Have you ever seen that episode of Friends where Phoebe explains that there truly is no such thing as a good deed? Her explanation is that if it brings you joy to help someone else then you are still reaping a reward of the deed. It’s an interesting conundrum if you ask me! While I do have mixed feelings on this, I believe that world needs a bit more love and kindness in the world. Anything you can do to make and impact or brighten someone else’s day is worth doing. This month I am spreading some of my own love and joy with others. Check out these 30 Good Deed ideas that you can try as well to make our world a better place to live! But first…
What is a Good Deed?
Deeds are something that is done, performed, or accomplished. A GOOD deed then becomes something that is done, performed, or accomplished with good intention towards another. No matter how big or small, any good deed or act of kindness will ripple throughout the world. If you are looking for some good deed ideas, keep scrolling to find something that you can do today!
30 Good Deeds
1. Become a Chemo Angel
Chemo Angels is a program in which you become buddies with a cancer patient. You can send cards or care packages to your buddy to help brighten their day. They often have a shortage of buddies for chemo angles and card angles for children and teens. Be sure to check out their website to help brighten a stranger’s day during some very tough times.
2. Donate to Hurricane Relief Fund
Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that hurricanes DESTROY parts of our country every single year. They devastate thousands, if not millions of people each year. Hurricanes cause property damage, car damage, and leave many without power or water. You can donate money, clothes, furniture, a spare bedroom, a place to charge a phone, and so much more to those in need! Last night the remnants of Hurricane Ira rolled through NYC after devastating Louisiana. Although we experienced the end of the storm here, it has destroyed homes, cars, left may trapped on trains, and has caused flooding beyond belief in this area. If you have an employer who will match a donation, collect some money from your friends so you can all make a huge impact together!
3. Hold the Door Open
This one simple gesture of holding the door open for a stranger actually goes a long way. Don’t you ever get annoyed when some person who you don’t even know doesn’t hold the door for you? And you don’t even know that person! On my walk today, an older man with a cane was headed into a convince store and I ran ahead to grab the door for him. He was so grateful and my gesture was SO SIMPLE! It didn’t take any extra time out of my day or even require me to donate money. You can do something this simple to help spread kindness in our world!
4. Let someone go in front of you in line
A lot of the time we are in a rush, often trying to get from one place to the next. If you live in NYC, you know that everyone is always in a rush! Its nice to let someone else hop in front of you in line no matter where you are! My favorite time to let someone hop in front of me is when they just have a few items and I have a very full cart (hello grocery shopping). It is a really simple good deed, but other people really appreciate it!
5. Amazon Smile
Did you know that you can choose your favorite non-profit through Amazon Smile? Every time you make a purchase using Amazon Smile, a percentage of your sale goes to the charity of your choice! All you have to do is go to amazonsmile.com. Once you link the charity to your account, every purchase you make on the app will automatically make a contribution to your charity! If you use a web browser, make sure you are on amazonsmile.com! My charity of choice is Camp Sunshine if you are looking for a good one to check out!
6. Donate Your Clothes!
If you recall from April, I spent the entire month slowly chipping away at my closet, donating clothes each day! At the time, I flipped some hangers around so that I would remember which clothes I was on the fence about and swing back at another point in time. Now that summer is officially ending, it’s time to see which tops I never wore this summer and put them in the donation bag. If you are looking for places to donate your clothes and other items, be sure to check out this list of places near your!
7. Compliment a Stranger
Another simple gesture that goes a long way! There is nothing sweeter than another human at the grocery store or in the bathroom or even just on the street that tells you they lover your hair or your shoes. I have been thinking about the way I compliment people and think that really saying “I love the way that shirt looks on you” is even more flattering than “I love your shirt”! Don’t worry, I’ll be taking my compliments up a notch from now on and challenge you to do the same!
8. Return Lost Mail
A lot of the time mail and other types of packages get delivered to the wrong address. As someone who lives in a building with MANY apartments, I find it to be a tad ridiculous that nobody brings the packages to the correct address! Seriously, sometimes packages sit in our lobby for a few days, or even a few weeks. I try to always message the person over Facebook or Instagram if I receive mail to my home incorrectly! I’ve started doing the same with packages or just dropping packages off at the correct building if they are close. You know it’s annoying when your package says delivered and then it isn’t at your home when you check for it. Truly, it doesn’t take that much time out of your day to reach out to the name on the package or drop it off yourself!
9. Compliment a Customer Service Worker
You and I both know that we call customer service ONLY when we are having a problem. Often times we get frustrated and even take a tone or raise our voice at the stranger at the other end. Remember it takes a second of your time to go out of your way to be kind. Next time you are on the phone with customer service, make sure to tell them how pleasant they were to work with and how much you appreciate their help. If you recall from #7, make your compliment more personal to them! Tell them how they are the sweetest representative that you have worked with and you can’t imagine how tough their job is and that they are doing a great job. Whatever feels true in the moment (obviously) but do share it with the person on the other end!
10. Praise Your Co-Worker
In any office industry, things can feel competitive. You and your teammates may all be the same level, or you may be at various levels in your careers. It’s important to continue to encourage your co-workers in areas that you feel they are growing or acknowledge the challenges that they are tackling well within your work environment. Work compliments aren’t just for your boss to give at the end of year review. Sending a compliment your co-workers way helps them to feel good in the office and often leads to better work and attitude all around.
11. Help an Elder Couple
This one sounds obvious, right? Anytime you see someone who needs help, help them! As I have been watching my own parents get older (and they aren’t even that old), I see how difficult some things are for them that are much easier for me to do. At the grocery store this weekend, this older couple was struggling to put paper towels under their cart. I could easily bend down to help them out and you can too!
12. Help Clean Up after a Party
Another one that sounds easy, I know, but you’d be surprised at how many people overlook this simple detail. If you are at a party or a friends home, it’s so nice to just start cleaning up. Nobody (me) wants to wake up that next morning to chips and salsa all over the counter, cups in the sink, or beer cans all over the place. Just start cleaning and it’s likely that others will jump in to help too and make the cleaning go quick!
13. Send a former teacher who made a difference in your life a note
Teachers are some of the most underpaid and under appreciated humans in America. These people willingly torture themselves by hanging out with your children (many children) to try and shape the next generation. These people create lesson plans, work with your kids to make sure they are staying on track, and deal with their ups and downs. They spend their energy and money to pour everything they have into the school system. Now I’m ranting and I am not even an educator, BUT teachers, counselors, principals, you name it – they all want to know how you are, how you have succeeded in life since leaving their classroom, and that you are a better human because they taught you something. Send an email or a LinkedIn message to a teacher who made an impact on you – I promise they will appreciate it.
14. Help the Mom with her Hands Full
This morning I got off the bus and watched a Super-Mom in front of me carry a toddler on her hip and a stroller in her other arm as she ran down the stairs of the bus terminal. All I could think about was how I could never have kiddos in the city – it just seems too insane to manage public transportation and a one year old. After we were about halfway down the stairs and my thought had passed, it occurred to me that I should have offered to carry the stroller! Not one person offered to help this poor mom out – and there were at least 30 of us! What is wrong with people(myself included)?! Next time you see a mom with her hands full, offer a second of your time to help her out! She will appreciate it more than you know.
15. Reply to a Social Media Post
Be honest, you know you are a chronic scroller on social media. How often do you stop to comment something encouraging, endearing, or impactful when you see content that resonates with you? For most people, the answer is never. When you see a piece of content on social media that you love or that actually makes an impact on you, comment or shoot the author a message. Whoever is posting said content is being vulnerable to put themselves out there for the world. It’s nice to hear a little encouragement!
16. Give Up you Parking Spot
Have you ever been in a crowded parking lot on the weekend? The mall, Target, and the grocery store are notorious for always being packed! Often we are left circling trying to find any spot we can just to get in the store. Next time you find yourself in a blinker war for a spot in the parking lot, pass on the spot and let the other driver pull in. Your good deed will help bring the road rage down one car at a time.
17. Give your Tokens Up
Have you ever been at an arcade (or barcade my adult friends)? If so, you know how much fun it is to drink some beer while playing all of the classics! Pinball will always get me! You might hit a point in the evening where you are just too exhausted to carry-on yet still have a few tokens left. Pass them to a stranger at the bar! It’s a nice surplice to get a few free tokens.
18. Give an Extra Tip with and Encouraging Note
Here in America, we tipping is a practice that has become standard across the service industry. Ben and I were just talking about how we tend to tip $1.00 on a drink yet are stingy to stick to 18% or 20% on dinner. It doesn’t matter if we are at a cheaper brunch at a diner or a nicer restaurant – we tip the same percentage yet the people are doing the same amount of work. Even more mind-blowing from our discussion was how I had just tipped the bartender $10 on the 8 drinks that he literally poured – they weren’t face cocktails or anything – and just $6 on a $30 brunch. The waitress had checked in on us multiple times and brought us our food and drinks! It’s time to start re-evaluating our own tipping math. Next time you are at a restaurant, add on an extra $5 to your tip – that’s one coffee you can skip this week. Waiters and Waitresses especially make way less than minimum wage and have to tip out to the staff in the back. And while you are at it, add a sweet note – dealing with people all day while running around on your feet doesn’t sound like a job I ever want to do. Appreciate what they are doing for you!
19. Drive with care
Being from Massachusetts, I will admit to being a Masshole when it comes to driving. If you don’t know what a Masshole is, it’s a person who is an aggressive driver. While being kind to another driver on the road sometimes feels pointless(they are in a car not interacting with you at all), your kindness goes a long way. This weekend Ben and I did a 5 hour roadtrip and I had plenty of opportunities to let people cut in front of me, stop traffic for another car to turn, and hold up traffic to allow another car to get out of a parking lot easily. While we often drive on autopilot, it is simple to drive with kindness to keep the road rage at bay!
20. Smile At Someone who Looks Down
Again, a simple gesture really goes along way! I live in NYC and people avoid eye contact like the plague (or COVID I should say 😳). When you do make eye contact, people typically look serious, and a lot of the time they appear down or stressed. Next time you catch someone’s eye, throw them a little smile. It’s a nice gesture that says “Hey, I see you and you’re going to be OK.”
21. Write a Letter to a Friend
I am a sucker for a hand-written letter. The age-old tradition of snail-mail is slowly dying out to the point where it genuinely is a surprise to receive a note from someone in the mail. Go out of your way to send someone a letter today. It could be a note to say congrats on a new job or that you are proud of them for always going after their dreams, or even as something as simple as a hello, just thinking of you. I promise – whoever is on the receiving end of your letter will absolutely appreciate your act of kindness.
22. Donate to a Charity of your Choice
There are so many amazing charities that could use a little help! This month I donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Mr. Grey’s Strays. You may have a favorite charity that you love donating to or be looking for one to help out! Often times our friends on Facebook set up donations for charities for their birthdays or ask for donations for different charities that they partner with. No matter which one you choose, even $10 goes a long way!
23. Reach out to those who are struggling
We all know that everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Part of the reason that I wanted to do a kindness challenge is for this exact struggle. When we are kind to strangers, we bear the weight of their struggle, even if only for a moment in time. While we are constantly reminded that strangers are fighting tough battles, we tend to forget that so are our friends. It’s SO important to reach out to your friends just to check on them. When hard things in life happen, it’s easy to check in on them on that day – but it’s important to remember that struggles don’t disappear overnight. The quiet ones and the ones who look like they are back to loving their lives are often the ones who need to be checked on the most.
24. Leave Laundry Money for Others
If you live in a city or a dorm you know the joys of hitting up the laundry room or Laundromat just to have some clean clothes all too well. While some laundry rooms now accept those lovely little cards, most machines still take quarters. Did you know that since Covid started there has been a major coin shortage?? Your good deed for the day can be just leaving some quarters for a neighbor or total stranger on the machine for a free load of laundry!
25. Offer your Help
I know I have previously harped on helping clean up after a party, but I want to reiterate this one! This past weekend Ben and I were at a weekend celebrating our friends. At the end of the evening everyone was dipping out but the bride and her mom were scrambling to get everything together and out of the venue before we left. You can just start helping! Collect the flowers and the photo frames, get people to help bring things to the car, no bride needs to be stressed at the end of a very LONG day! Offer your help whenever you can. No situation is ever too small to do so.
26. Be there for a sick partner or friend
No one enjoys being sick. It wipes you out to a new point of exhaustion and you typically can’t breath easily through your nose. Ben is unfortunately on day 6 of his sinus infection and today seems to be the worst of it. Let your partner or friend rest while you do the chores for the day, cook dinner, and (kindly) unpack their clothes from the weekend. Sometimes we all just need someone to tend to us like when we were kids.
27. More Love Letters
Hannah Brencher moved to NYC to pursue her dreams. Like many people who move to the big city, she found herself feeling lonely and depressed. To make light of the sadness she was feeling, Hannah started writing love letters and leaving them all over the city for other people to find. She started blogging about it and found that many people felt the same as she did and loved receiving a love letter from her to help pull them through tough times. Over the past ten years More Love Letters has evolved, sharing more love around the world. You can write a letter to one of the 5 people (or all of them) each month who need a little kindness and light in their life as well! Their stories will inspire you and I promise this good deed is an easy one!
28. One Simple Wish
One Simple Wish is a directory of wishes posted by case workers on behalf of foster kids. These wishes can be anything from a moon bounce at their birthday party, to getting their hair done, buying a prom dress, or enrolling in a course to go to school. There are so many different wishes that you can contribute to! Each wish is at a different monetary value – you can contribute to a larger wish or fund a smaller one!
29. Love For Our Elders
Did you know that 43% of Americans ages 60 and older reported felling lonely? Love For Our Elders was started by Jacob Cramer after volunteering in a senior living community. He found that most people there didn’t ever have any visitors, not even family. Jacob went on a mission to make sure that no elder ever felt alone. 5 Elders get nominated each month that you can send a letter to in oder to cheer them up a little bit. If you are looking to send out some love, grab a pen and a card and be sure to checkout the seniors nominated this month on Love for our Elders!
30. Help out a Friend
Sometimes our friends just need a little help. It may be that they need help picking up their child from school, or they need help moving a heavy piece of furniture, or you have something that they could borrow to make their life easier. We often forget that an act of kindness or good deed doesn’t have to just be for strangers. We can help out of friends too!
