The First of Two Million Acts of Kindness

It was just the two of us in the empty lecture hall.

Jason Abrams had just finished a Monday morning teaching 200+ agents in Chicagoland. He had finished up the "can we take a pictures" and meet and greets that come. He was gathering his things from the podium while I was walking the rows cleaning up coffee cups and collecting pens left behind.

Jason asks "Hey Mike, how are you doing?"

Because of the trust we had built over the years, I finally dropped my guard and gave him an honest answer and not just a "you know..."

I told him we just applied for a KW Cares Grant to help with Baby Owen's medical expenses, and the grant had just come through that Friday. And he, of course, asked what was going on. And he just listened, fully present with me for five minutes or so before we headed downstairs for the afternoon portion of the day where he would teach the ALC and I would run the microphone around the room. I didn't think too much about our conversation afterwards.

Clearly, Jason did.

A couple weeks later, I was scheduled to be in Austin, TX for the Regional Director meeting, and Jason's team asked if I could stay an extra day at the end. There was no way I could, so they asked if we could set a Zoom for when I was done with our big family trip. I said sure, Tuesday works. While I was in Austin, someone gave me a big [almost didn't fit in the carry on] shiny silver wrapped box and said "Don't open it until Jason says to."

On Tuesday, a few hours before our appointment, Jason called me. And, I don't know about you but when you see the real Jason Abrams on your phone, you answer. "Hey Mike, can we meet now?" so we hopped on Zoom.

We spent 20 minutes talking about everything that Owen had gone through in his first year. The hole in heart that, thankfully, has closed by itself. The spinal surgery for Tethered Cord Syndrome to save his ability to walk, and all the specialists and tests to figure those out. We talked how we did everything we could to stay above water but the testing and procedures, even with fantastic insurance brought our cash so low, we were looking at going into a negative bank balance that week. He asked to see a picture, so I ran down and got the big framed photo.

"OK, now grab that box, we got something for you."

Inside was one of those Giant Checks you see on the news when a donation was made. Jason had personally donated $5000 to KW Cares to help fund grants like ours - the first of many acts of kindness to follow to celebrate ​2 Million Acts of Kindness​ for reaching 2 million downloads on the MREA Podcast. #mrea2m on instragram if you want to see it.

Why I'm sharing this with you

Sometimes you're the one giving help, sometimes you're the one who needs it the most. When you're downing under the weight of life's unexpected battles, you realize what kind of community you actually have around you. I've always been "the giver". Even shaving my head for a $10,000 KW Cares donation bet. KW Cares isn't just for disaster relief. It's a family that is able to step up for anyone who needs a helping hand when hardship shows up.

If you've ever wondered what happens when you support KW Cares? Your kindness shows you care more than you can possibly know. It gave us a chance to breathe this week. So thank you. Thank you if you've donated $5, $500, or $5000+.

Thank you for being the community that shows up when it matters most. I'd love to see you in San Antonio at Mega Camp! I'm open for hugs.

​Support KW Cares here.​ To be there for the next family who needs us.

​See the Instagram Post here.