Spread the Love - Keep the Change

Krissy Fasy

A scalper outside of Coors Field gives a father and son two World Series tickets-for free. A man pays the E-470 toll for himself and the 20 cars behind him.  Strangers in a beat-up pickup truck give away free turkeys in Capitol Hill, just two days before Thanksgiving. These Robin Hoods don’t say much; they gently refuse payment and graciously accept thanks; they grin at your spluttering whys and press a weighty, grooved coin into your palm. “Karma,” they say, before fading into the crowd or the dark or the 5 o-clock traffic. And as the coin warms in your hand you decipher a website and a simple phrase: “Spread the love: Keep the change.” Welcome, friend, to the Karma Club.

It’s not a new idea, this do-gooding. Jesus had the golden rule, Haley Joel Osment had “Pay it Forward.” But the Karma Club brings these concepts home to our own neighborhood and helps us tell the stories of our friends, our neighbors, and ourselves. It’s an accessible method of philanthropy that’s based on small acts of kindness rather than grand gestures. Just visit the website (www.karma-club.org), order a coin (they’re free) and do something nice for someone. Scrape the ice off your neighbor’s windshield and leave a coin under the wiper blade. He’ll pocket the coin, record the story on the website, and maybe next week he’ll help somebody change a flat tire. And a new thread will begin.

The Karma Club is the brainchild of Denver restaurateur, entrepreneur, TV host, writer and idealist Nick Mystrom, who, in his own words, is no saint. “I’m just trying to get back to even,” jokes Mystrom, who’s had
the concept for the Karma Club banging around in his head since he was just a kid growing up in Anchorage, AK. “I’ve had a certain degree of success in my life and had been looking for a way to give back, and honestly I wasn’t that impressed with what I saw out there. The Karma Club is my way of giving back.”

The genesis for the Karma Club occurred during a fateful night at a Denny’s restaurant when Mystrom was
eight years old. “My family and I were at dinner and we were on a really tight budget back then; I think we had a 10 dollar budget for family of five, and when my dad got the bill he didn’t have enough money to pay. A guy came up to us and said that we looked like a great family and that he’d like to pick up the bill, which he did. I don’t think my dad shut up about that for 30 years.”

At his dad’s request, Mystrom and his siblings now forego gifts each year in favor of buying another family dinner, and this spirit of giving became the impetus for the Karma Club movement that’s gradually gaining legs in Denver and all over the country. “When I shifted attention from “What can I get” to “What can I
give,” I noticed a shift in consciousness where more positive things happen in my life”, says Mystrom.

Blake Snowden, operations head of the Karma Club’s “Karma Army,” says that the Karma Club has changed his perspective.

“I have to admit, I’m a cynical guy,” says Snowden, “but it feels good to help people, and the Karma Coins are a reminder that you can make someone’s day every single day.”

Snowden might’ve made your day last year when he gave away free turkeys outside of the Capitol Building right before Thanksgiving last year. “We pulled up and just started yelling “Free turkeys!” to people on the street,” remembers Snowden with a smile. “People looked at us like we were nuts at first, and a lot of them just couldn’t accept that we didn’t want anything in return. But we gave out 100 turkeys last year, along with 100 karma coins, and sure enough the stories started turning up on the website. It felt great.”

Snowden and the other members of the Karma Army have plans for more events in Denver during this holiday season, and encourage whoever is interested to get involved. “You’re doing your part if all you do is hold the door open for someone at work this week,” says Snowden. “The Karma Army gains a solider each time you do a good deed. But there are bigger events planned, so write to the website if you want to get in on the action.” At least one Karma Club event will take place in downtown Denver and will be recorded by Fox News sometime in November. “Our plans aren’t set in stone yet, but it’s gonna be good,” Snowden says with a cryptic grin, clearly excited by the latest Karma Club scheme.

His enthusiasm is contagious, and it’s easy to see why this concept is taking off. Mystrom, Snowden, and the thousands of others who have given of themselves in large and small ways for the sake of kindness and good karma want you to realize just how easy this is.

So, if every single holiday season you tell yourself that this year you’re definitely going to volunteer at a soup kitchen, or run that church fundraiser, or give to a charity instead of exchanging gifts…and then don’t, don’t worry. Start by ordering a Karma Coin, and then do something small for someone else. It doesn’t have to be expensive, extravagant, or a lot of work-you can help someone with their bags at the supermarket, or fold the laundry that’s left in your apartment building’s dryer instead of leaving it in a wrinkly heap. Whether you’re already feeling good about your place in the universe or are long overdue for a contribution to the
karma fund, a heartfelt “thank you” from a stranger is all it will take to put life back into perspective. “No kind action ever stops with itself,” said Amelia Earhart. The Karma Club is asking you to prove her right.