Thread by @MuhammadLila

In a world filled with so much #Covid19 fear, it's the smallest acts of kindness can have the biggest impact.

I'm about to share a story that can change the world.

Keep reading – and I’ll explain.

It all starts with a single loaf of bread.

A Thread.

(all via @Goodable)

This is Green Blade Bakery, in Klamath Falls, Oregon. 

It’s been a family owned business for thirteen years. They have pastries, cakes, bread, you name it.

It’s kind of place that hits you with a giant whiff of delicious, bakery goodness everytime you open up the front door.

A few days ago, they wanted to do something to help the community.

So they made nine special, discounted loaves of bread for out-of-work hospitality workers. 

All you had to do was walk in, show your ID, and the bread was yours (hungry yet?).

Here’s what happened next.

Once they were out on the shelves, a woman walked in and asked what the bread was for.

When they told her, without hesitating she said “I’ll pay for all of them.”

Just like that.

She wanted to make sure people who needed bread wouldn’t have to pay for them.

And there’s more.

By this time, the bakery had already been forced to close its dine-in area.  No customers, only takeout, with signs on the ground marking how far apart everyone had to stand.

#Covid19 is hitting small businesses hard. They worried they’d have to close, and made this promise.

👇

The next day, they were allowed to stay open.  So they made eighteen special loaves, instead of just nine.

By then, somehow a woman in California had found out.  She called them up and said:

“I’ll pay for them all”

Just like that.

Word kept spreading.

People started coming in - specifically – to buy loaves of bread for others.  Two customers even stood in line:  The first paid for fifty, and the next in line paid for the next fifty. 

After this, the bakery knew what they had to do.

They made a decision.

They decided to call it The Hope Loaf.

And so, what started as a simple act of kindness has turned into hundreds, and eventually, thousands of loaves – all to help people when they could use it the most.

And here’s why that can change the world.

Yes, the world.

#TheHopeLoaf

If you follow #Covid19, you’ll hear scientists talk about an R-naught number.  It means that for every one infected person, they’ll go on to infect 2-3 more.

Well guess nobody talks about?

Kindness has an R-naught number too.

And here’s how it works.

Around the world, there are distilleries that are making hand sanitizer.  Some are giving it out for free.

It didn’t start all the sudden.  It started with just one.  Others saw it and thought “hey, we could do that too.”

Now there are hundreds, maybe thousands, worldwide.

That’s how goodness works.  It spreads, especially in a time of pandemics.

This bakery could be any small town bakery in America – or even the world.

Imagine if other bakeries, say, in Mexico or Egypt, saw this and said “hey, we’re gonna start selling Hope Loaves too."

🌍

We don’t have exact data, but we know it’s already happening, in schools, offices, and communities around the world.

At @Goodable, we tried keeping track of people and organizations that were offering free meals, and we lost count.

There were literally too many.

It's easy to say “dude, it’s just bread.  It’s not gonna change the world.”

Maybe.

But try telling that to the mom who just lost her job.  Or the kids who relied on free meals at school. 

It’s not about food.  It’s about saying “hey, we got you”

You can’t put a price on that.

We’ve been thinking a lot about this over @Goodable, and what role we can play.

We think the world needs more goodness.

As I write this, more people have been offering to buy more #TheHopeLoaf for others. It's spreading even more.

It's the kind of spread we need more of.

End