SSSSH PO Box 375  Hiram, Ohio USA 44234-0375

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Report an anonymous good deed

A world-wide, secret society encouraging everyone, through anonymous acts of kindness, to embrace all humanity, celebrate diversity, and instill in ourselves and others compassion, creativity, persistence, and sacrifice - the true values of being human. 

Some of the good-deed letters received at the Hal Reichle Post Office Box 375 and at the SSSSH Website from secret members of SSSSH!
(arranged by date received)

To help navigate through these received good-deed letters, they are bookmarked by date and by special event.

SSSSH letters from Events

April 2003 Good-Deed Letters

Cleveland Plain Dealer - Front Page - Easter Sunday 2003 Response Letters

4-19-03

AN ONGOING ANONYMOUS ACT OF KINDNESS

On snowy days when I leave work I don’t only clear off my car, but the car next to me.

Reichle was described as a rascal by Roger Cram. He would appreciate this: Years ago I spotted a lonely bare weed growing thorough a crack at the intersection of Rt. 77 and Brookpark Road. This weed looked like a stripped down Christmas tree. It was just over a week until Christmas. So very late one night, I believe it was about 2:am I proceeded to decorate it with bulbs and roping. I hope it brighten a few people over the next week.

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4-21-03

Hello,

I read the article about your beautiful Hal in our Sunday newspaper on Easter morning. I always try to do good deeds and now I will try and do more because of Hal. Today I called our gas company and paid in full a family’s (I know is struggling) gas bill, I didn’t want anyone to know, but I wanted the family to know it was paid so they wouldn’t have to worry. The customer service lady put me on a conference call with the lady of the house and let her know that her bill was paid in full and her account that was about to be turned off was settled. The sound of my friends voice on the other end of the phone brought tears to my eyes. Thank you Hal!

My friend has two young children and a difficult boyfriend, so to hear her smile made my day.

God Bless

Hals Friend

4-21-03

I THINK that I was Reichle-"ed" on 4-18-03 at a Taco Bell in Strongsville OH. Without knowing what I’d ordered, the person in front of me in the drive-thru line PAID for my meal!

Needless to say, we were flabbergasted. Two days later I read about Reichle’s Anniv. In keeping with protocol I’ll just sign this, Thanx.

4-22-03

Dear Mr. Cram

I read with great interest the article in the Chronical-Telegram on April 21, 2003 about the secret society called SSSSH. Please accept this measly gift ($50.00) to help your cause. Of course it is anonymously given as in keeping with your society. I think this is a wonderful way to keep his memory alive. I lost a brother in 1967 in Viet Nam and, although I can’t say he was as generous as Hal Reichle, struck a cord in me. Right now I don’t have a lot of spare cash but I’ll donate more in the future. I would appreciate to know if you have received this. Please write a letter to the editor in care of the Chronicle Telegram, Elyria, OH and I will continue to send what I can when I can.

Sincerely,

SSSSH new member

April 23, 2003

Read with interest the article in the Plain Dealer. It renewed my feeling of this method of helping others. My involvement has to be very limited and this article, I hope, will spur me into more actions along this line.

Several years ago I had a young lady working for me who seemed to be living under a black cloud. Wanted to attend college and did but just was not college material. Unfortunate love affair and marriage, etc. Also very little finances. I found out she loved cars and found out what type of car she drove. She then was employed at a shopping mall with a pretty low-paying job. I found her car and it was unlocked and put some money in a glove compartment and don’t thing she ever knew how it arrived.

The only other deed is a poor woman to whom I delivered Meals-on-Wheels. She is a paraplegic and one of her pleasures was watching the Cleveland Indians on TV, but this past year they were only on cable, which she could not afford. Had cable brought to her. Hope to do more.

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Anonymous Good Deeds done in the loving memory of Hal Reichle:

When it’s a windy day, or perhaps a garbage man has been hurried and over worked, and I’m driving down "that street", I stop, no matter what, and place the "can in the street" on the lawn of the house of its rightful owner. On a very windy day, that may mean several inconvenient stops. No one sees me, nobody need know, right Hal? God blesses every good deed with secret grace.

*****

Our mayor and 3 other members of our church are in the military service in Iraq. I leave a 3 liter drink or a gift basket or toys for the kids at their offices or homes.

Men in the work release program do work around town cutting grass helping move things all sorts of jobs. I give them a drink or a book every month when I get my little check – (disability check). There’s 5 to 7 men on the work force. I share my poems with any band that comes to town.

To share like you requested and to honor Hal is a very good idea. I’m sorry Hal was killed. He was a nice person acct’s to the news story. Sincerely, ?

My ex worked on helicopters in ‘Nam and thru his 22 year stay in the Army.

*****
Letters received from students at an elementary school each describing "Pulling a Reichle" for their friends, family, or teacher.

April 30, 2003

I cut the grass for my Dad.
I took in the recycle bin for my Dad and the garbage can.
I put the music papers the right way.
I let someone use my pink marker.
I collected the chalkboards off the floor after Peace Club.
Picked up boards after Peace Club.

May 2003 Good-Deed Letters
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May 1, 2003

I let Maddi borrow my sharpener.
I let sumwun named Abby bore my craons.
I said thanks after someone led me their pencil.
Someone let me use their pencil.
I let my friends us my markers everyday.
I straightened music books.
I helped pack and stack the music books.
I let someone use my markers.
I let someone borrow my markers.
I let everybody use my markers.
I gave someone a piece of food.
I organized the books in the music room.
I loned my markers to a friend.
I got erasers and one pencile for a first grader.
I helped three people with the math.
I cleaned a table for my Mom and I.
I picked up someones pen.
Helped someone with their project.
I helped a little girl on the monkey bars.

May 2, 2003     go to top of page

I gave someone a piece of food.
I got some ones lunchbox because they forgot it.
I brot in the garbage at my Mom’s in Leroy.
When I was done with math I helped other kids who were stuck on it.
I picked up all the scraps in art class on the floor.

May 4, 2003

I sang "Old devil moon" in front of senior citizens at the Slovene home for the aged.
I did great things today.

May 5, 2003

I helped pick up stuff.
I helped Mrs. Stow pick up her papers when she droped them.
I organized very messy ruler shelf.

May 6, 2003

I helped my neighbor take weeks to the compost pile.
I bought a book for my friend.

May 8, 2003

I said thank you to my Mom for taking me to the skating party.
I helped that some one at my house to help her hide from her mom.
I gave a skating stiker to my kindergarden friend.

May 9, 2003

I said God bless you when Jeremy sneezed.
I made a Mothers day gift for my Mom.

May 10, 2003

I helped my Mom in the garden.
I made my friend a newspaper guy to replace the one he lost.

May 15, 2003

I cleaned the twesers for Mrs. Onderision.

May 19, 2003

I helped my teacher with passing out papers.
I cut this dude grass and he did not know.

May 20, 2003

I folded socks without being told.

May 27, 2003     go to top of page

Picked up some coats that others had knocked off the coat racks.
I picked up a lunch box and pot it bac.
I picked up a coat.
Helped a student who has a broken arm gather up his belongings and bookbag.

May 28, 2003

I gave a card to a sick person unknowingly.
I picked up someones pencil.

May 30, 2003

I let my teacher walk in front of me, so we didn’t bump into each other.
I organized the books to make the room look nice.
I let someone use my pencil.
I let someone use my markers and borrow my pencils.
Someone sent me a nice note to brighten my day.
Someone rounded up some huge storage cabinets for me.
A student used his work time to help another student who was having difficulties, without being asked.
A student gave up her free time to prepare materials for a class craft project.

End of letters describing "Pulling a Reichle"  received from an Elementary school.

May 6, 2003

People Magazine Responses

June 4, 2003     go to top of page

To: Roger Cram

I read about your SSSSH group in People and found it very inspiring. We now need more of this kind of human kindness. I’d like to participate in my area-can you send me any information or a newsletter"

June 11, 2003

Dear SSSSH

A police officer friend of mine recently sent me an article about your acts of kindness on behalf of the memory of Hal Reichle. My friend is a pretty sweet guy himself. Please accept the enclosed in his honor. Please send him a note telling him that a donation has been made in his honor. I would appreciate that. Thank you

June 16, 2003

A dear friend with three mentally disabled sons (all grown and living with her) was locked out of her car in the parking lot of a restaurant where we were meeting for lunch. She is a widow with a very small income. Since she doesn’t belong to AAA, we called the police, who said they were unable to give us assistance, but gave us the number of a man who does that kind of work. His charge was $53.50 which I was happy to pay for her. She, of course, is unable to repay me, and I certainly didn’t expect her to. My sincere condolences to the family of Hal Reichle.

June 16, 2003

Reading about your SSSSH organization in People Magazine and the Cleveland Plain Dealer inspired me to do recent acts of anonymous kindness. They were simple ones that made me feel good.

I was driving back to the Cleveland area from Pittsburgh, and I anonymously paid tolls for the drivers behind me. I did that at two tollbooths. It’s not much, but I hope the people who didn’t have to pay their tolls were pleasantly surprised.

I think it’s terrific to honor your late friend, Hal Reichle, in this way. He sounded like a great guy, and he truly lives on in such tremendous acts of generosity that your organization inspires in people. I plan to continue to do these anonymous acts of kindness myself. it’s a privilege to be connected to such giving people as yourself, even in a small way.

June 16, 2003

I read "Secret Service" in Jun9 People magazine. I hope you get this letter since you stated no return addresses or signatures and you left no real address to contact you. I would however like to receive your newsletter.

I know the feeling of doing good deeds and not taking the credit for them. I work for an airline in Chicago Small Package Dispatch and last Christmas I bought presents for my co-workers working third shift regularly and even the Security Guards. All gifts had a personal meaning and I even bought myself one. Then I had a friend of mine not known to anyone else dress in a Santa costume and deliver to us while I was on duty. No one knows that I was responsible yet today six months later and I don’t think I will ever tell.

Not only is it fun with the people who received the gifts that no knows who the giver is, we have customers still asking if we ever found out where our Christmas presents came from.

Secret Santa

July 2003 Good-Deed Letters
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July 2003

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September 2003 Good-Deed Letters

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Everyone is entitled to a small gift of appreciation.  People in our society need to know that they are valued by people for doing small jobs, completing tasks at the office, or just being a good person.  Many important people go unrecognized in these areas, and I felt it was time for a change.  Thoughts crossed my mind of helping the homeless, giving presents to small children, even rewarding my parents for the guidance they’ve given me that makes me the person that I am today.  Although some day I hope to accomplish all of these tasks, I did a very simple gesture that meant the world to an acquaintance of mine.

It all started at work when a co-worker (older than I) explained to me her life situation.  Her name is Katie.  She described a lonely life and a job that was holding her back from running a business that she had gotten a degree for in college.  All of her friends had left her to pursue their careers the year before.  My reaction was to let this woman know she was needed in people’s lives.  In times when I needed a shoulder to lean on, she had always been there for me.  I consider this girl to a very pretty and intelligent human being and I thought she should know how much she is appreciated every day.

As I was passing a local florist shop, I decided to stop by and pick out a bouquet of flowers for my co-worker.  I managed to talk the florist into arranging a piece for me using Katie’s favorite flowers.  It was sent to her that very afternoon.  I stopped by work to eavesdrop on the arrival of the flowers, and got there just in time to see her face light up.  It was amazing to me that such a small gesture could make a person realize how great they are.  It made me feel fantastic to know that she took pride in getting those flowers and knowing she must have gotten then for a good reason.  So many people in our society go unrecognized and don’t fully understand what contributions they add to people’s lives.

One internal conflict I immediately faced, however, was the feeling of selfishness.  I wanted Katie to know who had gotten those flowers that day.  Any normal human being would want to be acknowledged for doing a good deed.  I now understand why these people from the Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to Hal are such great people: a “thanks” is not needed.  SSSSH members do not need gratification for their good deeds.  Just knowing that they’ve done something for another person is enough.  As a whole, I felt great about doing a good deed, but I also realized that I also wanted something out of it, which wasn’t the idea of the project in the first place.

All in all, I realized that although you may do a good deed for another person, recognition for that deed is always expected.  Keeping my mouth shut about completing the task was harder than I ever imagined.  However, I do plan to carry out more good deeds.  After doing this project and feeling so great about what I had done, why should I choose to stop at just one good deed?

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October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

The world is full of a different type of people today.  Often we don’t find many people that perform acts of kindness for their fellow man.  Through my English class, I have found a group of people that still do.  I find it amazing that this kind-hearted group takes time out of their own schedules to perform random acts of kindness for others.  When I received this assignment I was thrilled to participate in this group’s effort to help others.  It took me a while to finally decide what I was going to do.  When the right idea popped into my head, I went straight to the drawing boards.

I didn’t want to do something that somebody else would o, so I did something a little different.  I decided to help out my grandma for a change.  My mom’s youngest brother lives with my grandma and is rarely home.  I noticed from daily visits that her garage was very messy from lack of upkeep.  So I decided to clean it for her while she was at work on a Saturday afternoon.  I took the day off from work in advance to do it.  Her garage was full of odds and ends.  Everything from heavy machinery to small nuts and bolts scattered everywhere.  Her garage is fairly large, so I knew if I organized everything neatly and threw out things that were of no use anymore, it would look great!

I went straight to work the minute I got there.  I looked at the project as a weekend football practice, so it didn’t bother me too much.  I was also lucky to go on a day that provided great weather for the project.  I started by getting all the heavy machinery out of the way first to provide a little working room.  I moved the tractor out first, and then I dragged the snowmobile out into the driveway.  After that I moved the small machinery like the tiller and the push mower.  Now that I had some working room I began to organize the various tools that were all over the place.  My uncle had built cabinets in the garage, so I put the larger hand-held tools and machinery in them.  Then I cleaned up the toolbox and put away the smaller tools.  I then got down some of my grandma’s mason jars from the rafters and used them to organize the nuts, screws, bolts, etc.  Once I did that the workbench in the back of the garage was pretty much empty.  I used a hand-held broom and dustpan and cleaned off the surface of the workbench.

With all of the tools put away and the odds and ends organized I began to gain some ground on the situation.  I proceeded to organize the firewood in the back of the potbelly stove that heats the garage.  I noticed that there were many extension cords all entangled throughout the garage.  I sorted them out and wrapped them up and put them on hooks in the back.  After that I decided to clear out some of the trash.  I got rid of a lot of wrappers and papers that were lying around.  I also pitched out various unusable tools and old rusty nuts, screws, bolts, etc.  After doping that there was only one thing left to do.  I swept the garage spotless and then moved all the heavy machinery back into the once disastrous looking garage.  I lined everything up in an organized manner and left space for access to the cabinets and shelves.  I then packed up what I had brought for the job and left an anonymous note for my grandma to take a look at her garage.

I chose to do this for my grandma for many reasons.  My grandma has always been there for me throughout my life.  She has always supported me in anything I did.  She has always loved my sisters and I since the day we were born.  She is everything a person would want in a grandma to me.  I only paid her back a small portion of what she deserves by doing this, but I know she appreciated it in more ways than I could understand.  My grandma isn’t the type of person that demands a lot from her grandkids when they are over.  We have always done small things around her house to help her out, but those were on request.  That’s the beauty of this project; it was completely anonymous.  She didn’t have to ask me to do it this time, I was provided that opportunity by having this assignment.

Performing this deed made me feel joyous.  I realized that for once I did something for someone that was completely unexpected.  I left her house feeling great for what I had done.  I didn’t mind using my sweat and energy for the project because it was something worth doing.  The deed had a lot of meaning behind it.  It was heart-felt and sincere.  It was by far one of the neatest things that I have done for someone without then knowing about it.  The project was great and had a success rating of one hundred percent!

What I learned by doing this is that you shouldn’t take others for granted.  I realized that I hadn’t done enough for my grandma, who has provided so much for me.  I learned that by doing a strenuous task is not so bad when it has a purpose.  It didn’t bother me at all to have to do a physical activity on my day off at all.  I learned that doing such acts of kindness could be rewarding in a different way.  It provides you with a sense of joy and fulfillment.  To me there is no better reward for doing an act of kindness like this.

All together, I enjoyed doing this deed of kindness.  It brought me great joy and fulfillment and showed me many things about myself.  The project was absolutely successful!  After visiting my grandma I found out that she is still baffled on who performed the deed.  She has basically opted me out because, she was aware that I worked on weekends.  I just sat back and recalled that afternoon and chuckled to myself in amazement.

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Imagine a world in which people never helped each other, a world where everyone had to do everything by themselves.  They could not rely on anyone.  If this were true, many people would have more stress trying to do everything, while others would eventually just give up.  If people did not help others, there would be a lot less joy in the world.  Coming upon this conclusion, I was eager to think of a way I could help someone.  The Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to Hal “members” are supposed to perform deeds of kindness for total strangers.  However, since my grandma had just had surgery, I decided to help her.

My grandma is one who loves flowers.  As one takes the first step into her house, the aroma hits you immediately.  One look around and the variety of colorful petals reach the eyes.  After my grandma’s surgery, however, she was not able to decorate her house as vibrantly as she loves.  Because I did not want her to have to stay trapped in her home without the objects that she loves most, I had an idea.  I went to the local florist and bought the most beautiful and best smelling flowers I could find.  I then asked my dad for the key that my grandparents had entrusted to him.  While they were at the doctor’s office the following day, I carefully decorated their dining room.  I did not have enough money to buy flowers for the whole house, so I chose the room where they would easily be noticed.

I chose to do this deed for my grandma mainly because I did not want to see her deprived of what she loves most.  Even though she did not have to stay inside too terribly long, I still wanted her to feel a little joy while she was there.  Also, just having surgery, getting flowers probably made her feel loved.  Granted, she also received flowers from others because of the surgery, but since it was anonymous, it was a little more special.

Performing this deed made me feel great inside.  I had never given anybody anything anonymous before, so I was a little nervous about how it would go.  As I was performing the deed, however, I felt ecstatic that I was hopefully going to make someone’s day better.  I only wish that I could have been there to see the surprise and puzzled look on her face as she saw the flowers, with no card to be found anywhere.

This experience made me realize that even the smallest acts of kindness can help to make someone’s bad day, a little, (if not a lot) better.  It also made me realize that the more I people, the better they start to feel and the better I feel about myself as well.  If I continue to do little acts of kindness, maybe one day I will really make a difference in someone’s life.  One person can really make a difference.

Suppose SSSSH were to continue on forever and anonymous good deeds just keep happening throughout the world.  If they just kept spreading, then maybe they could eventually get all the way around the world and reach every single person.  This could help everyone who is overly stressed, those who do not have family, and others who just never have time.  So maybe if a random act of kindness finds itself on a path to you, you should pass it on.  Who knows what that deed you perform could bring?

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October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

You don’t always have to receive recognition for things you do to help others around you.  Doing something for others out of the kindness of your heart makes you feel great about yourself.  Raking leaves for someone who is incapable is a good example of this.  When I raked my neighbors leaves it made me feel good because I did something for someone without getting something in return.  I chose to rake leaves for my neighbor because he is incapable due t a vision disability.  I learned that giving and not expecting something in return is better than giving because you have to. 

Monday afternoon on my way home from football practice, I noticed that the blind man on the corner’s leaves were quickly covering his yard.  I thought that since he was incapable of raking his own leaves, I would rake them for him.  I raked the leaves into a big pile and took them to my house, where I made an even bigger pile, containing my leaves and his leaves for my little sister and her friend to jump in.  Later that evening when the girls were done playing in the leaves, I once again put the leaves into piles and then took them to my backyard to burn.

I chose this task for a couple reasons.  One of those reasons being that this man has always been a good friend of our family and in the past he has helped us in many ways.  When he does favors for our family he has never once asked for anything in return.  Another reason is that he can’t complete this task and if I was in his shoes, I would want someone to help me without expecting something back.

Once this deed was completed I felt like a great person.  It made me feel like I made a difference in the world.  I did something that will affect someone else in a positive way, which made me feel wonderful.  It made me feel important, because I made a difference.  Now that I have helped others, I hope the hospitality will spread and more people will do the same as I because they can and not because they have to.

Completing this task helped me grow stronger as a person.  It helped me understand why people do things for others out of the kindness of their heart.  It really made me realize that life is too short to be greedy, so you should always do unto others, as you would want them to do unto you.  I know that if one day I became blind I would want someone like me helping me because they are capable of it and I’m not.  It taught me to be a good person and help out as much as possible and not expect anything for it.  It also made me realize how important it is to help, it doesn’t just affect the person you helped, but it’s a good way to be a role model and a leader.

Helping people has an effect on many people in many ways.  It affects the person you help in a positive way, because it helps them out and makes their day easier.  It also affects people around you, because it shows them how wonderful it is to help others and how it makes people feel.  It will not only affect people around you, but it will affect you as well.  It makes you feel important, because you made a difference in someone else’s life.  Doing a deed for someone who is incapable and not expecting something in return, in my opinion, is one of the deeds you can ever do for a person.

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Has there ever been a time in your life where you were short on money?  You try to pay for many things with whatever spare change you have in your pocket.  The dollar bill section of your wallet has moths flying out of it because it’s unused.  Just about every teenager and many adults experience this t least once in their lifetime.  Since I know that I am not the only one that experiences this, I thought I would help someone out that might be in that same boat.

My good deed was to help pay for something everyone over the age of sixteen deals with: buying gasoline for your car or truck.  I went to the gas station to fill up my truck with gas.  While I was filling up with gas, I saw a person driving an old beater car pull up for gas.  He looked like he could use an extra five dollars.  The car was in such bad shape I couldn’t tell what kind of car it was.  The driver was not wearing very good clothes either.  Since we were the only two customers, it was very likely this person was going to walk in to pay for their gas after me.  When I paid for my gas I gave the cashier an extra five dollars.  I asked him to give it to the next person who came in to pay for gas and to keep the gesture anonymous.

I chose to do what I did because there are many times I go to buy gas and feel like I don’t have enough money.  Lots of times I wonder if my gas will last from one allowance to another.  Sometimes it doesn’t.  When it doesn’t, I feel really vulnerable.  Running out of gas is a real fear for me.  I’m afraid of getting stranded and having to walk the highway at night to get help.  When I saw the man in the beater car, I figured he must have that feeling a lot more often than I do.  Because he was so poorly dressed, he probably is concerned about having enough money for a lot moiré than just gas.

Helping another person made me feel better about myself.  I know I made a difference in someone else’s life.  Even though it wasn’t a big gesture, I know it mattered.  I sat in my truck to watch the man pay for his gas.  He pulled out his money to pay for his gas and the cashier told him about the five dollars.  The mans’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.  He walked out to his car with a smile on his face.  I drove away feeling pretty good about the experience.

This experience strengthened my opinion that people deserve to be treated with respect.  I learned how little things count and make a difference in someone’s life.  I’ve also learned that even if you give a little bit, in return you get a whole lot more.  The more you give, the more you can receive.  The littlest things you do for someone will pay off big time.  Even if it is just giving a person some money to help the pay for gas, or simply helping an elderly person, the pay off is more than you can imagine.  I am not talking about a money type of pay off, I am talking about a spiritual and inner-self pay off.  Because I paid for someone’s gas, somewhere down the road someone will do something nice for me.  I like the way it feels to do something nice for someone else, too!

Feeling good inside is something that cannot be accomplished with money.  The feeling that comes from knowing you made a difference, and seeing the expression of joy on someone’s face after you helped him or her is priceless.  Even if it is as minuscule as giving five dollars to help another person pay for their gas.  Remember, somewhere down the road a good deed that you have done for someone else will bring a something good back towards you.  When someone does something nice for you, it’s probably because you did something nice for someone else.

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October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

My “Reichle Deed”

Once the temperature rises to around the 100-degree mark, Grandma and Grandpa Whitman will start their journey from Arizona to Illinois.  They have a regular ritual for closing up their Arizona house and likewise, their Illinois house, when returning.  Everything must be put up and out of the way.  Floors must be mopped, bathrooms cleaned and carpets shampooed.

 This year my Grandparents had decided to finish one half of their basement, giving them more room, plus a 3^rd bedroom.  My Uncle John and Grandpa did most of the work themselves.  This project made for a full summer project that resulted in a very dirty carpet on my Grandma’s stairs.  That’s all she talked about was cleaning the carpet, especially the stairs to the basement.  Even though the carpets were vacuumed daily, some of the tracks still showed and Grandma was sure there was still a lot of dirt in the carpet and it needed a good scrubbing.

It was the dirty carpets that gave me my “Good Deed” ideas.  When my Grandparents started preparing to return to Arizona, a job my grandmother does weeks in advance, the “dirty carpet” problem arose.  The Friday Grandma wanted to call the cleaners to come, was the same weekend Grandpa had tickets for a Cubs game in Chicago.  After much prodding Grandma gave in and off they went to the baseball game and spending the weekend there.

Since I knew the “dirty” carpets was something Grandma wanted clean. I decided this would be my good deed (and also my way of paying Grandma back for all the apple pies she bakes me).  I called by Uncle John and borrowed his rug cleaner and supplies.  After a quick lesson on how to use it, I headed to Grandma’s house.  Little did I realize how much of a job this would be!  First I picked up all her throw rugs, then vacuumed the carpets before I started to scrub.  Starting in the living room I worked my way through the house and finished up down the basement steps.  It took me most of the day, but it was worth it.

When the job was done the carpets looked really good.  I was anxious to see what Grandma would say.  I was at the house the day they came home from Chicago.  Grandma came in the house through the kitchen and right away smelled “soap”.  She couldn’t believe the job was done.  Just seeing the look on Grandma’s face told me all my time and aching muscles were worth it.

Grandma left town without knowing who it was that did the good deed, but hopes they will show up next year when they’re ready to leave again.  She doesn’t really know it was me, but I think she suspects. 

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

SSSSH

I know that people say that life is too short, however, this does not apply to all.  When you have people that think life never ends, it is saying that life is not as fulfilling as it should be.  I believe that no one should have to go day after day hoping to die because they are unhappy with life.  I am sure that is the case for the many people that commit suicide.  I bet al they needed was someone who cared enough to lend a helping hand, or give an ac of kindness.  This brings to mind the old people who may be feeing sad and lonely.  These are the people I believe should be cared for more than anyone else.  Most of these people were born back in the 1920’s or even the 1910’s, so you can just imagine what they must have gone through.  All of us know how much can happen within just a couple of years.  All of these elders have fascinating lives and stories to share if only people cared enough to take the time to get to know them.  I believe that the elderly deserve to have a little sunshine in their lives, and I am just the person to give it to them and let them know there are people that care.

Everybody deserves a little spark in their life, but I believe that no one deserves it more than the old.  There are many things a person can do to let the elderly know that we are thinking of them, but no matter how many ideas you come up with, they may not always work.  For instance, one night it had just finished raining and a couple of friends and I spotted an older lady walking along the side of the road.  We had driven by her once when we decided it would be nice if we could give her a lift.  We turned around and pulled up to the lady to see if she wanted a ride.  She was a little cautious, and declined the offer.  I don’t know if a carload of teenagers disturbed her, but I know that it is the thought that counts.  A few days later, I thought of an idea that would do more than leave a memory, it would leave a reminder.  This idea was to make bookmarks.  I absolutely loved the idea because I know that many older women and men do read in the many hours of spare time they may have.  So my idea was to make bookmarks, take them to a nursing home, and very carefully place them on the door handle so that no one would see me do it.  Making a bookmark leaves a lasting memory because every time they open a book and see the bookmark, they are reminded that knowing that someone cares about you.

Doing a good deed can consist of just about anything that someone can think of.  I wanted to do something for the old people in nursing homes that would leave them with an everyday reminder that someone out there cares about them, even if they might not know them.  I also chose to do this because I was able to get the sense of the atmosphere of a nursing home and to get a feel of what it might be like to live there.  I am not really saying that I would want to live there, but I wanted to get a feel for what people who do live there do for the rest of their lives.  During my one-hour visit, I learned that seniors are very nice people.  They are the kind of people that would say hello to you if you happen to pass them.  I also learned that a simple, inexpensive gift or the sharing of time can be one of the best and most expressive gifts to give.  Yet, mainly, I learned that no matter how different people are, each one appreciates knowing that someone has thought about them.

I have to say that this is one of the best things that I have ever done for someone (actually about 30 people), and it feels great.  I feel as if I might have an impact on someone’s day and the way they may think about strangers, since they received caring thoughts that could have been done by anyone.  It was rather scary to place the bookmark on the doorknob for fear that someone might walk out and see me.  It did work up my nerves a bit, but that is the challenge, to keep it anonymous.  I am glad that I was able to do this for someone who actually needs it.  It makes me wonder how many times someone might have paid for someone else’s dinner or may have done something nice for another person.  It makes me think twice before getting angry with someone because that person just might be the one who helped you.

Anyone who has done an act of kindness or good deed knows that, not only is it rewarding, but it also makes the world a better place.  A good deed done might result in a good deed to come.  Your act of kindness might just influence someone else to do his or her own act of kindness.  If everyone continued to pay it forward, then it could happen.  And if it did happen, the world would be a much better place.

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October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

SSSSH

A deed is an act  of kindness toward someone.  Helping people has a positive effect on other people when they see that someone in dire need has been given a kind helping hand.  Also, performing good deeds can boost one’s self-image, their own confidence level and just the plain satisfaction of being a kind, unselfish person.  We need to recognize the good people in our society who do the everyday good deeds for others.

When I found out that a family in my church had their house burn down, I felt a great sadness for them.  To help them, I and several others (teens) had the idea to start a collection jar to help acquire funds for them so they could rebuild their house.  Through raising a little amount of money for them, we all hoped that it would make the family feel a little more at peace about what had happened.  Even though we didn’t tell them we sent the money to them, we knew that they knew that it was our church family and the help of God which had helped them.  I wanted to help them a lot for the reason that they and their children had lost everything that they owned.  What was left of their house had to be torn down for there was no way to build off the former foundation.  Nothing was saved from the fire except their dog, which had escaped through his dog door.

After helping raise money and sending it to them, I felt a great excitement come over me.  There is no means to describe the delight the family partook in once receiving our gift.  Just getting that family a little closer to having their home back, made me feel quite blissful.  I knew what I had dome came from the heart so I knew what I did was in fact a good deed to carry out.  When the family cam e to church the next Sunday, they assumed the money had come from someone else at the church and had thanked them for this kind gesture.  After hearing their well spoken thanks to whomever gave the money, I felt like a better person and was glad that I could give the little help I could.

I have learned that in helping others, you will receive self-satisfaction.  Through the power of giving, I and several others have made a few other peoples’ lives a little better and made their experience minute in their hearts for the time.  While accomplishing this small feat, inspiration to others to help has occurred.  When others see that we have helped, even just a small amount, they will want to do the same to help anyone out.  The SSSSH is a good thing in that now people have more of an urge to help, just for their own satisfaction.

While I was helping to raise and give money to that family, I felt that it is much better to give than to receive.  Finding and helping those in need is just part of the SSSSH principles.  People get so involved in what they are doing, where they are going, and what to do next, they don’t think about those who could utilize that little bit of help or that small boost of confidence.  I’m glad that in having to write this paper that I did something good that could be respected by many and look forward to doing more good deeds in the future.

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to Hal

Good deeds are sometimes had to come by these days.  Helping others who are in need is very important.  Some people do good deeds for recognition, while others stay anonymous.  Doing an anonymous deed is a way to feel good about yourself without making a big deal about it.

The Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to Hal is an organization that performs good deeds for random people without letting then know who did it.  The reason this organization came about was because of a man name Hal Reichle, a helicopter pilot who died in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm.  People knew Hal for his kindness towards others.  As a way to keep Hal’s spirit around, people perform these good deeds, but instead of using their own name they replace it with Hal’s.

Today being young and in college is difficult.  You are very busy and don’t have a whole lot of time for anything, especially cleaning.  Someone really close to me started college this fall.  He is living on his own for the first time and cleaning isn’t his specialty.  Consequently, for my good deed I decided I would go to his apartment while he was at school and clean his apartment the best I could before he got home.  This wouldn’t have been difficult to do if he lived in Bloomington but he lives in Indianapolis.  This made my time schedule a little tighter but it worked out.

First, I had to figure out how to get into the apartment without asking him for a key.  I decided to call his roommate and tell him I had a present to put in his room and asked if he would leave a key outside in the mailbox for me so I wouldn’t ruin the surprise.  His roommate said that wouldn’t be a problem.

Now that I had that taken care of, I had to figure out a time schedule.  He leaves for school about 1:45PM and it takes me about 2 hours to get to Indianapolis.  I get out of school every day at 1:30PM, so I decided to take off right after school.  I ended up getting to his apartment around 4:00PM.  The key was in the mailbox as planned so I unlocked the door and went to work.  I didn’t quite know what I was in for.  The place was trashed.  There were dishes piled in the sink, clothes all over his bedroom, and the floor needed to be vacuumed terribly.

I first started in the kitchen.  I got all the dishes rinsed and started a load in the dishwasher.  Then I cleaned off all the counter tops and took out the trash.  When the dishes were done, I put them all away and swept the floor.  My last thing to do was mop the floor and then I headed for the living room.  The living room wasn’t too bad.  It just needed to be vacuumed and straightened up.

Next was the bedroom.  I didn’t even know where to start.  After I looked around clueless for a while, I decided to start with the dirty clothes.  First I put all of blue jeans in the washer.  While I was waiting for that load to get done, I made the bed and vacuumed.  When the jeans were done, I put them in the dryer and started a load of shirts.

The next task was his bathroom that was in his bedroom.  I wiped down the sink and counter top and put things away.  Then I sprayed down his shower with bleach and water and rinsed it out.  I took the rugs and vacuumed them and mopped the floor.

Now all that was left was to wait on the laundry.  When it was finally all done, I folded all the clothes and put them away.  By this time it was a little after 8:00PM.  I did a short run through of the apartment to make sure I had gotten everything.  Right before I left, I wrote a little note on their message board saying, “Thank Hal.”  I’m sure that really confused them but I liked it.  Then I headed for home.

Doing a good deed for someone else really makes you feel good about yourself and lifts your spirits.  It is important to help others, whether they are people that know you or complete strangers.  The Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to Hal is a wonderful organization.  Hal Reichle will forever be remembered because of these people and the good deed that they do.  The important thing about good deeds is that if you receive one pass it on.  The longer the chain goes, the better the world will be.

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October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

The Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to Hal

What is a friend?  I define a friend as a companion you can always count on through all your trials and tribulations, no matter what situation you’re in.  Having a friend like this around is truly something special because you know that whatever you need, your friend will be there for you.  I met a friend like this about two years ago.  I had always known Matt Nelson because he was always the funny guy at our school, and he made everybody laugh.  I really didn’t get to know him though until we both started working at the school for a summer job.  After that, we really got to know each other and a great friendship then blossomed soon after. 

During the first summer of working at the school we were both sophomores in high school, and we were sixteen years old.  At the time my sister and I were both sharing a car and unfortunately, she was older so she got to use it for her job.  When Matt found out about this he generously offered to pick me up for work every morning of the summer.  I really didn’t think this was a big deal until I got my own car the next summer and realized how much money gas was and how big pf pain it was to drive out of your way to pick someone up.

When I though about secretly doing a good deed for somebody, I knew I wanted to do one for Matt.  I also wanted to do a good deed for his car because after work we would always make it dirty because we were in our work clothes.  At first I wanted to fill his car up with gas, then I realized you need money for gas!  One day after school Matt had football practice and left his keys in his car.  I then took his car to my house and washed the outside, and vacuumed out the inside.  I then returned his car to the school with about ten minutes to spare.

I chose to do this Matt to kind of repay, and thank him for always giving me rides.  After a while I stopped asking him for rides because he would always be at my house, right on time, no matter what.  He never complained, or acted like it was a big deal to do this day after day.  During the summer I never really said ‘thank you” to him, so this assignment gave me the opportunity to do so.

Eventually Matt found out that I was the one who cleaned his car, and he was really happy when he saw it.  I learned that doing something nice for someone makes you want to do nice things for other people also.  Inside it made me feel good about myself because I never did thank him up to that point.  Even though cleaning his car wasn’t a big deal, it still made both matt and I feel good about ourselves.

When I first received this assignment I honestly thought I was going to just blow it off and make something up.  Then I thought about the last time I did something good for someone else, and I couldn’t think of anything.  It’s funny how a deed so little can make a lot of people happy.  When I first did the good deed I thought Matt would just be happy, but in the end I was also happy with myself.  Doing something nice for somebody else can make you a lot happier, because you know you made somebody happy.  On the whole, this assignment showed me the importance of other people, and how good it feels to make them happy.  By doing good deeds you make other people happy, and you truly feel good inside about yourself.

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Thousands of children are born in the United States every year.  On a daily basis, babies are born into different families that have different backgrounds and ways of life.  The place where this child calls home will shape and mold their future and determine how successful they will become in life.  However, it is scary to think that many of these young children are brought into environments that are harmful, unsafe, and improper for someone to live whether they are being abandoned of just simply not receiving the basic human needs like food and shelter.  It is a fact.  Some children will grow-up in homes where love is not shown and encouragement is not offered.

I cannot imagine what living in a low-income family where parents neglect children would be like.  I grew up in a household where food was never scarce and clothing was always provided.  It is scary to believe that some babies do mot receive fresh diapers when needed and have sufficient clothing to wear everyday.

The Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to hall is a group that promotes performing good deeds to people who are often in need of a little assistance.  About a month ago, I was in a Key Club meeting in my high school.  I heard about a family in the community who had recently had a child and needed help purchasing diapers and clothing for their baby boy.  My first thought was that it was horrible that these people had a child at a time when they were not financially stable and prepared for a lifetime investment that a child brings.  However, as I thought about it more, I realized that by asking for help, the parents are creating a better life for their child. 

For my SSSSH deed, I purchased diapers and a few outfits for the family in need.  I have worked at my church nursery with toddlers for two years, and over this time period, I have fallen in live with kids.  I decided to perform this certain deed because it makes me feel so good to know that I have done something nice to someone much younger than myself and it fulfilled my obsession with baby clothes!  Through working with kids in my church, I have realized how precious toddlers can be.  It is hard to believe that some families may not be able to look at their child with love and pride but instead as an investment that they cannot afford.

Simple common deeds make you feel good no matter how big or small they may be.  Buying supplies for a couple who just recently gave birth to a son makes me feel like I’m doing my part to give this child a future.  Although I will never meet this boy or his family, I know that I brought a smile to his parent’s faces, which could not make me feel better.

Like most teenagers, I work extremely hard for my money.  Over the summer, I was working three part-time jobs so that I could have an income that would last me until next summer.  Often, I have caught myself being very selfish with this money that I earned.  I am usually not willing to spend it on anything that is not necessary for me.  Through performing my SSSSH deed, I became a little more understanding of why someone would donate to charity or spend money on a random person of whom they do not know.  I learned that every once in awhile, it is pleasant to do something nice for someone that needs assistance. 

Someday I will have children of my own.  I am well aware that kids are a huge investment and I hope that my husband and I will never have financial difficulties which require us to cut down expenses so much that we could not provide for our children.  However, it is comforting to know that there are people who care about each and every one of us in this world.  I know that if necessary, there is someone who I can turn to for help.  Performing a good deed is something that makes everyone feel good and the SSSSH group is helping to keep anonymous deeds alive in this country.

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October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

In today’s society it is common to see people perform acts of kindness only if they receive recognition or benefit themselves.  It is difficult to find someone performing acts of kindness for no apparent reason.  I admit that I haven’t thought about this in the past.  But this assignment caused me to reflect on the meaning of kindness, selflessness, and service.  I now feel kindness for reward is an act without valor.  It has no meaning.  It makes no difference in either person’s life.  What has happened to “it is better too give than to receive?”  Are we placed here only for our own enjoyment?  Or is there a higher purpose?  Surely, Gods looks down and sees the selfishness and self-absorption of today’s society and is disappointed in our actions.  The great truth to be learned from this assignment, and in God’s plan, is that giving blesses the giver as much, if not more, that the one who receives the act of kindness.  By being kind to others, I gain satisfaction and self-esteem for myself.  To be a better person, I only have to give of myself for the benefit of others.  What a great lesson to learn!

I had a chance to perform a random act of kindness for a complete stranger recently.  I’m not sure why I picked a stranger for my act.  Maybe it was because I wasn’t sure that the outcome would be.  Would they think my act stupid?  Would they make fun of me?  If so, it would be easier if it came from a stranger.  Knowing I wouldn’t see them again added to my willingness to stick my neck out.  It would hurt too much if I did something for someone I cared about and they reacted poorly.  So, I picked a safe target.

It all started when I was at the Amoco Gas Station.  I noticed an elderly man outside filling his car with gas.  It was a fairly cold morning and the man did not have a jacket to keep warm.  Maybe that is what made me notice him.  After I paid for my gas, I again noticed the man.  This time he was slowly walking toward the front door.  Something about his walk made me have compassion for him.  At that moment I went back to the counter and told the clerk to give five dollars to the man about to walk in the door.  When I said this, the clerk gave me a blank look as if to say “What?”  I again requested she give the money to the man and please not tell him who it was from.  She reluctantly agreed, still bewildered by what I was doing.  I thanked her, held the door open for the man and said, “How’s it going?”

I smiled and went to my car to wait for the man to come out.  A few minutes later I saw the man walk out of the gas station doors with a confused smile.  He was laughing mildly to himself as he got back into his car and drove away.  I’m not sure what he really thought about all this.  Maybe he just thought it was his lucky day.  Maybe my gift made his day brighter, maybe it didn’t.  I don’t know.  I will never know.  But I can imagine!

Did I waste my time and money to help an absolute stranger? Absolutely not!  I felt if I could do this simple task to improve his day, just for a moment, then my assignment was fulfilled.  I chose to do this small task rather than an extravagant one because I felt it came more from the heart to do what I did.  I just wanted to show a little respect for an elderly man who may not have been shown proper respect recently.  The elderly often get ignored.  This is especially true by people my age.  We make fun of their wrinkles, their facility, and their slow motion.  But as I watched him walk to his car, he seemed to me to be a little brighter, more upright, maybe showing a little more life.  I felt good for him.   I had tried to put into action what I have learned from the Bible.  And, in turn, that’s when I learned something myself.  Feeling good for a stranger made me feel good about myself.  I have found a way to make myself happier, just help someone else.

If you have never done a random act of kindness, you should!  You will feel like a brand new person just from the look on the person’s face.  It felt as if I gave the man everything I owned, even though I just gave him a simple five-dollar bill and a smile.  There are no real words to describe the satisfaction you feel when you know you made a person smile and helped him to have a better day.

I was reminded from this experience that it is truly better to give than to receive.  I don’t need worldly recognition to feel good inside.  God knows my heart and wants me to watch for those in need and help whenever possible.  In return, he gives me a blessing that cannot be taken away.  I think the trick is learning to watch for those in need.  We get so tied up around our own thoughts and actions that we do not look at others.  I will try to be more aware of other’s feelings.  I want to encourage instead of tease.  I want to inspire instead of pointing out imperfections.  I am young with few resources, but I am reminded that little things can and do make a difference.  Hopefully, my act made a difference to the old man.  I know it made a difference to me.

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment 

Everyone gives a favor to at least one person in their lifetime, but they might not even realize it.  People perform good deeds all the time, and sometimes they are not always rewarded for the little things.   Even if it is sharing a piece of our favorite candy, helping someone with his or her homework, or making a person smile.  Those activities are done daily and no one ever gets any credit.  Everyone should be rewarded for the deeds that make others feel warm, fuzzy, and good about themselves.

“Hey, you sweet young lady!  How are you doing tonight?” said Vernon, a regular customer at the Culver Restaurant in Bloomington.  He comes in at least twice a week with his wife.  Vernon is always in high spirits when he walks through the doors and even if I am having a bad night he always gets a smile out of me.  Having the experience of living for seventy-four years is unbelievable, but being able to act as if he were fifty-five is amazing.  I had never seen or met Vernon until he became a customer, but I am so glad I did because I respect, admire and look up to him as though I have known him all my life.  It is not every day a person can say that and truly mean it, but I can, so I decided to show him my appreciation anonymously.

Vernon and his wife ordered two Philly rib steak baskets and two dishes of the flavor of the day, Key Lime Pie. I took their order, gave them a number, and told them to sit down because we would bring it out.  While they patiently waited for their food, I bought a ten-dollar gift certificate, wrote “thank you for being you” set it with their food, and walked away to let one of the other employees take the tray out to them.  I then watched from a distance as he picked up the envelope and opened it.

Receiving that envelope shocked him for a moment; he did not know what to think.  He looked as though he was not sure why he had earned it and then he read the little memo and smiled with happiness.  He then passed it to his wife and ate a French fry.  After his meal and dessert, just as they were leaving, he approached the manager who happened to be working that night and told him that he did not know who did it, but to tank whoever gave him the gift certificate.  Just four days later he was back, and pulled out the certificate and cashed it in with great pride.

For me giving back to others for what they have given me, made me realize that you should not just sit back and watch other people perform good deeds, when you could be out there doing the same thing, having a great impact on a person’s life.  Also, people should not take the little things for granted, because without them, life would not flow as easily.  Giving Vernon that gift certificate let me give him a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.  That is priceless and I would do it all over again to se his reaction that he got.

Throughout my lifetime I have had family problems, but through the years I have had people anonymously do things for me.  I know how it feels to have people give to me, and they really have no idea how it feels to know that people really do care and people are here for whatever.  If you do not think you do good deeds for anyone, you should think of a nice way to say thanks.  You will appreciate doing it.  Everybody deserves to feel good and respected in life, and there is no other way to show or do that unless other people recognize others for good deeds.

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October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment 

The Performance of Good

SSSSH Paper (Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to Hal)

You wake up in the morning, roll over, and see that the clock reads 7:35; you know that you need to be at school in 25 minutes, including travel time.  You get dressed and stick your bread in the toaster, only to find that the toaster doesn’t work.  So, you grab your coffee and hope that you will make it till lunch without starving.  You get in your car and go to start it when you find out that the battery is dead.  Luckily your neighbor across the street is willing to help you get the car started, so you can head to school.  You get to school and with the already hectic morning, the last thing you most likely want to do is have to teach a bunch of loud middle school students.  Sometimes you just want to run away and hide, but you know that you have an obligation.  This is most likely a rare coincidence, for all to this to happen on the same day.  However, if this were to happen, you would most likely feel like the world is falling down on you.  We all have those days when we just don’t want to be social or do anything, and we might just need a little boost of encouragement.

As common as cookies are, I still think they can make someone happy.  So I chose to make chocolate chip cookies and wrap them in Saran Wrap.  Once they were wrapped, I took a piece of string, slipped a piece of paper on it, and tied it around the cookies.  The paper was an explanation of where they cookies came from, who, and what they are for.  Then I got up really early, about 6:30 in the morning, took the cookies to the middle school and placed them on the table in the teacher’s lounge.

Knowing that teachers play an important part in our education for the future, it is important that we, as students, keep them in good spirits.  Middle school students tend to be pretty rowdy at times and can make life stressful for the teachers.  I thought that by giving them a little encouragement, they would pass it on and look at the good things in life.  I feel that it is important for a teacher to be in a good mood.  If the teacher is not, then it makes it hard for the students to learn.  It also makes it hard for the teachers to concentrate on what they are supposed to be teaching.  I also think that this is a way of showing my appreciation, even though they don’t know who did it, because it tells them that someone out there cares about them.

Although a cookie with a note attached to it might not change someone’s mood for the day, it might make him or her smile, at least for a minute.  Even if I made a difference for only one teacher, I still think my effort was worth it.  I like to look at it this way; smiles are contagious, and if I get one teacher to smile for a day, I would hope that he or she could pass on the happiness.  Joking around and being sneaky are a couple things I like to do, and I had to get creative to pass this one without any of the teachers knowing.  So, when I got up at 6:30 in the morning and Mr. Lishka, the principal of the middle school was the only one there, that made it easy as pie.  Being able to sneak by, and knowing that no one was there to know who put the cookies on the table made me feel s if I had accomplished my deed

Even though I did not get to see the reactions of the teachers, I learned that a good deed does not always have to be made known; meaning that you do not always have to be recognized for he good things you do.  If you are doing a good deed for the recognition, then you are doing it for the wrong reason.  I also learned that you could make someone happy just by letting them know you care.

Sometimes we try to make the best of our days, but they just don’t seem to be turning out the way we want them to.  Being able to complete a deed should warm the heart of the receiver and give them a better outlook on life.  This is why friends are important.  Not only are your friends important, but so are all the strangers in the world.  The reason I say that strangers are important is because they are human, just like you, and they might be the ones that are there to give you the little bit of encouragement when the world is a your back.  Just remember that there is someone out there that cares.

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October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

It seems that whenever my brother and I are around each other we try to make the other on mad.  It does not matter what we are doing, whether we are just sitting on the couch watching TV or playing basketball in the driveway.  We each do things to make the other mad.  Along with basketball, my brother also plays football, baseball and golf.

However, he gets into football a little more than the others.  When he plays football he puts on his Minnesota Vikings uniform that came with a sad excuse for shoulder pads.  He is usually outside playing football in his uniform when I get home from football practice.  For a while now, he has wanted a real pair of shoulder pads.  Something that will protect him better than the ones that he has.

I figured this would be a good opportunity for me to not look for an excuse to do something mean to him, rather be nice to him.  I am Mr. Ward’s teacher assistant, and every day I am doing things for him that have to do with football.  That includes getting the field ready for games on Friday.  One of the Friday’s before the game I was getting the yard markers out of the junior football league shed (the shed by the softball field).  When I walked in, all the markets were there and in front of them were these extremely small shoulder pads.  I took them out of there and wore them around for the rest of the afternoon.  When I got home from school that day my brother was walking outside to play football.  I had the shoulder pads lying next to me in my car.  I looked at them when I pulled into the driveway and thought that I could give them to him as a good deed.  I waited until a school night so that he would go to bed early.  On that night I went into his room, thinking he would be asleep by then, and sure enough he was.  I just laid the pads on the floor in his room for him to find when he woke up the next morning.  When we woke up, he did his normal morning routine.  When he came downstairs, however, he not only had on his school clothes, but he had the shoulder pads on as well!

Seeing that made me feel good.  That told me that he liked the shoulder pads very much.  I kept hearing him ask my mom who got them for him.  My mom knew it was me, but she never told.  It is quite rare seeing me do something nice for my brother.  Doing this made me feel real good.  I could tell he was excited about the pads.  Maybe now I will not be so mean to him and do more nice things for him.  This makes me realize that maybe if I do nice things for my brother, or anyone that makes you mad sometimes, they might not try to make you mad for no reason anymore.

My brother still thinks that dad was the one who left the shoulder pads.  He is bugging my mom so much about who left the shoulder pads that I might have to tell him that it was me-maybe then he will stop bugging me about it.

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

SSSSH

  How would you feel if you spent years with no one to share your feelings with, no one to laugh or cry with? How would you like to go years without a hug?  How would you feel if you had to live your life with no one that cared about you?  That is how many prisoners spend their time in jail.  Their family and friends shut them out of their lives the day they enter jail.  I know a prisoner, Detroit, that this happened to.  The simplest acts of kindness make him extremely happy.  He loves to receive my phone calls and letters, but when I take time to visit him in jail he is so touched he gets tears in his eyes.

Prisoners have to pay for snacks, paper, stamps, and various other things.  I sent Detroit a $15.00 money order and some of our old sports magazines.  I went through our magazine basket and pulled out the five latest sports magazines.  Then I wrote Detroit’s given name, Terry Jackson, and his prison system number, B32202, on top of the magazine.  The prisons require all magazines to have the inmate’s name and number.  I also cut our address labels on the magazines so that he won’t know they were from me.  I purchased a fifteen-dollar money order from the Huck’s gas station.  I wrote Terry Jackson B32202 on the money order.  Next, I placed the magazines and money order in a big envelope and addressed it.  Finally, I gave my mother two dollars so she would mail the package while at work.

I had a cousin that spent some time in prison. Detroit was his cellmate.  He helped my cousin learn how to survive in jail.  My family started writing and visiting him to show our thanks for taking care of my cousin.  We have known him for about eight years.  We write to him send him our sports magazines when we are done reading them.  I picked sending money and magazines to Detroit because I know it will make him very happy and he doesn’t enjoy much.  His family never calls or visits him.  He say s no one cared what happened to him until we adopted him into our family.  He doesn’t always like the food in their cafeteria, so he likes to be able to buy food for his room.  He only gets a very small amount of money each month, so sending him money allows him to eat something he enjoys.  I know the food in the school cafeteria can be bad, I can’t imagine what food in the prison’s cafeteria is like.

Sending the money to Detroit made me feel very good.  I can just imagine his big grin when he gets the money and magazines.  I feel a little sad that I haven’t taken time to visit him in several months.  Taking time to think about how he feels has made me decide to have to go see him soon.  Such a little bit of time and effort will give him so much joy it is definitely worth it.  Fifteen dollars means hardly anything to me but makes a big difference in Detroit’s life.

I learned that making others happy makes you happy also.  Helping people that are less fortunate makes you feel good about yourself.  It also makes you realize how lucky you are.  Helping others and not expecting anything in return gives you a happy feeling that money and recognition can’t buy.

When people are upset that things are not going well in their lives, they should take time to help someone else.  This will make then look at what they do have and appreciate it more.  The warm, happy feeling you get from helping others can’t be found anywhere else.  Doing good deeds benefits the people that render the deeds as much as it benefits the receivers of the deed.

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October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment 

For a moment, think back to elementary school and receiving your first secret admirer note, watching someone admire a bouquet of flowers from “Anonymous”, leaving a messy house in the morning and coming home to a clean one are all types of “Hal Reichle” good deeds that probably have been done.  Hal Reichle loved making others happy by doing deeds that helped them out one way or another.  Helping people out either with money problems or chores that need to be done re helpful, even if it only is a little bit.  If everyone did just one good deed for someone else, than I believe that people would be happier or more considerate of others.

All my family and friends are very special to me.  One, in particular, is my first cousin, Andra.  She would do anything to help someone out.  I, in return, would do the same for her.  This past June, Andra was proposed to by her boyfriend, Pat.  They have been dating for two years and four months now.  Pat is a part of the security staff at State Farm.  Andra, with a degree in social work, has been discouraged in finding a job in her career field.  She works part-time at Von Maur and at S.O.A.R.  She was hoping to have a job before any wedding plans were made.  Her goal is to find a job that deals with helping people that have financial, relationship, alcohol, or depression problems.  Before getting engaged, she wanted to have that job to have the extra income to help with the wedding plans.  Andra and Pat are like just about every new couple that is starting off their life, money is a needy issue.  I decided that it would be an excellent idea to give some money to Andra and Pat to help them out with anything they needed.

To do this special deed for my loving cousin and her soon-to-be husband, I enclosed one hundred and fifty dollars, a small anonymous letter, and the article about SSSSH in an envelope.  I then placed this envelope in a bag and put it in her porch.  The money I gave was money I made from Girl Scout Camp this summer.  The letter I wrote said that she and Pat should use this money to help with their financial needs with the wedding or anything else they needed to start off their new life together.  I also enclosed the article about SSSSH because I felt that the article was very interesting.  One other thing that ties the article in with my cousin is that the Hal Reichle was in Operation Desert Storm, the same battle that my cousin Tom, Andra’s brother, was also part of.  I also feel that this will impact her a great deal, not only by the money but also the fact that Hal Reichle was a part of the same battle as Tom.

After sending this letter and money to my cousin I feel anxious about what her reaction will be.  I wish that I could see her face when she reads this letter.  I am excited and almost relieved that she will be so happy and appreciative of this surprise.  When I was a young girl, receiving presents was the best.  As I have grown older, I feel that giving presents is more exciting than receiving them.  It is very exciting to see someone open a gift from you that you know they really wanted and loved.  I have learned that you do not always have to give presents to someone and have them know it is from you.  People who receive anonymous gestures must feel a special warmth and happiness inside.  It is just as exciting to give someone something that they need without their knowing who did it.

When a young kid helps an elderly lady carry her groceries, a stranger opens a door for another person who has his hands full, a teenager lets someone else back out first in a parking lot, or being kind, can be the nicest thing that anyone can do.  Little things are what makes more smiles happen.  To know that someone cares about another in a way that they would offer something of theirs to help out another without them knowing, is something special.  Hal Reichle was a very special man, as I have read.  Now, I, too, have kept his memory alive and made my cousin’s day a little brighter.

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Have you ever had your day made by something someone did for you anonymously?  If so, it probably made you feel very good and made you really feel as if someone cares about you.  Well, I personally have never had someone do something for me, anonymously, but I have done an anonymous good deed for someone.  When I first got this assignment I could not think of something to do, then I realized I don’t need to come up with something to do if it is a good deed that I am to do then it should just come to me when it is time.  And to my surprise it happened, it came to me without any effort on my part all it took was a little listening to others.

One day I was on my way to work.  I thought work was going to be the same as always, but when I got there; one of my co-workers seemed to be very upset about something. I sat down and I asked her what was wrong.  She started to tell me how this year has been the worst for her so far.  She then told me as she started to cry that her parents were getting a divorce after she said that, I tried to comfort her by saying everything would be ok, but then she started to tell me about everything else that has gone wrong or her lately.  She told me she wrecked her car and she had to pay the whole amount to get it fixed since she had only liability, and her grandmother had just passed away.

After we got done talking, I went to work.  As I was working, it came to me I should do something for her to make her day better.  I put a lot of thought into it, I thought about working hours for her so she wouldn’t have to work everyday, but then I remembered she needs the money for her car.  Then it dawned on me I could send her flowers at work that should cheer her up a little.  I knew she was working the next day so I called and ordered the flowers to be sent to work.

The day she received the flowers I did not work, so I didn’t get to see her reaction when she received the flowers, but I did work the next day.  When I got to work the first thing she told me was someone sent her flowers, and of course I played it off as if I didn’t know anything about it.  I asked her who they were from and she said she thought they were sent by a friend from school.  She couldn’t stop telling me about how happy the flowers made her and how much they brightened her day.

From doing my anonymous good deed I learned doing something as simple as sending flowers to someone can really make a difference in their day and attitude.  I also learned that you shouldn’t always take credit for everything you do because you can feel as good about yourself just knowing you made someone’s day better.  Doing this also showed me that a little bit of kindness can go a long way.

To conclude, I learned a lot from doing an anonymous good deed overall I learned it is better to give than to receive, and in doing something like an anonymous good deed, you can learn a lot not only about yourself but also about the person you chose to help.  I think I will start to do a lot more for other people now that I know the satisfaction it can bring to me.

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment 

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”  That is a famous quote from Tennessee William’s play, A Streetcar Named Desire.  Nowadays, strangers rarely take the time to give a passerby the time of day.  That is why the Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to Hal started on the belief that strangers can still do good deeds and that people can depend on strangers.  I decided to try an act that might be something the SSSSH might do.  I did not wash cars or paint garages.  Instead, I decided to help a teacher by washing her dry-erase boards. 

Although not thought of as important, dry-erase boards are important to this teacher as they aid in her teaching.  The students, such as I, write down questions the teacher might ask, as well as the answers.  When these dry-erase boards started to become dry and discolored, students had a tough time writing on them, as well as seeing what they wrote since the colors sometimes smeared or got lost in the stains.  Furthermore, stained boards, when stored in an open area, are an eyesore.  They also make the rest of the room look messy.  When the students started to complain about this problem, I decided it was time I stepped up to the plate and perform a good deed.

As a teacher, one must normally be at the school before the students arrive, and must normally stay after until the students are gone.  This was no different for my teacher.  She normally came in between 7:00 and 7:15 A.M.  She normally left between 3:30 and 4:30 P.M.  I did not want to take the boards out before school in case she needed them that day for class.  After school was the only option I had, but when would I get them out?  Since I normally work right after school every single day, I leave before she leaves.  I had to find a day when I would be at school later than she was.  I found my window of opportunity on the day of my chorus concert.  The concert was not until 7:30P.M.  We would be done by 8:00 P.M.  After we performed, I snuck back to her room and took all of the dry-erase boards.  I put them in my trunk and then took them home for a bath.

Scrub-a-dub-dub, twenty-four boards had to be done.  I started a the boards at nine that night.  It was a slow process.  I had to wash, rinse, and repeat, always repeating for that

Nice shiny glow.  As I washed, I tried my hardest to make the white again, but some boards were just too stained.  I made as many boards white as I could.  The cleaning seemed to take forever, one board right after the other.  Finally, at about 10 o’clock, I finished washing the boards.  I felt as if I had done a good job, that it was worth my time.  I also felt great knowing I had helped one of my favorite teachers.

The next day came.  I placed her boards in her room before seven that morning.  When I got to her class, there on her board was the message I had left her.

                        “Mrs.__________,

                                         Someone has performed a good deed for you.  They have
                                  made your dry-erase boards awesomely clean.

                                                                                  Yours truly,

                                                                                    SSSSH ”

I could not believe my eyes.  She had either not noticed the message or she was really glad someone had finally washed her boards.  She never really said anything about it, but I hope she liked the gesture.  I was just glad to do something nice.  I then realized that doing a good deed should not be something you force yourself to do, but something that you just naturally do.  Also, you should never do something just to earn praise.  You should do it because you want to or it is right.

Unfortunately, my good deed was not anything fantastic.  My task was nothing to me, as I like to give.  “It is in giving that we receive,” says the Prayer to St. Francis of Assisi.  The dry-erase boards just needed to be cleaned.  In this case, I gave my time and effort, and in return, people will hopefully learn better and get good grades.  If everyone could realize that it is better to give than to receive, we might have more good deeds and more peace on Earth.

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October 16, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

As Tim and I drove up to a mouthwatering atmosphere, neither of us could wait to get inside and fill our hungry stomachs with great tasting food.  Once inside a waiter greeted us and took us to a two-seater table.  When we sat, we looked at the many options to fill our hungry stomachs with.  As we talked about what we were going to eat, our waiter came and asked us if we were ready to order.  When we ordered, Tim got the usual strawberry lemonade and fajita wraps for his dinner, I got the delicious country fried steak meal with a Sprite.

After our waiter left to go and give the cooks in the kitchen our ticket, Tim and I sat at our table and talked.  As we were talking, I just happened to look to my left, I saw an older man sitting by himself.  He looked like a nice man, but I could not think of why he was by himself.  Many thoughts ran through my mind, but not one could be pin pointed.  It seemed a bit odd, because he was sitting in a booth that could hold about four people.

He sat there quietly eating his meal, and drinking his coffee.  The only person that bothered him with his waiter, but that was only to ask if he wanted another refill on his drink.  Our meal finally came, and the only thing that came to mind, was to dig in and start eating as soon as possible.  When I looked up, I couldn’t think about how fast I wanted to scarf down my meal.  I could only think about how lonely the guy sitting only a couple of feet away looked.  I told Tim to look to his right and see if the guy had a ring on his finger, but Tim couldn’t make out if he had one on or not.

As Tim and I enjoyed our dinner and the great conversation that we kept up the whole night, I would periodically look over my shoulder and see if anyone had accompanied the older man yet, but nobody had filled the lonely empty space.  When we were done with our dinner, our waiter came and asked if we wanted dessert.  We told her no, but I told her to take my five dollars and get the lonely gentleman beside us anything he wanted for dessert.  We paid our ticket and got up to leave, when I heard our waiter talking to the man, asking him if he wanted any dessert.  He told her no, but she told him that dessert was already paid for by the couple that was sitting next to him.  I didn’t hear anything else, because we were out the doors heading towards Tim’s truck.

Oddly Tim was parked right outside the window where he was sitting.  We could see him through the window along with the waiter.  I saw the waiter pointing outside to us, so I kept looking.  The guy turned his head to the right and slowly put his right hand up to say thank you.  When I saw that, I really wanted to cry, because it got to me that I did something really nice for some total stranger that might have brightened his day a little more.

I raised my right hand to say welcome and then got in the truck.  Tim asked what I raised my hand for and I told him that the guy just waved to say thank you.  Tim got into the truck and told me that he thought that it was really nice that I did that for someone that I didn’t even know.  As I sat there, I felt really good about myself and what I had done.   Not only did I go home happy, but a complete stranger went home happier than he was when he came to the restaurant.

October 16, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Mixing buckets of feed.  Filling water troughs.  Checking calves.  These are not things that I usually do in my everyday routine, but one day last week I decided to do these things as a favor for a friend.  My boyfriend Brock lives on a cattle farm, and he has to do these chores twice a day, everyday.  He had other commitments during chore time last Friday, and he was worried about the cattle getting fed on time.  After hearing how uncomfortable he was about the situation, and since I didn’t have school that day, I decided to solve the problem for him.

Without Brock knowing, I drove to his farm and did his chores.  I began in the feed shed where I sat out over twenty buckets of feed.  I mixed some of the buckets with oats and corn.  Others were mixed with corn, oats, and pellets.  The rest were filled with regular feed.  Once they had been filled, I put half of them into the back of the six wheeler and drove to the feedlots.  I delivered them to the front lot, middle lot and south shed.  Once the cows saw the buckets, they hurried over to the feed pans.  After making sure that these cows were fed, I went back to the feed shed to retrieve the other half of the buckets.  I then went to the bull barn where I was greeted by more hungry cows.  Once these cows were fed, I got the hose and filled water troughs at all the lots and barns.  The last chore I did was checked calves.  I walked through all of the barns and lots, making sure al calves were accounted for and healthy.  After seeing that all of them were there and healthy, Brock’s chores were finally complete.  I put everything back where it belonged and left before he got there and discovered what I had done.

After doing all of these tasks, I felt tired but really glad that I had decided to help Brock.  I hoped that I had done everything correctly, and did not forget anything.  I was anxious to see his reaction.  I never would have thought that doing a favor for someone else could make me feel so good.  I am grateful that I don’t have to do these chores everyday, and now that I have actually done his chores, I have empathy for him.  I also learned that doing a favor for others anonymously, is something that I should do more often, because not only does it help them, it helps me.

Upon receiving this assignment, I had no idea what I was going to do for my good deed.  I saw this as just another dumb paper to write.  But this turned out to be a really good task.  After spending time with Brock at the farm, and seeing how much the cattle really meant to him, it became obvious what my good deed would be.  Doing his chores on the farm wasn’t the easiest, or most fun thing that I have done, but it made a difference to him, and made me a better person.

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October 16, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

I won’t lie and pretend that I don’t absolutely hate doing work and chores for my parents.  In fact, I hate chores and “helping out around the house” so much I avoid it whenever I can and complain to no end whenever I can’t.  I am not quite sure why it bothers me so much.  I have no problem working for other people or causes, but something about “helping out around the house” feels like cruel and unusual punishment.  In my mind, there is nothing worse than to be trying to relax at home and have one of my parents come up to me and tell me they need my help with something.  That something is never fun and is most usually mind-numbingly boring.  Aside from that, I do everything in my power to delay the inevitable and every job I do seems to take forever because of that delaying.

The above stated reasons are why my good deed was such a big deal to me.  As I was sitting at home alone one night, mulling over my entertainment options for the next couple of hours, I walked in to the kitchen for a snack.  There, on the counter to my left, was a pile of dishes that had been sitting there for the past few days.  On any normal day I would have walked straight past the dishes thinking about them only long enough to hope it would be someone that got stuck washing them.  On that day, however, I stopped and looked at the pile, and for whatever strange reason, contemplated washing them myself.  This was a very awkward feeling to actually have the urge to do something useful and “help out around the house.”  Suddenly I found myself having to make a choice, go to the basement and play NCAA College Football 2004 on the Play Station 2 or stay upstairs and wash the dishes.  The next five minutes consisted of internal debate and struggle, my normal self wanting to get out of the kitchen ad to the PS2 as soon as possible while its rarely seen counterpart was urged to attack the dishes on the counter.

At the end of the debate, the dishes won out against overwhelming odds.  It was the upset of the century.  To this day I cannot say for sure what it was that made me voluntarily “help out around the house.”  Was it divine intervention?  Or perhaps a subconscious desire to contribute?  I like to think it was much simpler than all that.  It was nothing more than the knowledge that if my parents came home and, after 4 hours, nothing in the house was any cleaner I would regret not doing the dishes.  The world will never know.

While the reason will be forever clouded in shadow and mystery, the feeling of al job well done at the end of the ordeal was a good one.  Neither of my parents ever noticed that I had done, dried, and put away the dishes, but it didn’t take away from the feeling.  I never felt the need to tell them what I had done either.  It just never seemed necessary and looking back I think that bragging about it would have only taken away from the feel of accomplishment and pride.  Dishwashing is definitely not the hardest or most time consuming chore to be done, but it does need to be done.  And at the end of the hour it took to complete the job I was certainly proud.

There are not volumes of knowledge to be gained from washing dishes and not telling anyone about it, but I can say that it was somewhat of a learning experience.  It made me step into the shoes of my parents if even for just an hour.  What finally won the argument for doing the dishes was one simple thought.  “How nice would it be to come home from a night out and not have to worry about doing the dishes?”  So from a moral standpoint, I learned a lot about the Golden Rule and hope that the knowledge will stay with me for quite a while.

This story gives me more confidence in the human race as a whole.  That may sound absurd since all I did was wash dishes for an hour, but it’s the truth.  If a person who hates “helping out around the house” can one night just be inspired to complete such a menial task, then maybe there is hope yet for people to start helping each other.  I did not enjoy doing the dishes and I still walk by dishes I see on the counter without a second thought, but just the fact that I, of all people, voluntarily did housework leads me to believe that people can suck it up and help each other out even if they hate the task that needs doing.

October 16, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Grandparents are some of the greatest people we will ever have in our lives.  Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away about four years ago.  Grandma was so lost; she didn’t know what to do.  She needed comfort and support, so she turned to her neighbor, Betty.  Grandma and Betty have been friends for a long time.  They became closer friends after my grandfather’s passing and sitting out in the grass and talking a lot.

Over the past four years, Betty’s health has not been very good.  One of her problems is a disorder that has changed her life forever.  She falls asleep while driving, which, of course, is very dangerous.  One night as Betty was coming home, she had a wreck.  She just slid off the road a little, but it scared her 

Since Betty’s husband also passed a while ago, she didn’t have anyone that could help at home. Consequently, she stays with her daughter’s family a lot.  They help take care of her and watch out for her.  Unfortunately, Betty cannot drive at all now.

Every now and again she comes to check on her house; basically to make sure it’s the same way she left it.  It makes me sad to see that she can’t do much.  The other day whole I was mowing my grandma’s yard, I decided to mow Betty’s too.  As I worked I thought about how much things have changed for me over the past four months

When I first moved to my grandma’s house I hated it.  She wouldn’t let me do anything if it didn’t involve school or work.  But when I was mowing Betty’s yard, it made me glow.  I knew I was helping her out just doing something little.  It made me feel really good, so good I wanted to tell her it was I, but I didn’t.  Now I don’t think it’s that bad living with my grandma.  In fat, I like it here now.

From this experience, I have learned that the little things count a whole lot.  They can mean so much to someone who is disabled.  Betty is such a nice person to talk to; I just wish I could do more to help her out.  Best of all, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make someone happy.  You know what they say; money is the root to all evil.

As a conclusion to my paper, I would like to say that I enjoyed doing this assignment.  It was very fun to do something for someone and them not even know who it is.  Everyone could use a little help.  Remember to treat others how you want to be treated.

October 16, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment 

Many people take for granted their possessions and what many believe to be every day necessities.  I hear people often complain about the size of their house, their type of car, or how much money they make.  It is not common that one takes time out of his or her day to think about how fortunate he or she is.  Many of my friends and family have been blessed with good fortune.  However, there is one in particular that I believe could use a little help.  Helping others out could really make a difference if this occurred more frequently.  A group of people made The Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to Hal for their friend after he passed away.  Hal was known as a good guy.  He helped everyone in need.  For that reason, when he died they wanted his good deeds and caring lifestyle to continue even though he was unable to.  My English class’s teacher wanted us to experience the joy of giving anonymously, so she had us join this secret society.

Trying to think of a good deed that would mean a lot to someone was the hardest part of this assignment.  I racked my brain for a few weeks throwing away every idea that was not extraordinary.  I finally thought of the perfect good deed.  Every day that I would go to work I paid attention to my friend, Laura.  She is nineteen years old, just out of her schooling to become a facialist.  At the time she was five months pregnant with little money to support her child.  She does not make much at work yet because she is new and does not have an established clientele.  Her boyfriend does not make very much money either with his Chinese restaurant delivery job.  Out of all of the people that I know, she was the person that needed an act of kindness more than anyone.  She would truly appreciate it.

I decided to give Laura a fifty-dollar gift certificate to Toys-R-Us so that she would be able to buys toys and clothes for her new baby.  I went to work with the gift certificate in an envelope marked “Laura.”  I placed it in her facial room in a spot that she was sure to see it.  She had already left work for the night so she would find it the next morning when she went back in.  I was sure she would figure out that it was me who gave her the gift certificate since I was the last one to leave work the night that I gave her the gift certificate.  Sure enough, the next day she questioned me to se if I knew who had placed it in her room.  Being the horrible liar that I am, my friend, Dustin, had to save me from the interrogation.  He answered all of the questions for me.  If she had not been so excited about the gift, she would have seen that I was avoiding her questions and lying whenever I happened to answer one.  However, she never caught me.

After I performed this good deed, I felt higher than a kite.  I felt better doing this good deed than I ever have doing good deeds when the person knows who I am.  The reason that it gave me such a good feeling was because of the fact that it was unselfish.  I was able to know Laura’s true feelings about the gift.  I knew that she genuinely appreciated it.  If she had that I gave the gift certificate to her, she would have said thanks and acted appreciative, but I would not have truly known how much it meant to her.

This assignment has taught me a lesson that some people go their entire life without figuring out.  I truly have learned and felt the gift of the saying “it is better to give than to receive.”  I know the joys of giving to someone that is truly in need of help.  I did not even get a thank you, and, surprisingly enough, it felt better giving this present than any other gift I have ever given.  I saw how grateful Laura honestly was.  There was no fakeness to her thankfulness.  It made me so warmhearted to know that I helped a friend out.  I also now appreciate all of my possessions more because I see that I can be worse off.

Many people’s biggest flaw is that they do appreciate what they have as much as they should.  They are too focused on having a bigger house or a better car.  If people looked to try to see the less fortunate, they would see how grateful they should be.  If more people paid attention to the people that are worse off than they are, they would want to do good deeds on a regular basis.  Many would perform their acts of kindness anonymously because of the indescribable feeling that is gained from it.  It makes me wonder how different the world would be if everyone was more like Hal.

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October 16, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Have you ever seen someone having a bad day?  Everyone has seen someone, maybe a total stranger.  Have you ever wondered if there was anything you can do to make them feel better?  Doing a good deed by sending them flowers or helping them pay for something, or even leaving an extra tip just because, is something that will brighten their day.

The good deed I chose to do was to send flowers to my sister, Steph, who lives in Champaign, just to tell her thanks for everything.  I didn’t sign my name to the card, but she knew it was from me.  My sister is in her third year at the University of Illinois, she is a Kinesiology major.  I don’t really know a lot about that field but I do know it takes up a lot of time and is difficult.  Kinesology is a part of physical therapy, and my sister wants to go to medical school to finish it.  I decided to send her flowers because my sister is working her way through college.  She works two jobs and has to study for all her classes.  Which doesn’t leave her much time to go out and have fun.  But somehow she manages to do all that and keep her grades up.

My sister has been like my second mother.  When my mom couldn’t help me with homework, my sister was always there to help.  Even now that she is forty-five minutes away, she still helps me.  No matter how busy she was she would always stop to help me.  When we were younger all we would do was fight constantly, but now she would do anything for me and I would do anything for her.  She always puts other people in front of herself; I admire that a lot about her.  This is my senior year, which my sister makes time to come watch all my activities because they are my last.  This deed had come at a really good time because my sister had just quit one of her jobs and was looking for another, plus she also had a couple papers due for her classes, which was stressing her out.  When she called to say thanks and to talk, she told me that doing that had made her feel better.

I chose my sister for this deed because she is always there for me no matter what.  I admire her because she can work her way through college, keep her grades up and still have time to help others.  I wanted to find a way to tell her thanks and I appreciate all her hard work.  I just wanted to let her know that she is important to me and how grateful I am to have her as my sister.

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Have you ever wanted to make somebody’s day by performing a good deed without their knowing?  You would be surprised by how much you could do for a person by helping them out a little.  It doesn’t have to be anything big.  It could be anything from leaving a stressed waitress an extra tip, or helping out a busy friend with their chores.  It is not what you do for that person; it is the thought of doing it that counts.  Performing a good deed should not only leave the recipient feeling good; it should also make you feel good about yourself knowing how much that person appreciates your thoughtfulness.

For my good deed I sent flowers to my grandmother.  I went to Linda’s Silks and Flowers and picked out a very festive fall arrangement, thinking of my grandmother’s love for fall.  Just Because was written on the card and Linda delivered the arrangement.  My grandmother is the person whom I look up to and admire the most.  She has always been there for me and has been my shoulder to lean on.  She has given so much to me and I knew sending her flowers would show how much she means to me and thank her for everything.  My grandmother works very hard in the field and I know this time of year is very stressful and demanding.  Sending her flowers I knew would brighten her day and hopefully make the rest of the week bright and cheerful.

The feeling of performing the deed was the best part of the experience.  I felt very good about being able to do something good for somebody without her knowing.  Being able to perform an act of kindness is very important to me.  I was able to put someone else’s feelings and needs in front of my own.  Just knowing how my grandmother reacted makes me smile, because I’m sure as soon as she got the flowers her face lit up with a smile and her heart was filled with warmth.  I wish that I had been there to see her expressions, but being able to imagine it is good enough for me.  Being able to make my grandma happy is an indescribable feeling that lives inside my heart.  Sending flowers doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but to me it means a great deal.

I learned many important things from this experience.  I learned that it is more about giving than receiving.  I learned that being able to do something good for someone could change someone’s day, or even change part of his or her life.  I learned that not every person in this world is the same and that everybody needs different things.  Being able to do those things for other people is very important to me.  I also learned that doing something little for someone, could amount to something big for him or her.  If everyone did something nice for someone, our world would have a more cheerful environment and we would be more thankful for what we have.

To conclude, doing a good deed for someone is a great feeling, even if it is only sending flowers to that person; it is the thought of giving that really counts.  Being able to offer help and kindness to others is very important in our society today.  Today people are more worried about receiving gifts rather than giving to others.  I want to be able to make people smile and be happy.  Making someone’s day can change your outlook on life.  Writing this paper I learned a lot about the concept of life and how we should treat others.  I believe everyone in this world should have to perform a good deed, and write about how it made him or her feel after they performed it.

October 17, 2003
SSSSH Writing Assignment

Almost everyone in the world has done a good deed for someone else.  Most people think that they deserve recognition for it.  I, on the other hand, learned from this assignment that I could do a good deed for someone and still feel excellent about myself for doing a good deed without recognition.  The good deed I did was buying someone else’s pictures for them.

I chose to do this deed because I felt like the man who dropped his pictures off for one hour was not having a very good day.  In fact, he seemed as if he was completely depressed.  I felt that buying his pictures would brighten up his day.  I was standing in line buying my pictures when I decided that I needed to do a good deed, so I would buy pictures for the man that was dropping them off for one hour.  He looked kind of glum and didn’t seem as if he was having a good day.  I felt that it would cheer him up if I bought his pictures.  So I told the cashier that I wanted to buy his pictures and she gave me a blank stare.  I told her again and she rang me up for them and I was out of there.

For the rest of the day I felt something inside of me that brightened my day also.  I liked the fact that I did something for someone else and he didn’t know who it was.  I didn’t want recognition for it or want him to thank me.  I just liked the feeling of being such a generous person.  I am positive that it helped brighten his day as well as mine.  Now that I did something nice like this for him, maybe he will think of the person who bought his pictures and do something nice for someone else when the situation arises.  I hope that due to this lesson that I hopefully taught him, he will carry this lesson on to someone else and teach him or her about what it feels like to do a good deed without the person knowing who did it.

I learned that doing a good deed for someone doesn’t mean that you need recognition for it.  It means that you teach yourself about not being selfish and wanting to be acknowledged for something great that you did.  I learned that in order to make someone happy, maybe you don’t need to tell him or her who did that nice thing for him or her.  I would feel so incredibly grateful that I would carry on the lesson that I learned to someone else and make his or her day too.  Doing a good deed for someone means that you are making him or her happy and feeling happy yourself.

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November 2004 Good-Deed Letters

Response letters from the 2004 Thanksgiving Good Morning Americas Show
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Comment from SSSSH Website:
November 27, 2003

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November 27, 2003

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November 27, 2003

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November 27, 2003

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November 27, 2003

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November 27, 2003

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November 29, 2003
On abcnews - Good Morning America
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December 2003 Good-Deed Letters
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December 11, 2003

I found out about a grandmother who was raising 4 grandchildren alone, ages 1 -7 years.  She has very little money and had nothing for them for Christmas.  She also needed a crib and other necessities.  I was able to give her some money and toys for the children's Christmas through a kind man who was delivering donated items to her home. 

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December 11, 2003

A Christmas card received at PO Box 375 for Hal Reichle

Hello. I am a Hiram a Hiram Student.  I pulled a Reichle in Hal's honor.  Here's what I did, while eating lunch at a fast-food restaurant in downtown Cleveland, I saw a man asking people for money outside the door.  I purchased a meal for him and gave it to him as I left.

Happy Holidays,. SSSSH!

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December 12, 2003

Can you believe how many responses you have had since November??  The media actually does send out positive messages!  I, too, was one that didn't write down the address.  It took me two days to figure out how to search for you.  I have turned many people on to your website at my workplace.  We work for a school that in the past has been a school that was more in of a position to help than to need help. With the growth in our area, we are now seeing a change in our children, their families and their needs.  Some of the kids in our lives not only see the need to help but so many have reached out to help with what little they have themselves, they must be angels Hal has sent to us.  I wish I had known Hal, but I know a bunch of people that he would be proud of, including everyone who has taken part in this group.  Thank you for helping people find a way to go out and be a part of something has been lost in our day and time;  trust, sincere goodwill and just simply doing what should be done!
A New Faithful Member of SSSSH

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I don't even remember where I read about SSSSh, but I checked out the website and loved it.  I printed out the cards and I was on a mission within days.  I am in the Army, and have been for 11 years.  I went onto our Air Force base the other day to get some uniforms altered for Christmas.  I live in the Northeast and it's VERY cold right now.  My mom was with me for the ride that day.  After doing my errand, I stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a big box of Joe.  My mother was very confused.  I gave her the card and she was ever more confused, so I explained who Hal was and what he did, and that we were going to pull a Reichle.  She was so excited.  As we were leaving the base, I stopped at the gate where the poor freezing soldiers were standing and letting cars pass.  They asked if anything was wrong and I handed them the coffee and bag of condiments with the card taped to the box.  I told them that 'a soldier down the street wanted me to give this to you'.  He looked so confused!!!  I got in the car and we left, watching in the rear view the whole time.  They read the card and high fived one another.  They must have loved that hot coffee being so cold!  A Reichle for Hal's fellow Air Force guys!!  Enjoy guys!

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December 23, 2003

Good deed done by SSSSH

In honor of Hal Reichle, we gave $100 gift certificate to Giant Eagle anonymously to a woman with 5 children (who lives paycheck-to-paycheck) so she and her family could enjoy a nice Christmas dinner.

Happy Holidays to all and God Bless!

Wichita, Kansas: Maize Middle School Students' Good-Deed Letters
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Hi, I am a seventh grader at Maize South Middle School in Kansas. My english teacher put together an assignment that had to do with joining your club. We all had to do an anonymous good deed. It was very special experience for me and I wanted you to hear what I did. My family and I were coming back from Austin, Texas for Thanksgiving and I decided to pay for the toll for the person behind me. We were just entering Andover before I could give the money. I wrote a card and put the money inside. I then gave it to the tollwoman and she thought it was the nicest thing. We pulled forward and drove slowly. They were so surprise! As we turned into our neighborhood they honked and waved as they drove by. It was really cool and I hope you enjoy my story.

One day I put brownies on my neihbors porch, and left them there.

For school my teacher assigned us a project to do a SSSSH act of kindness. What I did for mine is Did My Chores without being asked. My mom every saturday makes me do chores and I really don't like it but since it was near Christmas and everyone is usually happy around that time I decided to do something good and guest were coming over so the house would be clean. I dusted, vaccumed, cleaned bathrooms, my room and the animal cages. I was very proud of what I did and my mom noticed right away and she was so shocked she said teasingly "WoW i almost fainted!" If more people do this and some SMILE pretty soon the whole world will SMILE with them.

I went to my neighbors yard when they left and i picked up there trash.

for mi good act i made mi mom's bed and poot a sorry not on her pillow

I am a seventh grader at Maize South Middle School in Maize, Kansas. I wanted to join this amazing organization because I think it is a great idea. So, While my mother was not home I vaccumed the house so that I could join this organization. Signed, A new SSSH member

For my good deed I sent some bling bling or actually cash-money to a homie of mine. He digged it alot.

For my kind deed, I gave my aunt $20.00 with a note. I did this because she planed out our whole Thanksgiving dinner and barely anybody came. No one really even thanked her! And then she thought my mom did it! I would love to join SSSSH!

Hi, I'm a 7th grade student at Maize South Middle School at Wichita Kansas. I did a good dead I'm going to tell about. I gave my friend a friendly card and some candy to be nice. He felt better all day and I'm glad to do something nice.

My mother cooked dinner that night but didint feel well after the kitchen was a mess.So I thought of a great deed. My brothers and I told her to go lay down, and she did. Then I cleaned the kitchen super quick and even heated up the soup for my dad when he got home. She did find out it was me thou and thanked me but it was still good!

I go to msms and i am 1 of 85 7th grade students who did i random act of kindness between thanksgiving and Christmas. i did the dish's for my mom. but there a tons of things i wanted to do for our class report but i decided i can still do them any ways SSSSH Rocks

I did an anonymous deed for someone I did not know. I raked the leaves of an elder who had a weak back.

I am a 7th grade student and my deed was mowing an elderly man's lawn. I waited until he went away from his house and i mowed his lawn. He noticed it when he came home immediatly i also left a note that said greetings from ssssh! I hope you accept me into your orginazation.

I am a sventh grader from maize south middle scool and as an acianment we had to do a good deed. My deed was i got somthing for thanskgiving so my causins would not be causing problems.

I'm a 7th grader at Maize South Middle School, and recently me and 82 other students did anonymous deeds to try to become a member of SSSSH. The anonomous deed that I did was, painting our new siding on my house. That was my anonomous deed for SSSSH.

My mother cooked dinner that night but didint feel well after the kitchen was a mess. So my brothers and I told her to go lay down, and she did. Then I cleaned the kitchen super quick and even heated up the soup for my dad when he got home. She did find out it was me thou and thanked me but it was still good!

I'm a 7th grader at my school and my english class each had to do a random, anonymous good deed for this website. I planned it out during my english class to do something for another one of my teachers, so I wrote out a note and added $5.00 to it, since it was before Thanskgiving I wrote down, "Have a great Thanksgiving." I sealed it with tape and left it on her desk.

For my good deed I mowed my friends lawn while they were on vacation.

I raked my neighbors yard because they just had a baby so I thought I would rake there yard because it was fall and they probably did not have enough time.

I Put up the christamas lights the day after thanksgiving so my dad wouldn't have to worry about doing all the work which he does every year.

I am a 7th grader at Maize South Middle School in Maize,KS. In english, we had to do an anonymous good deed. We also had to write about it. My idea was to rake this older lady next door to my grandma and granpas' house. She always lets my cousin and me jump on her trampoline. I decided to rake her leaves on Thanksgiving Day. When I was done, I left a card saying, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

i picked up trash around lake cheane

I am a 7th grader a MSMS middle school. My good deed was helping my mom with cleaning.I felt good doing this good deed.I hope I can join

Hello I am a 7th grader at Maize South Middle School of Wichita Kansas. This e-mail is about the good deed I did for school. almost 81 students from my school performed a good deed and are now joining SSSSH. my good deed was I wrote a note to a girl I thought needed a good friend. In the note i told her that if she needed to talk i was here for her and that things will get better. I watched her reaction she didn't know what i had done but i sure did and i feel better about myself knowing that I helped someone in such a way that she begain to smile and I think she has a better outlook on life knowing that someone cares about her.

I helped my mom with the groceries when she was asleep.

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My english class did a project on ssssh and did a good dead. I picked up trash around my nabor hood and started a chain of people.

Hello. I'm a seveth grader at Maize South Middle School in Maize, Kansas. I did a kind act to my family. They are such great people. They seem to do so much for me and I feel I do so little for them. I make dinner alot for my family and I wanted to give them something besides a nice dinner. So, when I got home one day I made cookies. They had no idea that i made anyhting besides the dinner. When everyone was done eating I pulled out the cookies. They were so suprised! It felt great to put something nice and sweet in there tummies.

Hi I,m a 7th grader at Maize South Middle School. There were about 82 of us that did an act of kindness for S.S.S.S.H. When I was trying to find an act of kindness I finally decided to bag some leaves for him. well there you go. See ya

I am a 7th grader at Maize South Middle School and for an English project we were assigned to complete an act of kindness. Since my family were going to my grandma's house for a quick visit while she was away at work I did my deed there. I made her bed, took out the trash and left her a kind note.

Hello, my name is Sarah and I'm a 7th grader at Maize South Middle School. Anyway I love what you guys do! So since I thought what you guys do is so cool I decided to do my own anonyous deed. What I did was I washed dishes for my mom when she had come home from a horible day a work. She was very happy. Anyway i gtg see ya!

My English class at school had to do an anonymous act of kindness and then do an assignment on it. We even got on this site and checked it out. Anyways, for my act of kindness, I wrote a note of encouragment on a notecard and attached it with tape to a can of pepsi(my mom gave me money for the pepsi). I gave it to a kid at Wal-Mart. That was so much fun! Exciting too! Since then, I have done other acts of kindness for people. Good idea!

Hello! I am a 7th grader at Maize South Middle School! My good deed was babysitting for my cousin. It helped her out very much! Ok good-bye!

I am a student from Maize South Middle School in Maize, Kansas and for one of our class assignments we had to do a act of kindness. I picked a day when my parents were gone and I cleaned up my house.

I am a seventh grader at Maize South Middle School. My act of kindness was washing the dishes for my mom. I has a day off of school, and my parents work, but I washed the dishes for my mom. She got home after my dad that night, so she had no idea who did it, because there were 3 of us at home.

I raked the leaves of my and my neighbors yard.

I wrote a sweet letter to a friend, it made me feel good knowing that I had done something for someone.

I am a 7th grader at Maize South Middle School,and about 82 of us students did acts of kindness and wrote papers on them. My act of kindness was going to the old folks home where I help out at an I delivered some cookies before the old folks were up. Then I went back and got their reaction. They loved it and I felt good even thought they did not know.

I raked the leaves while my dad was at work because you couldn't see our yard since there were so many leaves on it. My dad eventually found out that I did it, but at first he didn't know at all. He was really surprised and it made me feel good.

I put a flower on someones doorstep. They just went through a divorce and i thought it would make them feel good.

My name is Angela and my good deed that i did was give my mom some chocolates and flowers because i love her and becuase she looked sad

I am a Maize South Middle School student in Maize Kansas. For my good deed I set up our families little Christmss tree for my mom because shes so busy. I enjoyed doing this deed for my family.

Dear SSSSH, I just wnated to tell you I think your organization is great. I also wanted to tell you what I did for my act of kindness. I took treats to a nursing home and the woman I gave them to loved them. Thank you!

Hey Hal! I'm a student at Maize South Middle School, and I have done an anonymous act of kindness! For my *good deed* I washed ALL the dishes for a day. My mom was happy...I wonder if she knew it was me..! Love ya.. -(_*ME*_)-

Im a 7th grader at Maize Middle School! Our class recently did a project about kind deeds! And we looked up your website and all 82 of us did an anonymus deed for someone else!

Im a student at mazie midle school . And I washed the dishis while my mom was asleep.

I am a Maize Middle School student 1 of 82 students who joined the SSSH club I felt good about my act of kidness and I am quite good on doing that kind of stuff.

I am a Maize student and our class did a good deed in the Maize/Witchita area, there are about 82 of us. My mom has really been busy lately and therefore, her bathroom was a mess. I completely cleaned it all-toilet, sink, mirror, floor, bathtub, counter, organized the counter and under the sink, and threw away empty containers.

I brought a cookie to school and before the bell rang i put the cookie on an empty desk and when tahat person came in they were realy surprised.

In my English class I was assigned to do an anonymous good deed for someone. I decided that I would make my sister's bed and cleaned her room for her. She didn't really notice anything but it felt good knowing that I did something for someone else. Every good deed can make a difference!

I am a Maize middle school student. I did this for an English assignment in December.I had some neighbores who have to young kids, so i gave them about 15 fun toy forthe whole family!

Hi im a Maize Middle Schooler And one of the 82 kids who did this as a school project but i really liked it and i kept during it but what i did first was i pulled everyone's trashcan to the side of their house where it belongs they say and I did that where I live. but now I bake cookies for people by doing a ding-ditch.

I am a Maize Middle School student. Over Thanksgiving break our english class had to do a good deed for someone. I had laid out my little sisters clothes for her the next day because she always has a hard time pickin' out her clothes. That was one of the good deeds i have done.

I'm a Maize MiddleSchool student. My english class did SSSSH as a class project. For my good deed, I did my mom's morning chores like making my lunch.

I am a maize student. My class did anonomis good deades. There are 85 of us. I cleaned my sister's room and gave her a stufed animal.

When my brother was working on his truck, I snuck into his room and cleaned it. It really did need it. His clothes were scattered, movies and games were all across the room, and his bed was a wreck. I'm a Maize student. About 82 kids from this English class are joining after writing a paper on the good deed.

Hi, I am a Maize South Middle School student and I did a anonymous good deed. The good deed I did was giving my mom flowers. I am just one of the 82 people from my school who did the secret deed.

My mom has really been busy lately and therefore, her bathroom was a mess. I completely cleaned it all-toilet, sink, mirror, floor, bathtub, counter, organized the counter and under the sink, and threw away empty stuff.

I washed my mom's car and waxed it and gave her chocolate. I think it was a good deed because when ever she washes her car it rains. And this time it didn't rain.

I gave someone a 50 doller bill to help pay for grocerys at Cabelas.

I made my moms bed for a good deed. The reson it was a good deed was her bed was a mess.

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I did a good dead by helping the poor. I gave some people some spare change.

For a class project we had to do an act of kindness. I picked for an act of kindness to deliver food to someone and run away so I went to Braum's and bought Ice Cream, 2 dinners, milk and cookies. I went and delivered them. I did my of Act of Kindness to my grandma she loves Braum's that is why we chose Braum's and her.

I folded all the clean clothes laying on my mom's bed one night when she was doing other stuff. It made her happy when she saw it was done because she usually has to do alot of the work.

I raked leaves for my neighbor. He is selling his house, so it looked a little better without all those leaves.

For a good deed I took a dollar and taped it to my neighbors door.

I raked my neighbors leaves when they were gone. When they came back they were very suprised!

For my "good deed" i cleaned my sisters room without her knowning. Since we have a lot of people in our family, she wouldn't know who did it and still doesn't! I think it was a good deed because her room was a real mess! I think she really appreciated it too.

One day I put brownies on my neihbors porch, and left them there.

I went to my neighbors yard when they left and i picked up there trash.

For school my teacher assigned us a project to do a SSSSH act of kindness. What I did for mine is Did My Chores without being asked. My mom every saturday makes me do chores and I really don't like it but since it was near Christmas and everyone is usually happy around that time I decided to do something good and guest were coming over so the house would be clean. I dusted, vaccumed, cleaned bathrooms, my room and the animal cages. I was very proud of what I did and my mom noticed right away and she was so shocked she said teasingly "WoW i almost fainted!" If more people do this and some SMILE pretty soon the whole world will SMILE with them.

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January 2004 Good-Deed Letters

I was just hit by a SSSSH member and wanted to say thank you. I never knew a society like this existed. I've always liked to perform anonymous good deeds for others and was starting to think that not many others out there cared about people enough to do something about it. Thank you for the good deed and for strengthening my desire to care for others. It could not have come at a better time.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 4, 2004

Dear Reichle fans,

I made my sister’s bed when she woke up early one morning. She didn’t know who did it. I think she was very thankful.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 4, 2004

Dear Reichle fans,

I gave my neighbor presents. The kids I gave presents to were 2 and 5 and they told me what they wanted for Christmas. I baby-sat after Christmas and noticed that they did not get what they received. That day I went to the store and bought what they wanted (a Care Bear and horse things). The next day I put it outside their door in a big bag. That is how I "pulled a Reichle."

Mail from Post Office Box
January 4, 2004

Dear Reichle fans,

My friend was working on a project and she was having a hard time on it, so I helped her out. I also cleaned the whole house so that when my parents would arrive they would see it clean. When I visited my cousin’s house, I helped her take care of her baby so that she wouldn’t be so stressed out. I went with my mom to the mall and bought my dad and brother some clothes. I helped my cousin make Christmas cards because she needed help and couldn’t finish making them herself.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 10, 2004

Every day my mom tells me to put my dirty dishes in the dishwasher. I always forget or don’t know that they’re dirty and never put them in. Well, one day I remembered that I had to pull a Reichle. I thought that I would put the clean dishes away and put my dirty dishes in the dishwasher. This is how I pulled a Hal Reichle.
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January 2004 Good-Deed Letters

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CNN News Response Letters
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I have for years been an unknowing member of your group. One of the most memorable actually backfired. I was waiting to board a flight when I noticed a group of freshly shaved young men all carrying marine duffels bags. They were visibly nervous and I figured headed for basic training so when I got on I asked the stewardess if I could anonymously buy them a beer and thank them for their service. The stewardess came back and apologetically said she would need the cash in advance which I gave her (100.00). She came back misty-eyed saying she had never seen anything like it. As I was leaving the plane the flight crew all shook my hand and said I had change coming, but the stewardess was on the ramp with it. As I approached her she gave me the change and behind her were the soldiers who saluted me. My turn to get misty- eyed.

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I know a women at work who has been having some financial difficulities and is a single mom w 5 kids. So at Christmas I went to the grocery store and got a $50.00 gift certificate and left it in her mail file at work signed the card "her secret Santa."

Mail from Post Office Box

January 15, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

I had pulled a Reichle on my brother. I did most of his chores. I did the dishes, I cleaned our room by myself, and I picked up all of his stuff from the living room. I did all that after school before he got home. When he got home he was surprised and happy but he still does not it was me.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

I was sitting in my English class one day and my teacher said that we were going to pull a Reichle. She gave all of my class a note card and told us about Hal Reichle. That day I went home and saw that my sister wasn’t home and I asked my mother when she would get home. My sister wasn’t going to be home for a while so I had enough time to pull a Reichle. I got the vacuum and cleaned my sister’s room with dusting and everything. When my sister got home she asked my mom if she had done it and my mom said, "No", so my sister never found out who had done it That is how I pulled a Reichle.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

I first heard of Hal Reichle in my eighth grade Communication Arts class. We brainstormed ideas of what we cold do in honor of Hal Reichle. We were supposed to "pull Reichle." I decided after a while to do something anonymously for a family member. I decided to "Reichle" my sister. Before she got home from work I had made her some cinnamon rolls. I put them on a plate and stuck them in her room where she would find them with a note explaining SSSSH.

Sincerely,

A new SSSSH member

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

It was a snowy day and my mom and I had just walked in JP’s (a coffee house). We run to the door to get out of the cold, snowy parking lot. As I opened the door I let my mom go first. Behind my mom, coming out of JP’s, was a guy with a newspaper, coffee and a bag. His arms were full and there was no way he could open the door. Before I let myself in I held open the door to let him out before me. I stayed out in the cold and let him go before me so he wouldn’t have to try and open the door with all his things.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

Dear SSSSH organization,

Just a few weeks before Christmas break, I had heard about this secret organization SSSSH from my English teacher. I knew it was perfect timing to do a good deed for someone. So, on Sunday when my family was at church we picked out an angel from the Angel Tree. We got a young boy about 13. On the angel it said that he wanted shoes, sweatshirt, gloves, mittens, a hat and some more necessities for the winter. Soon after that Sunday my mom and I went shopping for him. We ended up getting him a nice warm sweatshirt, two long-sleeved shirts and a hat. When we wrapped the gift I stuck the "Reichle" card in the box. I felt really good about what I had done, and hope many other people feel this way when they pull a "Reichle!"

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

I was a "Reichle-er" over Christmas break. At my church there was a lady that had just had a stroke. She was not able to have visitors because of her condition. Our pastor told everybody that she would appreciate a note or letter. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to "pull a Reichle." The next day I used my artistic abilities to design a card showing a teddy bear holding get-well balloons for her, and inside wrote, "God loves you!" Inside the envelope I included the card so she would know she was a victim of a "Reichle."

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

During a December weekend my church had a weekend retreat. I asked a friend of mine if he was going and he said he couldn’t. I figured that it had something to do with the cost or family plans. My mom wrote me a check for the retreat but I had lost it. She wrote another one for me. She told me if I found the old check we could drop it off at his small group leaders house and he would hand it in. The leader would also tell my friend that someone had paid for him and if he’d like to go he may. I did find the old check. I handed it in and my friend ended up going to the Spring Hill retreat. It was a great weekend and he will never know that I did pay for him. It was a God thing.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

Hello Reichle fans,

It was a very snowy day and it had snowed a lot. So, I went outside and shoveled both driveways. I also made my brother’s bed. I also helped my nephew beat a level on his Gameboy Advanced. I also watched my cousin’s baby. I bought my dad a new fishing reel that he wanted.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

Dear Reichle,

Over Christmas break I pulled a Reichle on my dad. Before he came out to go to his job, I shoveled the driveway and scraped of the car. When he came home from work he was very happy that the snow had been scraped and brushed from his car and truck and from the driveway. But he never found out it was me who did it.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

Dear Reichle,

On one of the days of Christmas break, it was snowing hard, and we had a few inches of snow. Some of my neighbor’s walkways were full of snow. One of my neighbors never is home, and another neighbor is very old and can’t shovel, so I shoveled their walkways for them. For Christmas my family wrote a letter to homes of 2 parents who are drug abusers, and they have 3 kids. The letter said we wanted to buy their kids presents for Christmas and if they wanted us to, they should leave a red ribbon with a letter of what the children wanted. The neighbors replied and said that would be fine if we bought their kids Christmas presents. So we bought presents for the 3 children, and the parents thanked us, too.

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Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

Dear Reichle,

One day I was just sitting around doing nothing because it was our Christmas break. I decided I was going to pull a Reichle on my brother. He always is complaining about how I always have my stuff all over the bathroom, and also noticed his room looked a little messy. He was downstairs on the computer, so I quickly went into his room and started to clean it. After his floor looked good, I opened his closet and organized that, too. Then, I went into our bathroom and put all my stuff away and cleaned out the drain in the bathtub and wiped the counters and the mirrors. He thought my mom did it.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

Dear Reichle people,

My sister was playing a video-game (which was very hard by the way) and there was a level that she couldn’t get to. She gave up on the game and stopped playing. She was very mad and frustrated. So, I secretly turned the game back on and tried my best to get to the level, after about half an hour, I finally got to it. I saved the game, turned it off and left the room. When my sister came back to try the level again, she found out that the level was passed. I made it look like she had passed the level without noticing, and when she asked me if anyone had played and I said I didn’t know. After that she was very happy and kept playing video-games.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

A few weeks ago I pulled a Reichle. My teacher had us all "pull a Reichle" so for mine I made every bed in the house. It was Christmas break, and it worked out to be eight beds. I am glad to say no one saw me. That night everyone was commenting on how nicely their beds where made, and I just sat there with that warm tingly feeling inside.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

I learned about pulling Reichles at my school one day in my English class. I thought about it and decided I would bring flowers to a lady I knew who was in a short term nursing home and did not get very many visitors. I had it all planned out. I would walk in and go around the other way and ask the head nurse to deliver these flowers to her. I had the Reichle card in the plastic thing that holds the name cards. When I got to the head nurses station and asked if she would deliver these to the lady she said no. She told me that she was now living with her son. So I started to walk away but then I turned around and asked her if there was anyone else I could give these to. She told me that her roommate was having a rough day so I had the flowers delivered to her instead. She was very happy.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 16, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

The "Reichle" I pulled was over our Christmas vacation. It was snowy and my parents always need to shovel the driveway. So I decided to not just do my driveway but I also did my neighbor’s driveway, too. They still don’t have any clue who shoveled their driveway.

01/16/04
Comment:

I am a Kenston Grad and Hiram Grad '96 and am the Treasurer of Kenston Schools. My brother Chris graduated with Hal from Kenston. Just wanted to let you know that our Kenston Web site, www.kenstonlocal.com has a memorial site that you may be interested in. Hal's tree and plaque are posted on the web site, and you may want tocheck with our webmaster about a link or better yet, Hal's story. I sent this to my brother in California and he is a great person who does good things for people all of the time. Thanks for keeping the magic!

Mail from post office Box
January 19, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

During Christmas break I pulled a "Reichle." I went around my neighborhood and I shoveled everyone’s front yard. After I was done I left a "Reichle" card in their mail slot of box. I think that what I did was a really good thing to everyone in my neighborhood because some people are too old and they can hurt themselves shoveling their yards. Also, some people don’t have any time to shovel their yard. I believe that what I did really helped a lot of people. This "Reichle" that I did really showed me how it would be nice, fun and easy to do things for other people to make them happy.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH

I pulled a Reichle by cleaning my basement. My parents noticed it was clean but did not ask me about it. I kept it a secret.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

Every day after school, my mom or dad picks me up and takes me back to work with them at Hope College. A couple days ago, I was sitting in my mom’s office doing homework when I decided to pull a Reichle on one of my mom’s colleagues. The office of one of her friend’s was just down the hall. I went to a vending machine at the other end of the building and bought a Pepsi. I waited until he had left his office and then put the pop and the Reichle card onto his desk. I hope he was pleased.

************************************************************************

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Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

I have "pulled a Reichle" when I was on Christmas break. I was cleaning my friend’s mom’s house and she didn’t know who it was. She thought it was my friend’s, her daughter. My friend told her mom that it wasn’t her and my friend’s mom thought it was but it wasn’t. The Reichle I pulled was weird because I almost got caught.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

I recently learned about your organization through my Communications Arts class at school. I really respect your cause. On Christmas break our assignment for Comm Arts was to pull a Reichle on someone. While I was at my Grandma’s, I went to the local mall. It was the day after Christmas and the mall was jammed-packed with people. I was looking around when a lady with a puzzled look on her face caught my eye. I waked up to her and asked her if she was looking for something. She said she had been looking for a particular store and she couldn’t find it. I knew where the store was so I walked her over. I dropped the Reichle card into her shopping bag as she walked into the store and she was off with her shopping.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

The person I Reichled did not know me but I knew I was helping her. An elderly lady had been driving and slid into a snow bank. I had happened to see it on my way home from school. I then knew I had to help her. So I dug snow out from under her tires and helped her get on her way to where she had to go. I felt much better after the fact.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Hello,

During winter break I pulled a Reichle. The "Reichle" I pulled was for my mother. While she was sleeping I washed the dishes so she would not have to wake up to wash them. When she woke up she asked me, "Who washed the dishes?" I told her I don’t know. SSSSH

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Hello,

Over Christmas break I pulled a Reichle. It was cleaning off the neighbor’s cars in the morning. When they came out, the look on their face was very satisfying. Then when the found the card, they were confused. They just put it in their pocket and left.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 19, 2004

SSSSH,

I am from Texas and so is my family. So when I thought about "pulling a Reichle" I knew the best place to send a letter. It was around Christmastime and I decided to buy a Christmas card and send it to my grandma who lives in Texas. I sent the letter anonymously so there is no way she would know it was me. My grandma is someone special in my life and I felt good doing something for her that she deserves.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

I will be telling you a Reichle I pulled. I hear that when Hal Reichle was still living he enjoyed helping people. I try to help as much as I can but sometimes when I try to help, people the lot of the time just be mean about it. The Reichle I pulled was at my very own school. My school collects box tops. I left some box tops on a desk in the hallway. Someone must have picked them up because when I went back to where I left them, they were gone.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Hello,

I was in my Communication Arts class around December 13 and 14 and my teacher pulls out a little green stapler and said "Class, this is my only stapler. I can’t find my two others so I’ll have to come around and staple yours papers." The next day my teacher talked about Hal and told us it would be a good thing to do so I thought, "Hey, I have a few extra staplers." So one day after Christmas break I waited until she went out of her room and I walked back in and put a large stapler on her desk. Now whenever I look at her desk I see that stapler.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Hello,

It was a cold day during Christmas break. When my brother was still sleeping at 8:00 in the morning, I got up and got ready for the day. I thought that it would be nice of me to clean the whole house and cook breakfast for my little brother even though he’s always mean to me. So he woke up and said, "Who cooked this?" and I had said to him that I didn’t know because I just woke up and it was there. But I told him that it was for him. So he said whoever made it can cook because it was really good and that he was full for the morning.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear Mr. Cram,

On Christmas Day we had to shovel our driveway because it had snowed a lot the night before. After we were done we noticed that a driveway hadn’t been shoveled. So, I went over to shovel it. Then eight days later my grandma passed away. When my family returned from the funeral, someone had shoveled our driveway. For some reason I kinda knew it was the person I shoveled the driveway for. Hal has inspired me to help others.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

I pulled a "Reichle" over Christmas break, hearing about Hal and what he did for everyone else. It made me think about what Reichle I could do. I decided that I would make my dad’s lunch for work without him knowing it. He thinks that my mom made it because she makes it for him everyday. So I thought that this would be a perfect thing to do. He didn’t ever find out; he just thinks my mom made it for him. Thanks for giving me the idea to "pill a Reichle" and follow in Hal’s footsteps.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

At my conference meet for swimming this girl broke her goggles. She was looking for her other pair but couldn’t find them. I took my old ones and put them on her towel with a note saying, "You can use these for the day."

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Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear Reichle fans,

About six months ago my father hurt his back when he bent over to pick something up. His back hasn’t fully recovered yet and he can’t lift anything that was over a certain amount of weight and he isn’t supposed to bend over. So, I decided to help him out. We started to fix our basement up about a month ago. I helped him out by helping carry a couch that was downstairs upstairs and helping carry a treadmill that was upstairs downstairs. The couch wasn’t a problem, but the treadmill was a lot heavier. Since it was so much heavier we put it on a dolly and rolled it downstairs. That still didn’t make it easy to get it downstairs. When we started to roll it downstairs the handle almost ripped off and so I had to hold it where it was because I was at the bottom of the treadmill. We figured out what was wrong and to fix it we had to push it back upstairs. There was a pin missing that was supposed to keep the handle connected to the bottom part of the dolly. After we fixed the problem we brought the treadmill downstairs. We had an old bar and we were getting a new one. I also helped demolish the old bar and carry it upstairs. I helped out by doing one more thing. I helped put together a foosball table that we received as a gift for Christmas.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear Mr. Hal Reichles,

I was heading to another class in school when I noticed the boy that was constantly asking for pencils. I had a few in my binder so I decided to put them on his desk before he got to class. When I arrived at that class that I have with him, his face lit up with excitement. "Who gave me these?" he exclaimed. I did not respond but had to look away to keep from smiling. The next day in school all he could talk about were his new pencils. His surprised face made my day. I believe that I gained more from that experience than he did.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

Have you ever been to a sale? The people are everywhere, so over the holiday my mom went to one of these sales. While I was there I saw a van that was covered in snow. So I went to my mom’s Jeep and grabbed the car brush. When she went inside I brushed off the van. I saw the impression on her face.

P.S. I felt really glad that I did it.

Sincerely,

Xxxxx Xxxxxx

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Hello,

It was a very cold snowy day. It was January 7^th and I had just gotten back from getting x-rays done on my wrist. My neighbor across the street was gone so I decided to shovel his driveway. Then I put the Reichle card in his mailbox because he always checks it when he gets home. I feel good that I did that because he was an older man and now he doesn’t have to go out there in the cold and shovel.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

My dad is always out shoveling the driveway, so on January 4^th while the halftime show of the Sugar Bowl was on, I went up for a "snack." I snuck outside and shoveled not only the driveway, but the front walkway, too. Before my dad went to bed, he went outside to shovel the driveway, but he didn’t need to. I heard him come back in only a few seconds after he’d gone outside. It made me feel so happy.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

I recently over the holiday season pulled a somewhat creative Reichle and bought five packs of gum while getting groceries in the supermarket. I then gave them to the cashier and told her to give them out to five people who were nice to her over the day. Along with the gum I also gave her five of the Reichle cards off the web site to give to people with the gum. I really hope my Reichle made some peoples’ days al little better.

Sincerely,

Xxxxxx Xxxx

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

This past Christmas I really found out how much my swim coach means to me. I was having a bad day and came into practice and there was my coach just as happy as can be and he really helped me get through my day. So after practice I took a trip down to the local 7-Eleven and bought him a Slurpee with my own money and went back to the pool and left it on his desk. I know how much he loves Slurpees so I hope I helped make his day get better.

Sincerely,

New SSSSH member

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

The "Reichle" that I pulled over Christmas break was, when my mom left the house I went in the kitchen and mop the floor and clean all the counter tops and organized the cabinets.

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Mail from Post Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

A while ago, (before Christmas break) I heard about the Reichle incident and what Hall did to make a difference. Our teacher decided that what Hal did was such a great thing too, that she suggested that we "pull Reichle." At first I didn’t know what to do but then I remembered all of the things I had already done. I think people technically "pull a Reichle" everyday, and they just don’t realize it. Sometimes when I walk home from school I find these dogs running around the neighborhood. Of course the first time I saw them I didn’t know if they were good or bad dogs. I finally decided that if I see them running around a lot, what harm could they do? I then thought about my dog that had to be put to sleep and decided I didn’t want someone to go through the misery of coming home to find their dead dog in the road. I couldn’t catch these dogs of course because they were little and fast, so I decided to round them up. It took me a while of course but at least the dogs were safe. I had rounded the dogs up and put them on that person’s porch.

Sincerely,

A new Member of SSSSH

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

My driveway was covered with snow so I waited for my dad to leave then I shoveled the driveway for him when he was gone.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

While I was shoveling my driveway I noticed my neighbor’s car was covered in snow. Quickly I brushed off their car and left the Reichle card under the windshield wiper.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Hello,

On the 20^th of December my family and I along with my grandparents and cousins and their mom and dad all ‘pulled a Reichle" by buying gifts for a family we chose and wrapped up the gifts that we bought so they could have something to open at Christmas.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Hello Reichle,

It was a very snowy day in Holland MI. I was brushing the snow off the one of my mom’s cars and I looked over and saw a car that had a lot of snow on it. I decided to stop brushing off the snow on my mom’s car and started brushing off the other car. I did not really know the person but it was one of my mom’s friends. When I saw that person get into the car she was very happy because it was very cold and she did not have to brush the snow off.

From your friend

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Anonymous good deed for Hal,

It was the first day back from Christmas break and it was the first class. Everyone was tired and not happy to be back to school. Everyone had left the classroom but myself and I noticed someone’s planner laying on their desk. I knew whose planner it was and they were in my next class. I quickly ran to my next class and put the planner on their desk. When I came back the boy was very excited because he thought that he lost it. That was the "Reichle" that I pulled during school.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Hello,

Over Christmas break I "pulled" a couple of Reichles. One Reichle I "pulled" was cleaning my sister’s shoes. Also over break I helped my mom secretly by organizing our kitchen cupboards neatly. I stuck the cards in the shoe and in the kitchen. My sister and my mom were very pleased and confused.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

I had a math teacher who always did his math problems on the white board. All of his markers were running dry except for his yellow marker, which we couldn’t see, from a far distance. So during Christmas break I went out and bought him some dry erase markers, and put it on his desk with a note explaining that a "Reichle" had been pulled on him, before school when we came back from our break. When I asked him how he had got new markers, he replied, "A Reichle gave them to me."

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

Dear SSSSH,

I pulled a fun "Reichle" over my Christmas break. When my mom sent me outside to start and warm up the car in the morning, I also cleaned the snow off of the car. I put the card in the car door. My mom found it later and thought that the neighbors did it. She has no idea that it was me.

Mail from Post Office Box
January 20, 2004

To Whom It May Concern,

Before the Christmas break I "pulled a Reichle." What I did was I put a dollar behind the handle of a shovel at school, so when the person who shoveled the sidewalk or whatever they could get a drink.

01/21/04

Hi whoever, just wanted to say thank you so much for your very kind deed. Having the snow removed was so wonderful as I usually do it myself. How very thoughtful, Hal must have been a special person.

01/22/04
Comment:

01/22/04
Comment:

Mail from Post Office Box
January 23, 2004

Good deed done by SSSSH

In honor of Hal Reichle, we gave a $100.00 gift certificate to Giant Eagle anonymously to a woman with five children (who lives paycheck to paycheck) so she and her family could enjoy a nice Christmas dinner.

Happy Holidays To All And God Bless!

01/26/04

Someone I know has to travel a significant distance to and from work. The job doesn't pay that well and this person never has a full tank of gas or the money to constantly fill the tank. I bought him a $60 gas card and mailed it to him with no return address. IN the evelope simply was the gas card and the SSSSH card.

February 2004 Good-Deed Letters
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02/06/04
Comment:

02/08/04
Comment:

02/12/04
Comment:

02/16/04
Comment:

March 2004 Good-Deed Letters
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May 2004 Good-Deed Letters

August 2004 Good-Deed Letters
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Guideposts Magazine Response Letters
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September 2004 Good-Deed Letters
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October 2004 Good-Deed Letters
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November 2004 Good-Deed Letters
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December 2004 Good-Deed Letters
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The Discovery Channel Now Responses
12/16/04
Comment:

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March 2005
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April 2005
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May 2005
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June 2005
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July 2005
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August 2005
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September 2005
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November 2005
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Wichita, Kansas: Maize Middle School Students' Good-Deed Letters - November 2005

My Good Deed is that i helped volenteer to coach my brothers soccer team and they won there tournement and they were very pleased that i helped them out.

On Halloween mornig I gave a Halloween card to my Pre- Algebra Mrs.Ruzich.That was my Act of Kindness

One day, I was going out to my dad's grave. I had a bouqet of flowers, I saw that some other people's graves.

My act of kindness was when my dad was cuting gravel on are dirt road he went inside I went and did it for him.

It is spelled shhhh, not ssssh. 

December 2005
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April 2006
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May 2006
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June 2006
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August 2006
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I was in line at the movies. I bought a gift certificate for $10 and added a SSSSH card to it.  After I purchased my movie tickets, I arbitrarily picked one in the middle of the tine for tickets handing them the gift certificate and SSSSH card. I then quickly walked away into the theater while they were reading the SSSSH card and trying to figure pout what just happened to them.

West Africa
i wanna join you but i do't understand the guidelines and i will like to know futher i once come to cafe so i will like to recieve a postal issue ve comm. secondaryshool p.o.box  ve koloenu.

October 2006
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I was at a restaurant and the couple next to our table didn't have enough money to pay for their meal, so I decided
to help pay for the portion they didn't have. Helping people is one of the best feelings anyone could ever have
because we enjoy seeing people giving their thanks to us.

I left a large tip to a waitress that was having a bad night and left a shhhh card

I went to a local Pizza Parlor and payed someones delivery bill, and had them deliver a card instead of their bill.

hi! i would like to do more "good-deed"s and do them more professional. how about making some international
versions of this ssssh!-page? i think it would be a good idea to have those ssssh!-cards in other languages as well.
cu!

Dear people behind SSSSH,

my name is Wiebke Sauk - I work for the German radio station "motor fm" and a web-paper called "netzeitung".
Recently I caught up your name and issue in the magazine "neon". So I know, that it is possible to get an interview!

I would love to get the same chance to tell people in berlin of your idea. You have the form with my data - please
call or email me, if there is the possibility of a short phoner maybe next week.

I bought a bike for a kid I see riding to school.  I locked it up next to his old bike, and left a SSSSH card and a note
with the combination to the bike lock.  I don't know how he got both bikes home from school today, but I drove
by the school bike rack tonight and both bikes were gone!!  I'm very excited because this was my first SSSSH!

I volunteer helping for meals on wheels. Whitch is an organization that helps the elderly get the proper nutrition
they need. I have also helped withe the Canby relay for life, whitch is an all night walk. You walk to support cancer
survivors and people who have died from it. My aunt died of cancer, and I think that was the most touching thing.
Just to go out and support life. I am interested in medical and would love to help people every day!

December 26, 2007

December 20, 2007

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January 6, 2008

January 22, 2008

January 30, 2008

February 7, 2008

February 16, 2008

May 1, 2008

I saw a soldier waiting behind me to pay for his gas.. Well.. i went
ahead and payed it for him without him even knowing.

May 11, 2008

I save my change at home in a jar.  Once a month I take this change and go down the city streets putting money in all the expired parking meters and I put a SSSSH card under the wiper blade.

May 14, 2008

June 8, 2008

Ich habe für eine ausländische Bettlerin anonym Geld gespendet, damit
sie operiert werden konnte.
 

June 10, 2008

I was in a restaurant and asked the waitress to bring me the check of a mother and two children sitting toward the end of the restaurant.  I asked the waitress to give them a SSSSSH card and not say anything.  It was great!

June 18, 2008

Today as my children (age 7 and 3) and I were walking across town, I heard someone
yelling for me to wait. I turned around and a young woman was running towards me.
She handed me a long stemed red rose and a card about Hal and then she ran away. Too
quick for me to even thank her. I feel so lucky to have received the rose but even
more to have learned about Hal and the secret society formed in his name. I am
planning my secret gift now.

Ohio27

June 18, 2008

I was in line for a movie and bought a $20 gift card and asked the ticket lady to give it to the family about ten feet in line behind me with the father wearing the green coat, the mother in the white blouse, and the two kids.  I then took my ticket and disappeared into the theater.  I smiled during the whole movie.

June 22, 2008

I had two young ladies stop in my shop in Burton Village.  To bad I was on the phone
at the time.  They presented me with a beautiful rose.  I asked my customer on the
telephone to hold on a moment, and asked the girls who sent this rose to me.  All
they said was there is a card explaining everything.  What a nice idea, and I will
return the act of kindness to someone else.  What a great thing to brighten a day
for someone.

June 23, 2008

I saw this lady in a beat up car pull up to the gasoline pumps at the gas station where I was getting gas.  I walked over to her, handed her a SSSSH card, slipped my credit card into the slot on the pump, and said, "Fill it up on SSSSH"  Before she realized what was happening I walked away.  Fun!

July 2, 2008

I was in Walmart with my dad, when a lady was walking out the door. She dropped her
receipt along with some money. I saw her drop it and so I went to pick it up. By the
time I had picked it up she was already in the parking lot, so I ran as fast as I
could to give it back to her. I tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around
and I just smiled and said ;you dropped this; and turned around and ran
back into walmart. It really made me feel good inside.

July 7, 2008

One year I had an extra Christmas card in the pack after I had finished sending
cards to my family & friends.  So I picked a name at random from the phone book
and sent the card to them wishing them a happy Christmas.  I just signed it 'a
friend'.  Hopefully this brightened someones day.

July 9, 2008

I TOOK YOUR ADVICE AND BOUGHT AN OLD  WOMENS BUSS FAIR ,I BOUGHT HER A MEAL ,DONE
HER HOUSEWORK AND BOUGHT HER A CARD.

August 8, 2008

I created a packet for a man in a bad and difficult personal situation! (And put
Hals adress as the creator of the packet)
I hope he feels a bit better now, and is more motivated for his future.
For sure, I was totally anonymous!!!

August 8, 2008

I recently saw an elderly man walking alone in an alley in a dangerous part of town.
He was also very much alone in the world and I had a feeling he was hungry. I pulled
up and talked to him just like he was my own father, took him out of the area so he
was safe and gave him money for dinner. I gave him $20.00 for dinner and then went
on my way. I never told him my name and he said "God Bless You." I made
sure that he knew there was one person on Earth that cared for him.  It felt
great...I intend on doing more acts of kindness. I dont need any recognition...it
felt great! Thats what its all about. As for bad parts of town-don't worry I'm
employed by the City and Im able to take care of myself if you get my drift...Peace
and All Good Things!

August 22, 2008

Our neighbor next door was extremely prejudice.  It was to the point he asked why
would blacks live in his neighborhood. Very furious and cussing us, I decided that
regardless of what he said or did I had to pray for him. To make a long story short.
He became very ill. He was constanstly falling. One day my son decided not to help
him off the ground, but the God in him made him aide the elderly gentlemen. He
cussed and asked why was he helping him and how he did not want any black people
help. He feld several days again, and again my son aided him. It got to the point he
could not walk. My son and husband decided to cut his grass, get his mail
(especially his SS check) and the gentlemen requested that my son start driving him
around town to his doctors appointment, to the grocery store, asked for his help
around the house and everywhere else.  Regardless how my son was being treated he
looked further into the lonely's man heart who really need to see the love of God.

August 22, 2008

I wrote Christmas cards to those of my neighbours I knew would spend the Christmas
Feast alone and signed them an anonymous Angel. (A pitty that there are
no SSSSH-cards in German, because I don´t think my old neighbours would unterstand
English...) This year I will give small boxes with cookies to lonesome people on
Christmas, I think.

Sept 4, 2008

The last time i went out to dinner, instead of throwing away the left overs, I gave
it to a homeless man. He was thrilled when he saw what it was, and it made me feel
really good.
 

September 10, 2008

I was in South Beach spending time with my family. We saw a man selling coconuts so

we decided to stop by and buy a few. My Uncle Joe bought me a coconut while I was

trying to open my coconut I saw an old man. He looked sweaty, and not so tall and

hispanic maybe Cuban. I felt bad when I saw him asking everyone for some water. I

could imagine how thristy he must be being outside in the blazing sun. So I walked

over and gave him my cocunut. He looked at me and said ,''Muchas Gracia que dios te

bendiga'', which means in english ,''Thank You very much god bless you''. And I

walked away smiling because I know I did a good thing. I wish I could've given him

some money but I didn't have money at the time.

September 12, 2008

When I want to help someone, I do it because I want to. Even if my friends or that
person does not repay me back, I still am nice enough to help them out.I don't care
if i get rewarded or not, all I love to do help others. When someone doesn't need my
help, I still help them out. For example, I work at crazy buffet as a hostess. When
it gets reallly busy i go to the back and start cleaning tables for the servers.
It's kind of fun actually. I do it from the bottom of my heart, not because i have
to. Sometimes the servers try to give me part of their tips, but i just say "
no, it's okay. i like to help you out". Some people think I help because I try
to showoff or something and it's not like that. I do not know why, but when i help
others, it makes me feel good about myself.

September 22, 2008 

I was eating dinner with a friend in Garrettsville, OH, when the waitress came over

and gave us the card telling us our meal had been paid for by a stranger;

and informed me to read the card so that I would understand. When I asked who it

was, she only said he had been sitting at the counter with his back to us and that

he had already left. I naturally wanted to Thank him, but again she asked me to read

the card. Upon reading the card my friend and I thought ;how special, why

us? Did someone know just what a crummy week I had with Bob's mother passing

away? Or maybe it was someone who knew what my friend was going through, taking care

of her Mother, now that she has to have 24 hour care.

It was just a random act of kindness that renewed both of our spirits. Thank you,

who ever you are.

September 30, 2008

The water pump on my car died and my mechanic offered to let me pay in installments.
I really appreciate him doing that. He's a very kind gentleman. I'm lucky to know
him.
 

October 4, 2008

  My 16 year daughter had the opportunity to live in Argentina this summer and work
at a geriatric home everyday, while she stayed with a host family through a travel
abroad program. She quickly became fast friends with a lovely 85 year old woman
named Sophia who lived at this home.  Emily found the nursing resources and human
contact these residents had were not adequate, so every day Emily would sit with
Sophia for hours and Sophia would tell her about her life as a young person. She
discovered Sophia was a poet and writer as a young adult and wrote about her
family and life. Writing was her passion, and it became her career as she
eventually published a book.  Emily asked to visit Sophia's living space and saw
it was a dark small space with a single bed and small desk.  Emily asked a simple
question, "Do you still write?"  Sophia dropped her head in sadness and
said "no, my eyes are old, and I can not see in this darkness."  I do
not have enough light!
  to write.  Emily left the nursing home that evening feeling that if she could
bring Sophia's passion of writing back into her life, it would make her trip to
Argentina so much more complete. She found a lamp store, delivered the lamp to
Sophia's room, and watched from the doorway as Sophia grasped the lamp as if it
were a long lost child, and wept quietly saying "my light, my light, I can
once again write";  It was a simple thing to do. Bringing passion back into
the life of a person is something she will never forget.  Emily is an inspiration
to her family and to many of her friends. I had to share this inter generational
story of hope and love!

October 8, 2008

A friend of mine was struggling with medical bills. He had been diagnosed with a
brain tumor. His insurance deductible was $1,000 and he had been out of work for a
few months but kept his insurance. I paid his $1,000 deductible and to this day he
still does not know that I did it. He often brings it up because everyday he lives
is a blessing.

October 15, 2008 - from Nigeria

I WANT TO BE ENRICH

October 16, 2008

i was at the mall and i heard someone behind me say they couldnt pay for enough food
so they would just be getting pops.i told the cashier to give them the kind of
pretezels the liked and he could keep the change i stayed around and  the people
were able to get 4 pretzels

Modeling Future Heroes - Keynote Speeches & Seminars Based on World Heroes
The Hiram College Home Page
Click Here to Email the Hiram College Hal Reichle Scholarship Fund
Sparrow Village - the World-Famous Hospice for AIDS Children
The Rotary Club of Aurora, Ohio Home Page
The Tuskegee Airmen Home Page - North Coast Chapter
It's Never Your Fault - a Website for kids who have been traumatized by abuse

Quick Links to Other SSSSH Pages
 

The SSSSH Home Page
Who Was Hal Reichle?
What is Ego-Free Compassion?
What Are the Many Benefits of SSSSH
How to Join SSSSH
Print Your Own SSSSH Cards
Anonymous Good Deeds Done By Others
The Children's Idea SSSSH Page
The School Program SSSSH Page
Good Deed Ideas for SSSSHing
To Report a Anonymous Good Deed and Become a Member of SSSSH
To Email SSSSH