For Day 26 of 30 Days of Kindness, we planned a car wash at Stewart's, thinking it will surely be warm by late March; yet once again, our plans were dampened by the cold New York weather, but our resolve for kindness remained strong. We just substituted a wash with a rinse and kept the kindness train on track.
We had done an earlier car rinse on day #3 at our storefront, which included giving away hot cocoa. While the first rinse was a positive experience there were few in attendance. We've noticed our location is a hindrance for AoKs like this; seeing as we had 4 takers for the rinse (which spanned 3 hours), 2 for the free oil change, and nobody for the free dinner (all of these events where located at our place). This is a classic example of the flaw of expecting people to come to you vs. going to where the people are--even if you are doing a great service for them.
This "go to them" theory was verified as we rinsed the Winter salt off people's cars at Stewart's and found ourselves consistently serving a line of cars. I stayed busy enough that I didn't have time for a break, and if there was not a line of cars, I would approach a customer's car and offer to give a free rinse; to which most of them gladly accepted.
It was also nice to have some extra helpers with us for this AoK. We had a teenage girl and a college aged supervisor that made 30 Days of Kindness T-Shirts and signs to stand out at the corner of River and Main to help lure in traffic. Their enthusiasm was welcomed and an encouraging sight after leading 25 straight AoKs and beginning to lose steam.
With helpers cheering me on, I was able to man the power washer for a few hours, hose down all kinds of cars, and meet all kinds of people. At the same time, we had additional volunteers keeping the art show open, and if a car rinse recipient offered me money, I tried to point them to our art show down the street and encouraged them to use the money to instead buy art to benefit Opportunities For Otsego.
People are accustomed to getting their cars cleaned at Stewart's, although not so much in March. During the summer, it seems like there is a different nonprofit group doing a car wash at Stewart's every day to raise money. I was hoping to do a car wash for free to make a statement to our Oneonta community that serving and showing God's love is more important to us than fundraising. All in all, I do believe this message came out loud and clear at this event.
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