Lake Co. church performs random acts of cash kindness

Imagine you're out shopping. A couple of high school students hand you an envelope containing $50 in cash and walk away. By the time you figure out what's going on, the kids are gone.

It happened to 24 people in Lindenhurst last week.

As part of their annual "Random Acts of Kindness" project, kids from the St. Mark Lutheran Church high school youth group in Lindenhurst picked two dozen people at random as recipients of the free gift.

"We felt like this was a way to give back to community," said St. Mark Pastor Rev. Bill Shields. "We want them to relate to the message that God loves us freely and without condition."

Each envelope contained the money and this note: "This is a free gift, no strings attached. Just like the free gift of salvation that God offers to all people through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Have a great day, and may God bless you! From the people at St. Mark Lutheran Church Lindenhurst, Illinois."

The students used a give-and-dash strategy.

Working in groups of four, along with an adult chaperon, students sought people out at Kohl's, Home Depot, Aldi, Jewel, Wal-Mart and Kmart and a few smaller stores in the Lindenhurst area.

"Two of us would walk up to someone, hand them the envelope and then quickly leave," said youth group member Carrie Breum. "The other two kids would be off to one side to watch the reaction," she said.

"The reactions were amazing. Just beautiful," Breum said. "Some people were shocked and were like, 'What's the catch?'"

Shields said people were chosen randomly but the students were told to look for moms and dads with a lot of kids or elderly people as targets.

Youth group member Alyssa Mol said she felt a little nervous handing out the cash, but the reactions she saw made the effort worthwhile.

"I saw this mom with a huge smile on her face," Mol said. "Her little boy said, 'can we get ice cream?' It was so cool."

This is the second year the youth group has done this. The money was raised from a church rummage sale earlier this year.

The act of kindness benefitted the recipients, but Mol said the students got back just as much or more.

"One woman was trying to catch up with us after we gave her the envelope," Mol said. "She had this huge smile on her face and was waving and saying, 'Thank you! Thank You!' That really touched me."