transforming our grief into positive action.
From a style perspective you could:
- Donate gently used clothes to local charities
- Send coats to Sandy victims
- Shop some small accessories to gift to seniors in a home
- Purchase fashion gifts that have a charitable component
- Fulfill a "needs list" from a children's hospital
- And it's always fashionable to take a moment this holiday and volunteer
Your act can be great or small. It can involve money (if you have no time) or time (if you have no money).
Gifts of giving are easy, but for some reason the inner reward is so great: our hearts sing with joy afterward. Such acts can literally cause a chain of events to unfold: to pass it forward.
Recently with a gift card, instead of picking items for ourselves, I encouraged the kids to get toys for victims of Superstorm Sandy.
Now every time we shop, my 6 year old says, 'Well, we should get an art project for the kids of Sandy.' Or, 'Mom, what about the Sandy kids? We need to go back and get them something.'
A seed was planted. Now watch it grow.
A new trending word has now appeared on Curry's account, which leaves me hopeful: #notstoppingat26.
So are you in?
