That Day I Gave Out Free Starbucks!

This was a crazy thing I posted on my Snapchat on Black Friday, I gave out free Starbucks! My friend Ruby from GrowingUpBlaxican did it the month earlier, and I loved seeing it all unfold through a series of pictures. It was like a Random Act of Kindness for social media followers and friends!

I thought it was a brilliant move because many times on social media, we all are consumed with US, kinda navel-gazing – “I did this”, “I bought that”, “this is how I’m feeling today,” etc. Which is all fine, we are telling our stories! But this was such a refreshing way to give thanks! I loved Ruby’s idea and decided to do it too!

This is how it works – you buy a gift card, I bought Starbucks because I figured it was a universal place that most people had access to around the country, then you take a picture of the barcode and post that on your Snapchat or attach to your email, whichever. I bought $50 and then people could go to their local Starbucks and use it to buy a drink!

I posted the picture (first of the directions, then of the barcode) and figured I could keep checking the balance. But what I didn’t expect was for people to actually send me pictures! One girl wrote me that she was having a hard day, she was broke (college student) and using the card to get a luxury drink uplifted her day and changed her attitude. That one just about made me cry!

You don’t have to do this idea per se, for a RAOK this season, it can be as easy as giving someone cuts in line, or buying their coffee, or packaging up craft supplies in a little baggie (card kit!) and handing those out.

Maybe just paying a compliment to someone who looks like they could use encouraging words!

What matter is making the gesture. Your energy and kindness can make or break someone’s mood or day! At the bottom of this post is a video I found where a girl celebrated her 20th birthday by doing 20 acts of kindness. I thought it was so sweet! Today is my birthday, and I plan to keep the ball rolling! Stay tuned! And don’t forget to follow me on Snapchat @craftychica !