The Herstory Of OSF

For as long as I can remember I have always loved the idea giving, and could see the benefits of it on the giver and receiver. However, after closely looking at my life I began to notice that I was thinking about giving more than I was actually doing it. In April of 2009 I found out about something called the 29-Day Giving Challenge. The idea is to give away a gift a day for 29 consecutive days, and by the end of the challenge give something that you didn't think you could. The gifts could be anything from picking up trash that's not yours, smiling at someone, helping a neighbor etc. I knew instantly that this was what I wanted/needed, so I signed up and began my first round of conscious giving on April 23, 2009.

Right away I noticed a shift in my thinking and attitude. I began to start my days with the question in my mind "what can I give today?" and it never failed that an answer always showed up. Sometimes it was as simple as lending a listening ear to someone or paying for a person's items at the Dollar Tree. I quickly learned that what I gave didn't matter as much as the fact that I was giving. I loved the way I felt and I wanted to do more.

After completing the first round of 29 days, I knew that this was something I wanted to continue with and make it a part of my daily life, for the rest of my life. That's when I decided to start my own personal giving project which would incorporate another passion of mine - crafting/creating. Operation Smiley Face was born out of that desire. My mission with this project is simple - to make people smile with small (or any size really) acts of kindness. The Smiley pins have come to be what OSF is known for, but I do different projects and create new items to carry out my mission. Since OSF is about giving, the items offered here are done so at no charge to the recipient. They are gifts. This work is supported by voluntary donations from people like YOU. I also created the OSF Priceless Store right here on the blog. The proceeds from the sale of the items in the "store" also help support this project.

I am continually amazed to see/hear how a small "for-no-good-reason" act of kindness impacts people's lives. My goal for OSF is to spread smiles all over the world, and hopefully show people that it doesn't take much to make the world a little better. It just takes each of us to do what we can to make it happen.