Six Simple Ways to Upcycle Joy in Your Community

Patricia Gallagher is just an ordinary woman. But some might say that her random act of kindness ideas have made a huge difference for many people. She delivers surprise bouquets of fresh flowers, sparkly gold angel pins, and a menagerie of endearing stuffed animals to those hurting or lonely in her community and beyond.

1) “The Happy Flower Day Project.” Patricia collected 65,000 bouquets of day-old flowers from grocery stores, and gave them to strangers. She delivers pleasant surprises throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. The project was born when she approached a specialty supermarket. She asked what they do with their day-old and surplus flowers. She offered to pick them up and take them to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, shelters, recovery houses and anywhere that people need the healing of a free bouquet of petals and blooms.

2) “The Stuffed Animals for Seniors Project.” Patricia discovered that sometimes the simple things can make a world of difference for nursing home residents. She put out a call for donations of stuffed animals, which she knew pile up in homes of families as the children grow up. As the donations started pouring in, she began taking them to places where comfort is needed most – hundreds of nursing homes. Eleven thousand furry critters and creatures great and small uplifted the hearts of the elderly, and brought them loving companionship.

3) “The Send a Team of Angels to Help Movement.” A Team of Angels? Where did the thought even come from? Patricia began the project quite by accident in 1998. Or perhaps, it was by Divine Providence that she began giving the pins that she designed and created to shut-ins, lonely people in nursing homes, the homeless she met on the streets of Philadelphia and over 125,000 people who were overwhelmed like she was.

4) “The Love Thy Norristown Neighbor Project.” Patricia volunteered as a CCD teacher in a Hispanic community. She knew that many children did not have essential items in their homes. She began posting requests on her Facebook page telling of the need for fans, food, school supplies, clothing, heaters, blankets, furniture, lamps, hygiene items, baby formula, high chairs, cribs, car seats, diapers, and other essentials. Her generous Facebook friends responded and placed things on her porch. On average, she distributes three car-loads of food on a weekly basis—donated by church-affiliated food pantries, and her friends. Two other days, she delivers other necessities. Her mobile outreach approach is simple and a little unorthodox. She loads her car with donated items, drives to sections where she knows that people are in need, opens the trunk and side doors of her car, and invites parents to take what they need. She often brings her helper along. Ella is her neighbor, age 96! Our mission is to implement some of the corporal acts of mercy: to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe those in need, and to visit the sick.

5) "The Sprinkle Kindness in Your Community Project.” The world can use a little extra caring for each other. Here are ideas to spring into Random Acts of Kindness motion.

6) “Celebration of Heroes Event, April 30, 2022, Anaheim, California.” The event honored the distinguished men and women who developed the COVID vaccine, healthcare workers who protected and healed us, and everyday people like teachers, grocery clerks, and senior community employees who made sacrifices to be of service.