Kindness Can Be a Sweet Business

I love sugar. It may not be healthy, but it’s true. I love sugar almost as much as I love kindness.

Beth Delgado is a businesswoman in Grand Forks who clearly shares my heart. She’s making it her business to make people’s days a little sweeter in a lot of ways.

“Here in Grand Forks I have a quaint little shop called The Little Sweet Shop. It is a multipurpose shop that acts as a sweet shop, cafe/lunch spot, coffee shop, tea room, gift shop and craft consignment shop. On my birthday back in March, I did what I thought would be a one-day event and held a root beer float fundraiser from which 100 percent of the proceeds would be split in half and given to two nonprofit organizations that are based out of the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks area.

“As the day progressed, my heart wanted to do so much more to help. That one-day fundraiser turned into a regular fundraising evening. Now, on the first day of each month, I draw the names of two local nonprofit organizations and those groups share 100 percent of the root beer float proceeds that come in throughout the month. The kindness part of this really comes from the residents in the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks community because they are the people who stop in to donate to this cause. It is not uncommon for someone to put money in the charity bucket and not have a float. They want to help just as much as I do and this gives us all that opportunity.

“Recently I created a Random Acts of Kindness board in my shop. On the board are RAK slips on which patrons can draw a smiley face, write an encouraging note, or give something to someone by pre-paying for an item such as coffee or lunch in which case they write “Good for 1 free (item).” They often add a personal note such as “Have a wonderful day!”

“We live in a time in which so many people are discouraged. Something as simple as a smile can make a huge difference, so it is nice that they can walk into the shop discouraged only to find a smiley face they can take with them. When people in the community stop in the shop and add something to the board, they are excited about it. I can understand why because there is nothing quite like doing something positive for others.”

Thanks for sharing your story, Beth. I agree. There is something awfully sweet about spreading kindness.

Please continue to share your stories of kindness with me at info@nicolejphillips.com. Or send a letter to Kindness is Contagious c/o Nicole J. Phillips, The Forum, 101 5th St. N., Box 2020, Fargo, ND 58107.

Nicole J. Phillips is a former television anchor for Fox News in Fargo. She is a writer, speaker and mother of three kids. Nicole is married to Ohio University’s men’s head basketball coach Saul Phillips. Her column runs every Saturday. You can visit Nicole at nicolejphillips.com.