GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Men who benefit from a nonprofit program that helps them find housing and a job are giving back to the Grand Rapids community by buying people coffee in honor of Random Acts of Kindness Day.
The day focused on generosity is Monday, Feb. 17, but 10 men in Guiding Light's Back to Work program are honoring it on Saturday. Starting at 9 a.m they will walk from Guiding Light to the Biggby on Wealthy Street and buy people one cup of regular coffee until the $200 they have pooled together runs out.
"We want to learn how to give something back to somebody else—pay it forward basically," said the event organizer Dwight Lee, a peer counselor with Guiding Light.
The money is from the participant's pockets and funds from Guiding Light. Many of the men in the program are in significant debt, but after they complete it, their debt is erased and they have an average savings of $1,906, according to Guiding Light.
Aside from buying coffee for strangers, men will also share their stories about their experience with homelessness and other troubles they have overcome in life with people who are willing to listen.
Lee, who also went through the Back to Work program, was inspired to create this event by an encounter he had during a Random Act of Kindness Day event he participated in with Grand Rapids Community College.
He will always remember a conversation he had with a customer that he bought a meal for while he was working at Golden Corral, according to a press release from Guiding Light. He wants the men at Saturday's Random Act of Kindness Day event to experience what it's like to give back or to be kind to complete strangers.
"...we're trying to see how it feels to do something for somebody else. I believe blessings come from doing things for other people," Lee said.
Guiding Light is a faith-centered nonprofit based in Grand Rapids that provides services to people who are homeless or struggle with drug and alcohol addiction.
There are many programs that the organization offers, including the Back to Work program which provides a short-term stay for homeless men who are employed or are seeking full-time employment. The program requires them to save money while they are looking for permanent housing.
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