Remember these VW Beetle Convertible commercials (see above) where someone opens a door for someone else and then they trace it backwards and show how one nice thing someone did led to a continual chain of nice things? Now you (and your kids) can be the person who sets the whole chain in motion.
There’s an online site www.GivingGame.org that helps you initiate and track a chain of kindness–using cards that are passed along from person to person and then logged on the site. Almost 13,000 people have signed up and there are over 100,000 cards in circulation in 63 countries.
According to the site: “The Giving Game has three critical parts:
“You – You perform a kind act for someone else. Your act of kindness can be done secretly or known to the person.
“Giving Game Cards – You leave a game card with your kind act. Each game card has a unique ID number and will inspire the next person to do another kind act and pass it on! Cards have instructions on the back for the person receiving the kind act to know how to play the Giving Game.
“Giving Game Web Site – Log onto the Giving Game website and track the kind acts you and your card inspired! You can register your card(s) online, record your kind acts, and read the stories of others. As your card travels from one kind person to another, you can see what’s happening, who’s involved and which cities and countries it reaches!”
Getting Started
To get started, you need cards. Whether you want to do it as an individual or as a group your cards will forever be associated with the originating group. You can print them off the web site (which probably results in flimsier cards harder to pass on) or you can buy them from the online store.
Helpful hint: you need to register for the game first, then click through and RE-register for the store. I kept trying to log into the store with my game log-in info until I figured out that it wanted me to register for the store separately.
Cards can be bought for $1 each, or in sets of 30 for $14.10. The cards can also be customized with your group name and screen name, so the receiver will know where you came from.
Since it seems only logical to order 30 cards at a time, I ordered a set. (Sticker shock: $8.43 in shipping costs, although this number stays the same if you buy 1 pack of 30 or 2 and goes up to just $8.68 if you order three. Must be assuming some weight and box size. Aren’t you glad I’m here to do this little bit of research for you?)
I can’t wait to start giving them out and hopefully see them passed on. I think tracking your cards through the future is the best part, and will make you want to give out more cards to watch them travel.
You’ve Got the Cards, Now Get Going!
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service is coming up. Are you volunteering with a group somewhere? What a great way to kick off a Giving Game.
- Get a family pack and put your last name on the custom cards. What a great family ritual to sit down once a month and track your cards, and of course to try to get additional cards going out there.
- If you’re a teacher, do it as a class project. Print the school name and grade on the cards and give one to each kid to pass on with an act of kindness and then track. Bonus points for the card that travels the farthest, or passes to the most people.
- Get the Girl Scout or Boy Scout troop to order a pack of cards. Customize them with “Pack #1410, Mt. Prospect, IL” for a special touch
- Do you belong to a Mom’s Group? A knitting circle? A wine-tasting group?
- …or just forget the group and start your own thing! You could keep the cards anonymous so the receiver of your kindness doesn’t know who you are. Pay a stranger’s meter and put a card under the windshield. Snow-blow the neighbor’s driveway and tuck a card in their mailbox. Pick up someone’s tab in the diner and have the wait staff deliver a card instead of a check.
I’m sure you can think of lots of great ideas to get the cards in circulation. And, much like the 29-Day Giving Challenge, a game like this helps us become aware of our own acts of kindness every day. Good stuff.
