By John Jarvis

Good Hearted Hughes Marino Mini Goalers!

I trust that you are all on board with our focus for 2018, recognizing the everyday heroes all around us and generally making the world a better place, one small gesture at a time.

January was a great, easy way to kick things off, with a simple act of kindness. For my part, in the midst of an otherwise ordinary morning ritual, standing in line at Starbucks, as I was handing over my credit card I turned to the guy in line behind me and said “what are you having? It’s on me today.” He was a college-aged kid with a backpack and a confused look that turned into a grin as he ordered a venti caramel mocha something or other. It may be flu season, but grins are just as contagious, and I saw it spread to the cashiers. That’s the way it works. It spreads. I don’t know how it changed their day. Maybe it didn’t. Or maybe it did, and maybe they told the story and passed it along.

We had more random acts of kindness this month, starting with our friend Angela, who covered school and uniform fees for families who needed a little help. Briana went the extra mile to sing the praises to a manager about a friendly customer service agent, and also picked up a lunch tab for the table next to her (it was anonymous, but she loved seeing the reaction of the women who were shocked and touched by the kind act—the women vowed to pay it forward to another table the next time they went to lunch!).

Our friend Bill tipped his server generously as a way to brighten their day. On his own birthday, David threw an amazing twist and gifted each team member with a mug from Starbucks! We love hearing about the contagious generosity and are happy we have three other months to promote random acts of kindness.

Of course, there is no limit to paying it forward, so let us know whenever you do, no matter what month! Pass your stories along to us with an email to minigoals@hughesmarino.com.

Things get a bit more serious in February, as we find a way to…

Appreciate our First Responders

What can I say? These are the utterly remarkable human beings who head out into the storm, who run into the burning building and who generally stay calm and take charge when all hell is breaking loose. They do this at great personal risk simply because someone needs help. Wow, yeah, let’s find a way to say thank you. For their January random act of kindness, Heather and Hope delivered some sweet treats to their local fire department (and already got a jump-start on February’s Mini Goal)! They said the reactions of the fire fighters were priceless!

I think we sometimes forget how many people are out there watching out for us—Police Officers, Fire Fighters, Military and Military Reserve, Life Guards, Coast Guard, Red Cross, Blue Helmets, Mountain Rescue, the list goes on and on. Some have made it their career and some are volunteers. Appreciate them all, and let us know about the good people in these roles in your community so we can show them some love.

We can’t wait to see what ideas you come up with! As always, be sure to tag your good deeds with #hmminigoals, and send your photos to minigoals@hughesmarino.com

This is how we grow.