Lake Elmo Rotary Club - Lake Elmo, Minnesota

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”                

                                                Leo Buscaglia

Thanks to all that shared your June Kindness Campaign challenge stories. It turns out it was pretty easy to do something kind for ourselves and because it was the monthly challenge, we did it without even feeling guilty! Awesome! With a fresh perspective of how good “guilt free kindness” feels, we move to this month’s challenge…

Spending the 4th of July with family and friends is an American tradition that most of us take for granted, yet not all enjoy. July 11th is National “Cheer Up the Lonely Day” created by Francis Pesek, from Detroit, Michigan. According to his daughter, L.J. Pesek, her father “was a quiet, kind, wonderful man who had a heart of gold.” He got the idea as a way of promoting kindness toward others who were lonely or forgotten as shut-ins or in nursing homes with no relatives or friends to look in on them. Francis Pesek chose this day because it was her father’s birthday.

Cheer Up the Lonely Day is an opportunity to make a lonely person happy. Any time you can make someone happy, you’ve done a good thing, and should be proud of yourself. Lonely people have few friends and loved ones. They may have lost loved ones over the years. They may be elderly. They see people on an infrequent basis.

This month’s mission is to make a conscious effort to visit with someone in a nursing home.

Spend some time today cheering up lonely people. It’s easy to do…just spend some time with them. When you visit, bring happy things to talk about. Keep the conversation upbeat, and lively. When you leave, give a big hug and let them know you enjoyed the stay. Sending cards or making a phone call is okay, only if they live too far away to visit. What a lonely person really needs, is face to face time with other people.

As always, we’d love to hear what you do this month! You’ll find a link to email us at www.lakeelmorotary.org

Always remember…kindness is contagious!

For good people, great programs and a fabulous breakfast, please join us every Wednesday morning 7:00 a.m. at the Lake Elmo Inn

We look forward to meeting you as much as we believe you will enjoy the hospitality and time spent in the company of friends and neighbors committed in service to community.