50 Good Deeds

By Charlotte Bumstead
Have you ever been pleasantly surprised to come home on a busy Tuesday night only to find your driveway has already been cleared of snow? Or perhaps you are the one who snuck over to cut your neighbour’s lawn while he was at work, without leaving a trace of evidence behind. We’ve all felt the warm sensation of a good deed; how something as simple as a free coffee, mysteriously paid for by the woman ahead of you in the line at Starbucks, can brighten your entire day.

It’s the same tingly feeling that inspired Lisa Bendall to launch her blog—50 Good Deeds—five months ago, after a self-initiated challenge on her daughter’s seventh birthday. Her gift to her daughter was a lesson in the value of kindness and contribution to others. “In my mid-30s, I accepted that I just wasn’t going to be the hero who stamps out world hunger or finds a cure for cancer,” writes Bendall. “[However], what would happen if I did a good deed a day, every day, for 50 days? How would it impact other people – and me and my family?”

On day two, Bendall joined the bone marrow registry. Day four, she donated her pocket change to a panhandler. “Some days all I did was pick up litter, compliment a stranger on his garden or donate my Canadian Tire “money” to charity,” Bendall writes. “But, if you think about it, each of these acts had the potential to lead to something positive, something bigger.”