Reed Sandridge is a 36-year old Washington D.C. man who got laid off for the first time in his life, last December. Since then, he has been going around the city handing out $10USD to one person in need, every single day - And, he plans to continue for 365 days! Why? Because that's what his mother taught him to do!

Reed's unusual quest, which he calls 'Year of Giving', began on December 15th 2009, the third anniversary of his mother's death, the kindest, most generous person he has ever known. Since then, he scouts the streets every day, rain or shine, in search of that one special person who could do with some help.

As you can imagine, most people are a little skeptical when they hear his offer of free money. In fact, when Reed first started, some of them refused to even accept it. However, he is getting better at giving away and also talking to people about their problems, which he blogs about every day on his site yearofgiving.wordpress.com.

Reed, who is by no means rich, says that he is doing this not just to give away the money, but to try spread the 'disease' of being nice to people. Sometimes his donation helps someone get a decent meal or reach a destination, at other times it just makes them happy or feel lucky and that, is good enough for the young philanthropist!

Be sure to check out Mr. Sandridge's blog, yearofgiving.wordpress.com, about the fascinating people he meets every day and also, to read how you can help too! After that, try performing a random act of kindness for a total stranger and let us know how it felt!

source:yearofgiving.wordpress.com,wamu.org