Micro interactions that lead to a macro movement start with people like myself or you or anybody listening really, where you find a quick moment to do something good for somebody else. By the time 10 of us have done something small, we’ve done something big.
After three years at Lemonade Stand, Christian Rodarmel has racked up some touching Build Then Bless moments. Read about some of his favorites here, showing that small moments lead to big impact.
“Build Then Bless was definitely something that caught my attention when I was looking at a job opportunity with Lemonade Stand. I remember looking at the job postings for their web designer role and I didn’t have any skills or any of those things yet. But I thought Build Then Bless was kind of a unique thing that they were doing. And it was very, very grassroots.
But the big thing that drove me to it when I finally got to work as an intern at Lemonade Stand was the fact that a company was using profits and actually putting it towards something that employees could utilize in their space or in their homes or in their communities.
That was a really enlightening experience because I’ve always felt like I wanted to do good for people, but sometimes the means aren’t always there. And so it was a really neat experience to feel like I was given that opportunity so that I could be the one getting to bless someone else’s day.
And I’ve been very blessed with the opportunity of blessing a lot of different people over these years due to Build Then Bless. Most recently, we had a woman on social media reach out and say that a friend of hers was going through something very tough. She has a daughter or two and she’s starting from scratch and had no money to her name.
So we took the opportunity to take some of our leftovers—some some fun homemade ravioli and some nice pasta—and took that over to her along with some pantry and kitchen staples. We used our Build Then Bless money for pots, pans, different utensils—stuff that would help her cook some easy meals for her and her family.
Another, more recent Build Then Bless opportunity was close to our heart. We had driven down the hill from Big Bear to visit my mom and when we were down there, we stopped to grab a quick snack at a Del Taco.
We noticed there was a gentleman that was over by one of the pull offs for the freeway. He was sitting there with a sign that said something like, ‘Anything helps or food helps.’ So we got some food for him from the Del Taco while we were there and brought it over to him.
He was really, really blessed and thankful, and then we noticed he had a dog right there with him. My wife and I are quite the animal people—we really love our dogs and cats and so we could kind of feel for him in that regard.
It was just an act of kindness that ultimately allowed him to have the rest of his day to go experience with his dog. It was really sweet and wholesome to see one of those moments. But it’s one of those things that you ultimately find yourself saying, ‘Wow, it’s these small little moments that don’t feel meaningful to us to go do something nice for somebody else. And ultimately that makes a big difference in their day.’
That’s something I cherish about Build Then Bless—it helps show the goodness in people. At the same time, you do see some of the darker, grimier, grosser parts of our society where we aren’t doing a good job of taking care of one another. It’s not the responsibility of one business like Lemonade Stand to completely fix that, but we could be part of the solution.
I think people are inclined to actually do good for one another, but sometimes it feels awkward or scary to do it by yourself. So when you have somebody else to do it with or a company to do it with, it feels less scary or less daunting of a task. And before you know it, it becomes clockwork.
Micro interactions that lead to a macro movement start with people like myself or you or anybody listening really, where you find a quick moment to do something good for somebody else. And ultimately that’s going to turn into something bigger because that person may do something small and then that next person will do something small. But by the time 10 of us have done something small, we’ve done something big.”
Build Then Bless at Your Company
If you’re looking for better ways to improve your community, Build Then Bless is a great place to start. This program puts charitable donations in the hands of your employees so they can make a difference where it matters most to them.
Reach out to learn more about what Build Then Bless would look like at your business.
