During the course of my work on this site, I come across a good number of worthwhile causes that I would love to donate to. Unfortunately, I lack the funds to contribute to most of these, which sometimes gets me down. It got me thinking about an interesting question, though — how much of a difference could I make with even just $2.00, if I put my mind to it?

So last week I challenged the members of our A-Team to take $2.00 and use it in a creative way to make a positive impact in the life (or lives) of the people around them. I asked everyone to try to to make it interesting, fun and effective, and to report back with their results.

Here’s a small sample:

I read the mission for this week while I was in Calgary to visit my grandparents. As soon as I read it I knew whose life I wanted to make an impact on: my great grandmother. This weekend it will be her 93rd birthday, and she still lives in her own house and lives independently. She still buys her own groceries, cleans her house, trims her yard, she was still driving up until this year because she decided to sell her car. A few years ago my great grandpa died from Alzheimer’s and I can tell that she is very lonely. So I was in the dollar store looking around and I found playing cards that are extra big for $1.99, which was awesome because my great grandma’s vision isn’t that great. I bought them and went down to visit her. We played cards for hours, looked at old family photos, and she told me stories about her when she was my age. It felt to have a good visit with her and give her some company.

I was approaching the Hampton Toll Booth and realized it was a 2.00 toll I looked back and saw an ederly man in a broken down Pick up and decided to pay his toll. I watched as he stopped and the woman told him his toll had been paid. He tried to catch up with me and kept waving. It was fun and felt great. That was my little good deed this week!

It was the oddest thing. I was trying to figure out how to do good with only $2.00 and not coming up with anything creative. So while looking for a way to fulfill this mission, it bumped into me. I was standing in a grocery store check-out line. The woman ahead of me had 3 children with her, the youngest a baby in an infant seat. She looked harried and unhappy. After the clerk rang up her total, she counted her cash and found that she was $1.97 short of enough to pay the bill. She was looking at the fairly meager bunch of groceries to find something that she could put back so that she could pay for the rest. I figured, here it is – this is what I’m supposed to do. So I gave her the $2.00 – at first she didn’t want to accept, but I told her it would make my day if she would. So she did, and it left me feeling great the rest of the day. We both got a bargain for that $2.00

Was coming back to California from my business trip in DC, and while waiting for the gate to open, I sat next to a mother and child who seemed very unspirited. I got into a bit of small talk with the mother when the child started asking his mom for $2 to buy a set of headphones (JetBlue charges $2 for these crap headphones – the nerve!) because he wanted some entertainment while on the plan, and the mother responded: “Hunnie, no: you know we have to be very careful with our money now that things are different.” A lightbulb went up in my head, reminding me of you, Nate, and I said “No problem at all!” and bought the headphones for the kid. I just did it because I liked the mother and son, and she started getting very emotional and thanked me. I thought it wasn’t a big deal, but it was for her: She had just gotten laid off from her job, her husband had left her recently for another woman, and wasn’t paying child support. Turns out they had to sell all their possessions, entertainment, etc. and move back to California with her family. I also offered to give her advice in finances, since I am in the business, at no charge. I gained a friendship, and a great feeling.

There were many other meaningful stories posted, but I felt that these four really captured the essence of this week’s mission. It helps us see that it’s not really about the amount of money, but how one uses it that matters.

So how about you? What can you do with $2.00 to make a difference in someone’s life? Feel free to comment below if you have any ideas for us, or if you have a cool story to share.

And if you would like to join us in our weekly “change-the-world” projects, just put your name and email into the box below. You’ll get on the mailing list for all future correspondence (no spam), and you’ll get access to the forum where our members interact and share stories like this on a daily basis. We’d love to have you.

Similar Posts:

• How To Change The World In 15 Minutes A Week
• Small Actions, Big Effects
• Return The Favor
• You And A Friend
• A Celebration of Life