Published: January 04, 2009 01:00 am      

EXTRA MILER: Let's have lots of random acts of kindness in 2009

Happy New Year 2009 Southern Indiana! Danny Thomas once said, “All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don’t discover why. Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.”

Let Mr. Thomas’ words drift into your thoughts for just a moment.

A random act of kindness should not be accomplished for personal benefit; however, there is truly no way around it. Immediately upon performing an act of kindness, there is a surge of beta endorphins and human growth hormone within the body which causes a significant neuroendocrine effect.

Simply put, your happy hormones have a party. Therefore, even when we try to not personally benefit from our good deeds, we still do ... by osmosis.

Southern Indiana is unique in that we have an inordinate number of people who are prone to both deliberate and spontaneous acts of kindness. Let’s make 2009 special by kicking off a year-long effort to show the nation that we have the goods to “git er’ done.”

Feb. 9-15 is recognized across the country as Random Acts of Kindness Week. The Evening News and Tribune would like Southern Indiana to take the lead in creating and delivering acts of compassion and thoughtfulness.

Tell us about your acts of kindness, random or planned. Also, report an act of kindness bestowed upon you. Submissions may be e-mailed to: Extra.Milers@newsandtribune. com. The newspaper office address is provided at the end of this column, for those without e-mail.

Kicking off 2009, let me introduce our Extra Milers for January. The employees who work for TMSi Facility #5100 in Jeffersonville are special Extra Milers to a 5-year-old boy in Boise, Idaho, named Joseph Tacke and his mother, Suzanne Harding.

I recently received an Idaho Statesman newspaper clipping from a high school friend. She included this note, “Well, even people in Boise are now learning about the kindness of folks in Jeffersonville.” The article heading: “Frankie’s Big Adventure: A Boise Boy’s Stuffed Monkey Got Shipped To Indiana By Mistake, And Wow, What A Time He Had.”

Apparently Joseph Tacke had been playing with his best buddy, a stuffed monkey named Frankie and some large boxes. Joseph inadvertently left Frankie in one of the boxes, which was then picked up by FedEx later in the day, mistaken for a box of GE parts that were to go back to the warehouse.

Joseph was devastated and his mother began frantically calling and searching for the monkey. Frankie’s adventure took him through several states, ultimately landing in Jeffersonville’s GE TMSi Facility #1500, a distribution and processing center.

Upon hearing the container might be in his facility, TMSi’s facility manager, Robert Wooldridge, put out an All Points Bulletin (well, sort of) that the box with the stuffed animal was to be found that day, no matter the time or effort required. Wooldridge explained, “It wasn’t an easy task — up to a half million packages come through our building each day.”

It took about three hours to find Frankie and he was air-shipped to Joseph that afternoon. Wooldridge explained, “We wanted Joseph to have his monkey back the next day, but not before personalizing the visit to Jeffersonville.”

Frankie (given the nickname “Boss”) was posed operating a forklift and also sitting behind a desk with a cup of coffee. Photographs were taken and Wooldridge wrote a story about Frankie’s adventure and the day he spent helping out at TMSi. Included with Frankie’s shipment were hats, a flashlight and a night light.

Wooldridge explained, “The extra effort for Joseph helped us also ... it gave us a nice break from the normal routine of the day.” Wooldridge added, “Many of us have young children and we understood how upset Joseph must have been when he realized his stuffed monkey was lost.”

Wooldridge is embarrassed about the attention this story has been given and true to Extra Miler form, he emphasized that he did not act alone, “The employees who worked to find Joseph’s monkey did nothing out of the ordinary ... servant leadership is just one of seven values of our company.” Going the extra mile is instinctive for the employees of TMSi Facility #5100 and Southern Indiana (and a little boy in Boise) is grateful.

KINDNESS TIP OF THE MONTH: Make plans to be part of the Random (or premeditated) Acts of Kindness Week — Feb. 9-15, 2009. Involve your family, school, office, neighbors and friends. Be creative — be bold — and go that extra mile in 2009.

Carol A. Dawson is a resident of Jeffersonville and owner of EEO Guidance, Inc. If you have seen or been a part of an act of kindness or know an Extra Miler, please contact her. To submit an Extra Miler, a story, or act of kindness, contact Carol via e-mail: Extra.Milers@newsandtribune. com or mail: THE EXTRA MILERS, The Evening News, 221 Spring ST. Jeffersonville, IN 47130-3340. The New Albany office is located at 303 Scribner Drive.