What can you do to help others?

A wise person said that service to others is the way to happiness. Now when most of us are worried about our livelihood, our well-being, and the future, what better way to get us out of a downward spiral of negative thinking than to turn it around and think about serving others? No matter how dire one’s circumstances, there are always people who have it worse or need a helping hand.

SERVE MORE THAN ICE CREAM

How can you or your business serve and offer a helping hand to others? Maybe you think you have little to nothing to offer, but every human being has value. And by extension, your business – that is a reflection of you – has something to offer.

Here are some possibilities:

1. Maybe you have figured out a way to make your business work. You’ve made some discovery – like an unknown grant or fund, or a new product offering that works during a shut-down. SHARE this with other business owners in your area, around the nation, and even the world (!) by writing a blog about it or posting a YouTube video.

a. Starting a blog is not that hard with Wordpress.

b. Here’s a primer for starting a YouTube channel

2. Join or start an online Mutual Aid Facebook group with other local businesses and community members with a focus on helping others. These groups are an excellent way to find out what is going on in your neighborhood in terms of who needs what help, and who can offer services. Maybe someone needs a ride somewhere, or needs something picked up at the supermarket. This is a good place to post services that your particular business might be able to offer.

3. Give away free ice cream to the heroes in your community – first responders, medical staff and others. Find out who they are, and figure out a way to get yummy pints delivered to them. What time do medical workers finish their shift? Or take over a small freezer and fill it with cups and pints and place it in an area where they have access to it – their private staff room, for example. After a grueling shift, who wouldn’t want to savor some of your best-selling ice cream flavors?

4. Help out parents who are homeschooling by giving them something their kids can focus on – with a reward, or many rewards. Offer a weekly contest for the kids who are homeschooling. They can submit artwork, or a science project, or something else – the reward? Free ice cream delivered to their house. Or offer a free cone to all kids who finish all their work every week.

5. Maybe you’ve decided to shut down your business, and now you have free time. What will you do with your time? Maybe you can mentor others? There are websites for signing up and reaching out to others as a mentor. Here’s an example of one that we’ve found useful: clarify.fm.

6. Remember during these difficult times that sometimes doing NOTHING (here’s a fun video for you!) is a service to others – more so during the current circumstances. Stay at home. Take care of your own. Finish up a project that you’ve been meaning to do for a while. We’re so used to DO-ing that sometimes we forget that stillness or retreat also have their benefits.

Faith in humanity could be the beauty that rises from these ashes. Our community — the ice cream community, the plant-based/vegan community, and the food service community — will be a model for what it looks like to come together in times of crises. You have shown resilience these past few weeks, and have been called to make very difficult choices. We understand everyone's obligations to their families and pray that we all can come out swinging once this is over and get back to what truly makes us happy, and that is making others smile!

With a lot of love and well wishes,

The Mami’s Team

Please tag us in your success stories @mamis_gelato or send us an email: info@mamisgelato.com We’d LOVE to hear from you!

Photo Credits:

Photo by Hudson Hintze on Unsplash

Photo by Tai's Captures on Unsplash

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash