Behind the Allamakee County Courthouse, a simple little box offers something much bigger than food.
Photo: Deliverance Hope / Word ’Round Town
“Some acts of kindness arrive with ceremonies, photographs and applause.
Others sit quietly along a sidewalk.
Behind the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon, Iowa, stands a small white cabinet with a weathered sign stretched across the top:
THE GOODWILL BOX.
Look through the glass and you will find canned vegetables, soup, pasta, bread, eggs and other everyday foods.
Nothing fancy.
But perhaps that is what makes it so meaningful.
Someone had a little extra and placed it inside.
Someone else may be having a difficult week and take what is needed.
There is no checkout lane.
No cashier.
No exchange of money.
Just one neighbor helping another ~ sometimes without ever knowing who that neighbor will be.
Kindness Without Knowing Who Receives It
There is something especially beautiful about giving when you may never see or hear from the person who benefits from it.
The person placing a can of soup inside may never know who takes it.
The person leaving eggs may never meet the family that cooks them for breakfast.
And they may never hear that soft, little, quiet, heartfelt prayer of thanks for their doin’…
But God did! And honest deeds like these make Him smile and wink!
Ya know…
A loaf of bread placed on a shelf by one set of hands may become sandwiches packed for someone else’s children.
And nobody has to know anybody’s story first.
There doesn’t have to be an explanation for why someone needs help.
There doesn’t have to be an explanation for why somebody chose to give.
The box simply creates a place where the two can meet.
A Little Box With a Pretty Big Message
At first glance, it may be easy to walk past.
It isn’t enormous.
It isn’t elaborate.
It isn’t filled with flashing signs asking anyone to notice what is happening there.
But perhaps the Goodwill Box quietly says something worth hearing:
If you have a little extra, you can share it.
If you need a little help, it is okay to receive it.
And somewhere between those two things, community happens.
Because caring for one another doesn’t always require a large organization, a complicated program or an enormous donation.
Sometimes it begins with a can of vegetables.
A jar of sauce.
A carton of eggs.
Or one person standing in a grocery aisle and deciding:
“I’ll pick up one more for somebody else.”
Behind the courthouse in Waukon, Iowa, those little decisions are gathering on a few simple shelves.
And for someone who needs what is waiting there, they may not feel little at all.
Maybe the person who leaves the food never hears the thank-you. Maybe they never know whose table it reaches. But kindness does not become smaller just because it happens quietly.
Matthew 25:35
…
Sometimes goodwill really does come in a box. ❤️”
~Deliverance Hope
Word ’Round Town
Northeast Iowa Community Living
word-round-town.com
Keep Goin’ ‘Round Town
There’s always another story waiting just around the corner.