At the end of last semester, I had more caf-card money left than I could reasonably spend. I also knew another $1,500 would be added at the start of the upcoming semester. I have often heard caf-card money referred to as “monopoly money,” and the truth is that outside YU, it’s just about as valuable. Unable to redeem the money anywhere outside Stern’s confining walls, I needed to find a useful way to spend my remaining funds.
I found the solution to my problem a few days later in the Schottenstein caf-store: breakfast bars. Stacks of Nutri-Grain bars were just sitting there, begging to be bought and given to the homeless and hungry. Instead of thinking, hey that seems like an interesting idea, and then moving on with my life, I took fourteen boxes and added them to my other groceries. It seemed so simple, so easy—maybe too easy.
As a child, and throughout my Jewish education, I was taught that changing the world is difficult, but that, despite the difficulty, we should try anyways. I was brought up thinking that something is only truly rewarding if it is a challenge. This attitude always discouraged me—how was I ever supposed to do anything worthwhile if it was so difficult? However, since I’ve begun giving out breakfast bars, I’ve realized that an act of kindness does not have to be difficult to be worthwhile.
Good is waiting right outside the doors of our dormitories. We are conveniently located in New York City, a city that is not only home to countless shopping and entertainment possibilities, but a huge number of hungry and homeless as well. Before I started this project, I had become so accustomed to seeing the homeless that they had almost begun to blend into the landscape. But they are not made of concrete. They are people, who get hungry throughout the day, just like you or me. For the past few weeks, I have been keeping a box of breakfast bars in my backpack. Instead of ignoring the homeless people sitting on the sidewalk, I take out a breakfast bar and send a small act of kindness their way.
The best part of this project is that it is not only easy for me, but for just about anybody. I do understand that not everybody has extra money on his or her card. I know that out-of-towners probably need to use their caf-card cash until the very end. I also understand that some parents may want their children to use their spare caf-card dollars on groceries for the family—that is totally reasonable. But, during this upcoming semester, if you do happen to have extra money, as do so many of us, please think of how much you can improve someone else’s life by sparing a thought and a couple extra dollars. And, if you have no spare money, ask an in-towner friend to by the box, and you can walk around distributing the bars.
Truthfully, it doesn’t have to be a breakfast bar, and it doesn’t have to be a homeless person. It just needs to be something easy that will add to someone else’s life. I am doing breakfast bars because they are relatively filling, nutritious, and easy to carry around. But I don’t only give them to people on the street. Feeding anyone hungry, improving anyone’s day, is important. Everyone feels better when he or she is full.
There are so many opportunities to perform small acts of kindness. This upcoming semester, I encourage you, fellow Stern students, to find your one, small way. It doesn’t have to be hard to matter. It’s not your job to change the whole world—but you do have the power to change someone’s world.