Anonymous Donor Shares Joy of Giving by Gifting $100 Bills to Church Members
An anonymous donor whose giving lifted her out of depression earlier this year shared her joy of giving with her brothers and sisters at Severna Park United Methodist Church in Maryland this month when she gifted them $10,000 worth of $100 bills. And the result was stunning.
Church members who accepted the donor's gift went on to do 100 good deeds for members of the Severna Park community such as purchasing socks for a cancer patient, gifts for homeless children or just helping grateful cash-strapped strangers, the Rev. Ron Foster told The Washington Post.
"Listen to where the Holy Spirit's leading you," he told his congregants before entrusting his congregants with the $100 bills. "Listen to the need that's around you, that you find in the community. You may be in the right place at the right time to help somebody, because you have this in your hand."
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The donor, who requested that her name not be published, said she wanted to share the gift of giving because of what giving did for her when she became depressed over the death of Heather Heyer, who was protesting against white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past summer.
"I just had that heavy weight on my chest. I just felt bummed out and sad about our situation, about humanity in general," she explained.
She said she went to a Starbucks despite having coffee at home and bought a gift card and gave it to the cashier.
"I want you to use this for everybody who comes in after me, until it's gone. I want you to treat everybody to a cup of coffee," the donor said.
It isn't clear how much money was on the gift card but the donor said her depression lifted when she did that.
"My mood completely changed," she said. "It was that excitement, of being able to share with other people."
The donor, who recently moved to Severna Park with her husband and joined the church, said she decided to make giving a little more "fun" this Christmas by allowing others to experience it.
"I wanted to make it about the fun," she said. "We want to make it about the excitement and the joy of giving, and to give people the experience of giving."
She said she learned of other churches which had done similar giving acts and approached Foster about making it happen at Severna Park. Once they worked out the logistics they decided that they would give $100 to every member who wanted to participate in the giving spree on the first Sunday of Advent.
"People have been so thoughtful. The money has just multiplied and blossomed and gone out," Foster said of the results. "There's been so much joy and excitement just spilling over."
"What was the coolest to me was how I was on 'high alert' all week, looking for people or opportunities to help. That was a great lesson, I think we should always be in that mode, always on the lookout for who God may place in our path, and for things He calls us to do," one congregant wrote on the church's blog, according to The Washington Post. "I am going to strive to be in that spirit more and more, to have eyes to see people's needs more routinely, and to help in any way I can."
