Today’s post comes from Scott Farbman, whom I recently met in the Twitterverse. Check out his reflections of a good day in Livingston, NJ…

This afternoon I was supposed to go to the gym. I belong to Lifetime Fitness in Florham Park and hadn’t been there is a while due to medical issues. I am getting ready to start my afternoon when I hear Apple’s version of “You’ve got mail.” A.k.a ding. I really should change that. I look at my inbox and it is my oldest and best customer. I have been supporting his computers forever. “What is my wifi password?” Ding again This one is from my wife. “We have to pay the mortgage today.”

Well, tickle me Elmo, but that is two things I need to do in Livingston today. It looks like I am headed that way. I am guest blogging here, so you guys don’t know this but I need coffee in order to function. Lucky for me the bank is next to the Starbucks in the center of town.

I order my coffee, pay and then feel bad that I don’t have change for a tip. On my way out I see a little wicker basket with some toys on it and a whole bunch of 8.5×11 handouts hanging off it with a binder ring. I tear off the top handout. It is already stained with coffee. “Perfect, this will be good blog material”, I say to myself and walk out the door.

Toy drives are blogger gold. Everyone loves to read about a good toy drive.

I head over to my #1 customers house and walk right in. I don’t need to knock because it is my parent’s house. Dad just upgraded to FIOS and a new Dell pc. I put my stuff down on the reception desk and spend the next couple of hours hanging with Pops, migrating his apps and data

Mom pokes her head in while we are wrapping up and sees the paper on top of my pile of junk. “Who’s is this?” She asks like she doesn’t know. “I have an extra doll still in the box that I have been meaning to donate.” (I laugh to myself because I know why it is surplus. Grandchild #8 came out a boy.) She is now going to donate the toy to the drive at Starbucks.

You see how easy it is to do something good and it can cause someone else to join in? All I did was grab the sheet of paper with the intent to blog about it, and leave it out for someone to see. That drop of good, led to a second drop. Now a local child will have a brand new baby doll this holiday.

I was going to type up all the information that was on that flyer so that it would inspire you to go drop off a toy. Instead, go grab a copy of the flyer for yourself, (and a coffee and tip the barista a little extra for me) and read it. Donate a toy. Then leave the flyer on your desk for a co-worker to see, or on the kitchen table for your teens to see. Give a gift to a child and give the gift of giving to a friend or loved one.

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Scott Farbman is a graduate of Livingston High School and currently writes for BlogMorris.com.
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