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ONE cupcake .ONE community
LonelinessAustralia - Sydney
Inspiration
It all started with a random idea/talk with my housemates.
We all talk about how we should be generous and do good deeds to those who are in need or seem lonely.
But before we start reaching out to people who are not in "our world", do we really know our neighbors? do you know what they're going through? those people in our world are as real as people we sponsor or see on tv.
So, my housemates and I stopped for a moment and pondered those questions... We believe it all starts with the people around us, close to us- it's as important as going to a third world country and fight injustice. Let's not forget those around us who are deeply in pain emotionally, going through depression, or dealing with loneliness but has a happy faced mask on. Help and love REAL people in our REAL world.
Mark 12:31
" The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other
commandment is greater than these."
We all talk about how we should be generous and do good deeds to those who are in need or seem lonely.
But before we start reaching out to people who are not in "our world", do we really know our neighbors? do you know what they're going through? those people in our world are as real as people we sponsor or see on tv.
So, my housemates and I stopped for a moment and pondered those questions... We believe it all starts with the people around us, close to us- it's as important as going to a third world country and fight injustice. Let's not forget those around us who are deeply in pain emotionally, going through depression, or dealing with loneliness but has a happy faced mask on. Help and love REAL people in our REAL world.
Mark 12:31
" The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other
commandment is greater than these."
What
We baked around 60 cupcakes with very cheap cake mix packages (note that we're college students with not much money). We went around our neighborhood and went to every house on our street and the one next to our street to hand out free cupcakes!
How
We prayed before we went out to give out those cupcakes. We knocked on their doors. We gave them free cupcakes. We introduced ourselves. We talked. We listened to their stories.
Long story short, we REALLY got to know our neighbors and became close to old couples in their 70s who are desperately seeking for some company, a single mom who decided to be generous and gave us her old furniture, a young family who just moved into this area and had no friends, an older lady fighting cancer, and so it goes on.
We started in the morning and came home close to dinner time. We were blown away by this experience! We asked ourselves, ' Why didn't we do this earlier?' but seems nothing's never too late :)
So, we decided we'll sacrifice our day off and make Saturdays to be a 'Neighbors day' where we go play with our neighbor's kids or have lunch or etc to build deeper relationships.
Long story short, we REALLY got to know our neighbors and became close to old couples in their 70s who are desperately seeking for some company, a single mom who decided to be generous and gave us her old furniture, a young family who just moved into this area and had no friends, an older lady fighting cancer, and so it goes on.
We started in the morning and came home close to dinner time. We were blown away by this experience! We asked ourselves, ' Why didn't we do this earlier?' but seems nothing's never too late :)
So, we decided we'll sacrifice our day off and make Saturdays to be a 'Neighbors day' where we go play with our neighbor's kids or have lunch or etc to build deeper relationships.
When
Started 13th of Feb - more saturdays to come!! YOU can start this saturday.
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I LOVE that you did this..... it's so beautiful :)
aw thanks! it's very simple and easy but the outcome is pretty amazing :)
Minjoo I LOVE this idea!
So simple and fun for us and our neighbours.
Think I may start this too!
Yeah! You should try it :) "Street teams" in our streets!
That's so awesome!!! My housemates and I just did the same. We baked cookies and went from house to house,...it's amazing to see who actually lives next to you :)
So true! it's crazy how we can be so ignorant toward our surroundings sometimes... what kind of cookies did you guys make? we're baking again this saturday for our neighbors and we need more ideas!
I love that. My house mate makes the best brownies, we took over a couple to our next door neighbour and this is softened her heart, so much so that she ended up asking us about our church Christmas production, which before when we told her about she was opposed to, and she ended up coming with us to church.
Wow. that's amazing!! the power of brownies hey? haha. But seriously, our simple act of kindness has a huge impact. In our community, there's an older lady who's like a "community watcher" and let's just say, she wasn't happy with us. (bible college students, "church goers", and young people from overseas.) After we went around the neighborhood and made friends with our neighbors, she changed! She came over to our house today and gave away a beautiful desk chair which I've always wanted (i use a broken old chair). And she had a huge smile on her face and incredibly nice to us! But now that I heard your story, I believe she'll come to church with us one day!
Saturdays have become one of my fav days of the week! :)
Good stuff
ONE CUPCAKE. ONE CONVERSATION
I like that 'one conversation'! it starts from that one person, one conversation, and one smile... truly, there's more than meets the eye.
Great work Minjoo!
Food is always an icebreaker and when it's for free people becomes happy and open=) I do anyway, Haha!
When you been breaking the ice, then it's so much easier to really start deeper conversations or just say hi on the street. An other small idea is walking your neighbours' dog! Can be a little bit occured to ask the first time, but then they will love it!=)
You are good at baking as well Minjoo so they would have loved it!!!
Yep, food=ice breaker! And walking your neighbors' dogs... such a great idea :)
aaah, i'm gettin better at baking haha. not as good as you though!
What a simple way to reach out. It makes me wonder "why didn't I think of that!" Such a great way to open people's heart. Congratulations to you and your roomies. Good luck in continuing your mission!
thanks for your encouragement! lots of good things are happening in my neighborhood- thank God! am sure you're changing your world wherever you are! :)
Excellent idea! I study in the city, and the people in our apartment complex generally have a bad perception of the college and its students. perhaps that gesture would help restore some good reputation...
yeah totally! it's such a simple way to approach people and start a conversation... who'd say NO to cupcakes?haha all the best in the city campus :)
thats so good u guys did that! me and my roomate did something similar and it was so cool that we were able to form a friendship with our neighbors
Amazing all it takes is a little compassion. With Love and Grace.
Wow! That is amazing. That really got me thinking on if I really do know my neighbors. Thank you for the idea :).
Wow! I love this. I like this. :)!