So they ran off and we meet up at the front checkout line and this one boy continues to try to hand me a $5 bill and I just kept telling him, ‘You have to let me do this; the company I work for actually gives me money every month that I have to spend on somebody else.’
A group of teenage boys and a heartfelt moment? Any parent of teenagers would know that seeing those two things together are far and few between. But with employees like Bitsy Briones and a program like Build Then Bless, these types of stories have become the norm at Lemonade Stand.
Read about the experience Bitsy had because of 1. her never–failing kind heart and 2. the $50 we give each of our employees every month to serve someone else.
Vons Seems Like a Good Place to Change Some Lives
Here’s the story from Bitsy herself:
“I was in Vons and I hear, ‘Um excuse me miss,’ so I look around and there’s these four little preteen boys—super adorable—one’s got his face in his shirt and he’s looking up at me.
You could tell they were super embarrassed and super shy about it. One of them said, ‘We’re walking home from school and we wanted to get some sodas. Do you have $3? We have some money, we just don’t have enough to cover it all.’
And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is perfect!’ So I told them, ‘You’ve got $50; each of you spend $10 or so and come put it in my cart and we’ll do that.’
So they ran off and we meet up at the front checkout line and this one boy continues to try to hand me a $5 bill and I just kept telling him, ‘You have to let me do this; the company I work for actually gives me money every month that I have to spend on somebody else.’
And they were like, ‘Every month???’ I got to tell them about Lemonade Stand and that part of Build Then Bless is to inspire people that I bless to go and help other people too. These kids were like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to go to the parking lot and find somebody to give this money to right now.’
The lady who was working the checkout line said, ‘Wait, they didn’t even come in with you and you bought their groceries?’ So I had another opportunity to tell her about Lemonade Stand and what I get to do here and it felt like the gift that kept on giving.”
This Was More Than Just a Nice Gesture
Each of our team members lives the Build Then Bless motto, which is “Improving the World One Interaction at a Time.” And there’s over 50 of them throughout the US, spending $50 each month on people they come in contact with.
It’s a part of our mission to disrupt corporate philanthropy as it currently stands—executives at fancy (and expensive) galas giving money to a cause their employees had no say in (and probably don’t care about).
The ripple effect of Bitsy’s experience is exactly what Build Then Bless is about: micro–interactions of service that fundamentally change the way someone feels and acts. We hope those boys will never forget the time a stranger in Vons bought them snacks and inspired them to pay it forward.
Join Us in Creating Real Change
If you’re an executive and you’re looking for a better way to make an impact, Build Then Bless is the answer. Join our movement and see just how big of a difference it makes in your employee engagement, company culture, and the world at large.
Take a look at how Build Then Bless transforms our remote work culture and if you’d like to see how the platform would work at your company, reach out!
