A random act of kindness inspires a New Hampshire family’s decade-long holiday tradition of giving. Twelve years ago when Krista Butts was down on her luck and scraping to get by and feed her husband and three sons, a kind stranger paid for her boys’ haircuts. That anonymous donation inspired the Butts to perform their own act of kindness and has kicked off a tradition of giving every holiday season that they’ve carried on ever since.
The family started off that first Christmas with a single act of kindness. As a way of paying forward the kindness of that stranger, they bought three $10 Walmart gift cards and the boys gave them out to random strangers. Then the tradition became a week of kind acts each December and has now grown to a month-long annual Christmas Kindness Project. Starting December 1st, the family does something nice for someone every day leading up to Christmas.
The family hasn’t always been enthusiastic about the giving tradition, like last year when Krista’s father passed away at the end of November, but rather than dwell on the negative they kept up the Kindness Project and it helped them to grieve. She says the holiday tradition has provided good lessons for her children. She tells the boys that she doesn’t care what they choose to be, as long as they are kind.
Source: USA Today