UCCL Blood Drive coming this fall

The Angels of Kindness is sponsoring a blood drive on November 8 at the church. Appointments will be scheduled from 9 a.m. until approximately 1:30 p.m. and sign ups for appointment times will begin in a few weeks.

Giving blood is a simple and relatively painless way to make a big difference in the lives of others. Interestingly, 60% of the population is eligible to donate blood, yet fewer than 3% in Chicagoland actually donate! The following are important facts shared by LifeSource, the organization that will be conducting the blood drive:

- 4.5 million lives are saved each year by blood transfusion
- Someone needs blood every two seconds
- Females receive 53% of blood transfusions; males receive 47%

AOK is really hoping that UCCL and members of the community will show up BIG TIME to give blood on November 8th. Give the gift of life and look for sign ups starting in just a few weeks!

Giving blood is a kind thing to do!

Remember... you are love(d)

GREAT NEWS!!!

Our last AOK meeting on September 8th was spent assembling our new Good News booklets. These books are filled with stories of inspiration, encouragement or just plain GOOD NEWS. Thanks to an anonymous donation, we were able to make twenty copies of the book at Kinko's saving hours of time that would have been spent on a slower copy machine. Thank you anonymous donor!!

Twenty copies were brought to church on Sunday, 9/20 and 16 of them were taken by congregants to distribute to waiting rooms around the area. It is our sincere hope that people are uplifted by these stories. If this project goes well, we will continue to put together new, updated booklets after a few months and do it all again!

If I get feedback from anyone on where these booklets were placed or how they've been received, I'll be sure to put it on here!

Please remember... you are love(d)

Summer Do-ing's!

Our summer AOK activities involved writing letters to prisoners (again) and to teachers (again). This activity has proven to be quite rewarding to those of us writing the letters as well as those receiving them. We have received a number of responses from various inmates although getting a reply from them was never part of our intention. Nevertheless, the letters we've received from these gorgeous souls have been so moving. Following is the content of one of the letters we received after our initial letter writing... the card was hand made by the inmate himself and filled with beautiful artwork - the front read "Thank you so very much... God bless you my friend, A.O.K... and inside the card read:

My friend,

I'm so thankful for your words of encouragement which couldn't have come at a better time. Your words have left me in a state of much gratitude and humility. Thank you for caring...thank you for doing God's work. You are blessed with much love. Your work is surely a blessing from our God in Heaven. I hope you enjoy the card I made to show my greatness of your encouraging words. I shall one day understand why things are going as they've been... but as of now... the only thing I'm sure is that God is protecting and watching me. Dear friend, may God continue to bless you. Please feel free to write and share life again... Take care.

Obviously, receiving letters like this was encouragement for us to continue writing letters to other inmates. We are keenly aware that their value as human beings and as divine souls is no less than our own. This is an activity we will continue as well as writing to teachers again now that school is back in session!

Anyone interested in writing letters to teachers or inmates but unable to make it to AOK meetings, please contact me at randomkind@hotmail.com and I'll get you everything you need to write letters from home to either inmates or teachers. We use the church's return address on the letters so there should be no concern that anyone will have your personal information.

Kindness can change the world!

remember, You are love(d)