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Rick Snyder of Bradenton, Florida, loves to feed stray cats.
Every day he takes a four-hour walk around town, providing meals for feral felines.
He also has a thing for loose change. Snyder stops at various car washes and checks out the change slots in the self-service vacuum machines. He collects the quarters that customers have accidentally left behind.
Over a period of ten years, Snyder has recovered $21,495 in lost change – all of which he has donated to a local animal rescue organization.
Meanwhile, members of the Humphrey family in New York City habitually pick up pennies, nickels, and dimes that catch their eyes on city sidewalks, depositing them in a jar. Over the course of a recent year, they collected $1,013.
Not to be outdone, TSA agents, during a recent 12-month period, collected over $765,000 in loose change left behind in airport security lines all over the country.
Have you recently dug through your couch looking for dimes and quarters, hoping to find enough to tip the Pizza Hut delivery guy?
There might be more there than you think.
According to a recent report, more than $15 billion in loose change (yes, that’s billion with a “b”) is currently stranded underneath American cushions, stuck in sock drawers, marooned in vehicle cup holders, hiding in pants pockets, or gathering dust on nightstands.
That could buy a lot of pizza.
Small things have a way of adding up. Small kindnesses can be a very big deal, too.
Mother Teresa said: “None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.”
Do something small today. With great love.
Greet someone in the store. Smile. Ask about someone’s weekend. Then wait long enough to hear what kind of weekend they really had.
Let someone else cut in front of you in traffic.
Say please. Say thanks.
Offer an encouraging word. Give someone else the credit.
Small things aren’t just nickels and dimes. They can be a very big deal.
And if we choose together to offer even the smallest kindnesses with great love, we can indeed do something wonderful.