We give… we dance!

A local network news morning show has a little fun every week with their “Dance Friday*” weekly morning segment. A few minutes of silliness and physical activity is guaranteed to spread contagious smiles throughout the news studio and the viewing audience!

Well, we have our own version of Dance Friday at the office, but we’ve adapted it into “Giving Friday.” And the smiles are just as contagious… plus warm hearts that are the natural result when you know you’re helping someone else.

“There is no better exercise for your heart, than reaching down and helping to lift someone up.” – Bernard Meltzer

Some weeks, the object of our giving is one of my favorite charities, like Susan G. Komen for the Cure™, the DayOneNetwork or an animal shelter. (I have to represent my four bassets and my beloved cat Freedom.) And some weeks it’s one of the organizations near and dear to the heart of one of our team members, like USO of Illinois, a local blood drive, or a food pantry. Our creativity around giving is just about unlimited, and I encourage the team to get involved and think about who they’d like us to serve. We invite our long-distance partners in our Greater Seattle and Las Vegas offices to jump in as they’re able.

In fact, I credit the Dance Friday TV segment, which is part of my Friday morning routine, with keeping me on track to announce our giving theme/charity for the coming week or to get my team to come up with one. Next Friday, we’re supporting the breakfast cereal drive of our friends at Panera, a national program that’s locally benefiting the patrons of a major Chicagoland food pantry. (The thank-you coupons for free delicious breakfast sandwiches were, of course, no extra incentive for our gifts.) As I emailed the team, “You know me, it’s never done ‘til it’s over done! I can’t wait to see us deliver the VOLUME of cereal I hope we amass.” (No, we’re not just super hungry. It’s one free coupon per person, not per cereal box.)

Our mission during this difficult economic time with this weekly endeavor is to count our blessings and remember how fortunate we are, paying it forward in a small but meaningful way. Little things mean a lot when you add it all up.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop

If you like our idea, and you’re scratching your head for something your team could do (even monthly or bi-weekly would be awesome!), you might want to start here:

http://www.allforgood.org/
http://www.volunteermatch.org/post/
http://www1.networkforgood.org/

And, new this year, you can go to www.911dayofservice.org or www.mygooddeed.org and find a project at any time of the year, inspired by President Obama’s declaration of September 11 as the National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Okay, so… soon it will be Friday again. That’s Dance Friday; let’s dance!

*Check out “Dance Friday” and watch the fun video by clicking here.