Day 7: Hot Dog Giveaway - 30 Days of Kindness

Hot Dog Giveaway was Day 7 of 30 Days of Kindness, and for this act of kindness Laura did the work. In fact, as we planned our 30 events, she came up with this event because hot dogs are one of her favorite foods, and as we both found out, everybody else also loves hot dogs. Here is a kindness report from Laura:

Having developed a love for what I consider the perfect hot dog meal, this outreach had to be done according to my own standards for coney consumption which follows these 4 hot dog guidelines:

The hot dog must be of a decent quality.

As a penny pincher, I have found that buying bottom priced hot dogs isn't really worth it. Buying tasty hot dogs is a time when it's better to let loose of those pennies. Today, I went with good ol' reliable Oscar Mayer Wiener, although not the most expensive, OMW is also not the cheapest.

The hot dog must be prepared well. 

How many times have we all gone to a convenience store and been grossed out after seeing burnt hot dogs that have been basking on rollers for hours? There is also the common homemade blunder of overheating a hot dog in the microwave. The result is a gruesome scene, like a heart patient opened up on the operating table, with a rubbery texture to boot. I cautiously coddled these dogs in a hot bath of boiled water, saving them from the fate of the microwave.

The hot dogs should be hot. 

Once the dogs were cooked, I wrapped them in pairs in aluminum foil to retain heat. I planned to do this last to keep them out of the cold as much as possible. I wanted to not giveaway cold dogs.

There must be a certain combination of sides, beverage and condiments. 

My favorite hot dog combo is two dogs, with ketchup, mustard, and dill relish, a cola, and original chips. This essentially was the contents of each bagged lunch that we gave away. As I prepared the lunches, I couldn't help but think how easy it would be to run a hot dog stand and how impressively Heinz engineered their dip and squeeze ketchup packages.
 

Rather than standing on the side of the road, or in front of our building peddling hotdogs, Kaler thought it would be best to call businesses, offer the lunches, and make free deliveries. I called several Oneonta businesses and Kaler asked around; eventually, we found 18 hungry people eager for a free lunch. After a morning of buying groceries, icing sodas, boiling dogs, and bagging lunches, I then hit the road.

I delivered free lunches to several of Kaler's co-workers at Directive, as well as most of the crew from The Village Printer (these two companies are volunteering their time and resources for our March 8 Free Studio Photos event), and the sales associates at Music Square. Inside each lunch bag was our kindness card telling of our church mission, our contact information, and a message of God's love.

Laura with the happy team from The Village Printer

It is our hope and prayer that through ministries like this, doors will be opened for us to talk with others about Christ. Acts of kindness are positive, giving, inviting, and they help us establish trust within our Oneonta community. This is an essential first step to building a trusted relationship with our town.

We want to invite people into our church and into a dialogue about God, and sometimes, it takes a dog to bring up God. Contact us if you want to help out and spread kindness!