It
was Christmas time 2006 when three members of the Benkendorf family sat
drinking coffee when the conversation drifted to acts of kindness. We
each offered our input and found we had mutual interests. Each, in his
own way, was doing something. One was helping tutor inner city
children. Another was involved in community outreach with youth. And
another was gifting to the needy. We parted with an idea being born and
asking, “What can we do?”
After many conversations
between family members and with other individuals involved in community
outreach programs, we made two decisions:
- We do not want to be a fund-raising organization. There are already plenty with very worthy causes.
- We do not want to form another organization. There are plenty of organizations performing worthy causes.
We
felt we could best serve by helping promote that which was already
being done. It was in this search that we discovered something very
revealing. Individuals and organizations were performing many acts of
kindness – and they were doing a good job – but the word wasn’t getting
out. What we found missing was the voice of those individuals who had
benefited from these acts of kindness. And you might be surprised what
we found.
We went directly to some of these individuals
and talked with them. We found they had tremendous stories to tell –
very compelling stories. These are individuals who had been touched by
the kindness of someone else and wanted to pass this kindness on to
others. They wanted to help others with similar struggles.
With
this information and knowledge, we knew exactly what we wanted to do.
We wanted to develop a way to capture the voices of those individuals
whose lives had been touched by an act of kindness.
It is through this website, www.aswedolife.com, that voices will be heard, to give hope where challenges occur, comfort where loss has occurred, and peace where reality must be accepted. Too many compelling stories are never told, and too many people are left without hope.
Share this website with your friends. It’s free, but the rewards can be immeasurable.
Posted on
Wed, January 14, 2009
by As We Do Life