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Coats and puppy love

December 9, 2011 in Surprises

Yesterday we had an opportunity to deliver coats for children to the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County. We picked up eight children-sized coats and headed over to the Neighborhood Center. When we arrived, kids were playing on the playground and we heard them exclaim “It’s the Surprise Squad!” It was so exciting!

Izzy at the Iowa City Animal Shelter

We were greeted by Jane made to feel very welcome. We were very happy to make her smile with the donation!

This afternoon we were able to fulfill one of the suggestions we received from a Facebook fan! We stopped by Woofables, a local gourmet dog bakery, and bought them out of treats. Then we headed over to the Iowa City Animal Shelter to share them with some four-legged friends! The workers and volunteers at the shelter were very excited to see us. One had even heard of us and was very surprised that we stopped by, but we think that the dogs were the most excited to see us!

We met the most adorable puppy, Izzy. We were able to take her out into the play pen to play with her and give her a couple treats. It was so much fun to see all these wonderful animals. If you are looking for a new pet and have some extra love to give, consider adopting from the animal shelter. There are many great animals looking for new homes!

Don’t forget, tomorrow we will officially present our Share the Smiles donation to our winner, The Preemie Project! The donation will happen at the Grand Opening Celebration at 10:00 a.m. at Veridian’s new Coralville branch. Visit Veridian’s Facebook page for more details.

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And the winner is….

December 7, 2011 in Surprises

Yesterday afternoon we were able to surprise the winner of our $2,500 Share the Smiles donation! Watch her reaction!

 

 

A very special thank you to all who participated in our Share the Smiles donation contest!

Lunch for a wonderful group of ladies!

December 7, 2011 in Surprises

We started off Tuesday this week with a surprise of our own! The Coralville Hardees brought warm biscuits into Veridian’s Coralville branch to surprise us! What a wonderful gesture, and thank you for paying it forward!

We love inspiring others with our “people helping people” philosophy! We’ve heard stories from people who have had their lunch or coffee unexpectedly paid for, or even receiving a gift from a customer at work. Have you been surprised by someone lately? Or have you surprised someone else? We’d love to hear about it! Let us know in the comments below, or head over to our Facebook page to tell us!

Later in the day yesterday we had the opportunity to meet the seven wonderful women who work for RVAP, Rape Victim Advocacy Program, in Iowa City. Jessica, Karen, Karla, Tara, Diane, Ashlee, & Susan were all very excited to meet us when we surprised them with lunch!

The ladies were in a meeting when we walked in with their surprise lunch. We could tell they were surprised! It felt great to surprise people who do so much to help the community on a daily basis.

Yesterday we also surprised the winner of our $2,500 Share the Smiles donation! Stay tuned in to our blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages for details, pictures and video!

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Coats for those in need and a stop at Casey’s

December 6, 2011 in Surprises

Last Friday we had an opportunity to drop by Four Oaks with a donation of coats. The staff at Four Oaks were very excited to receive the donation after having watched The Surprise Squad’s story on KCRG news the night before.

There were a few children there when we dropped the coats off and they were able to see the donation. We were very pleased to be able to help out!

On Monday, we stopped at Casey’s General Store in Coralville to pump and pay for gas. Our Casey’s customer was very excited to hear about what we’ve been doing and very pleased that we were going to pay for her gas!

Even though it was cold outside, we were able to inspire a warm smile!

Voting has ended on our Share the Smiles contest on Facebook, but keep following us on Facebook and Twitter to hear from our winner!

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The big surprise!

December 1, 2011 in Surprises

For the past five weeks, the Surprise Squad has been making the Coralville community smile by purchasing groceries, gas, lunch and more. We’re pleased to announce that the Surprise Squad has been brought to Coralville by Veridian Credit Union, and Veridian’s new Coralville branch staff is the team.

Why the Surprise Squad? Simple. Veridian has always embraced the credit union philosophy of “People Helping People” and what better way to live that philosophy than making people smile all over Coralville.

We’ve partnered with the Community Foundation of Johnson County to present a $2,500 donation to a local non-profit organization. You can vote daily for your favorite non-profit on our Facebook page, facebook.com/surprisesquad. Voting ends Monday, December 5, at 4:00 p.m.

Want to learn more about the Surprise Squad and our “People helping People” philosophy? Watch the video for some of our favorite Surprise Squad moments.

More surprise requests fulfilled!

December 1, 2011 in Surprises

We started our day off today with another great surprise request! David and Roxanne have been bringing holiday cheer to Coralville for many years. Each year they set up a Santa House in Coralville for all to enjoy. Many families drive past each year to enjoy the lights. Last year, they were unable to put up the display because of high electricity costs. Our surprise squad stopped by with a gift card to Linn County REC to help absorb some of the cost to put on this great display!

After visiting David and Roxanne, we headed over to the Iowa City Chamber of Commerce with a poinsettia and a plate of cookies. While there, we met Gina and Kelly who were very surprised and pleased.  We encouraged them to visit us on Facebook to vote for our Share the Smiles $2,500 non-profit donation!

We rounded out the day with another great surprise request! Lois has worked for Goodwill of the Heartland in Iowa City for almost five years. She let us know that the hard-working, dedicated workers at Goodwill Reboot deserved a surprise. We agreed and stopped by today to surprise the staff with cookies!

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Giving back feels good!

November 30, 2011 in Surprises

Today we got to fulfill a really great surprise request! Mary is the director of the Free Lunch Program in Iowa City. In her spare time, Mary spends time picking up donated items from homes to deliver to different agencies and Shelter House clients who are moving into their own residences. Often, she will send out alerts to her list of helpers, asking for donation items to meet specific needs.

Mary gives so much of her time, energy, and money to charity, we were happy to give something back to her! The squad surprised Mary this morning with a gift card to help with gas and expenses.

Later in the day, we were also able to put together a donation of winter coats, shampoo, and deodorant for United Action for Youth‘s clothing drive. Volunteers Karinda and Catherine of UAY were so excited and let us know that the donation was much appreciated.

If you’d like to help, United Action for Youth will host its second annual winter teen clothing drive from Dec. 5-7. Donations can be dropped off at the UAY center, 410 Iowa Ave.

For our last surprise of the day we headed to City Hall with a plate of cookies. Kelly and Denise were very excited to see us and said they are big fans of the Surprise Squad! It’s so wonderful to hear from community members who are following our surprises online! It feels great to let the leaders of our community know they are appreciated!

There’s still time to vote in our Share the Smiles contest! Visit our Facebook page to vote for your favorite local non-profit organization, and they may win the $2,500 donation! You can vote daily for your favorite! Here is a list of today’s five front-runners!

Treats, cookies, and lunch

November 29, 2011 in Surprises

On Monday we were able to bring treats to the Coralville Police Department. We delivered a plate of cookies to thank them for everything they do for our community!

After the police station, we headed to Mondo’s for lunch. We were able to surprise a family of diners with a free lunch. Mary, Matt, and Jim Adam were very excited to meet us.

On Tuesday, we stopped in at Pathways Adult Day Health Center to provide treats for their staff. We felt welcomed from the moment we walked in. Nick, Brittany, and Shannon, staff members at the center, were all very excited and thrilled to have their picture taken with us. The holiday atmosphere, decorations, and music were very festive!

Our last stop of the day was Kate Wickham Elementary where we brought cookies for the staff. Many of the staff members had heard of the Surprise Squad and they were all very excited about what we were doing. The staff members at Wickham Elementary are wonderful and their enthusiasm is contagious!

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Surprising on Thanksgiving week and Black Friday!

November 28, 2011 in Surprises

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving started out with a caffeine boost at the New Pioneer Coop.  We checked out their coffee show and decided to surprise a customer by buying Jessica’s groceries.

From there, we purchased a new winter coat headed over to Community Mental Health. Katherine, a staff member, told us the coat would be put to good use and given to someone who has been without a coat for two years. We have so much to be thankful for this holiday season, and love to share the good fortune with others!

Later at the Salvation Army, we were able to do more good in the community. We dropped off a large donation of food to workers. It felt good to know that we were helping put food on someone’s table who may otherwise go hungry.

At Taco Johns, we were able to full one of our requested surprises and present Jeff with a gift card to Herkey’s Locker Room. Jeff is a huge Hawkeye fan and will be able to put the card to good use. If you know someone who deserves a surprise, don’t forget to put in your request!

We started out Black Friday at Caribou coffee and surprised some weary shoppers with some morning coffee. We met Doug and Jamie from Minneapolis and surprised several people with a morning pick-me-up.

After coffee we headed to the Ice Arena inside Coral Ridge Mall to surprise families with free ice skating. The mall was busy with people shopping and the ice rink was filled with families. We met one grandmother with nine grandchildren who was very happy that we paid for skating. Their family has a tradition of skating at the ice rink with grandma while the children’s mothers go shopping. What a fun holiday tradition!

We met another family with a fun holiday tradition when we headed over to the Coral Ridge Cinema. Judy’s family sees a movie on Black Friday each year. She was very excited to receive a gift card to the theatre, especially because she had seen us on KCRG! We also met Dawn and Jessica who had been shopping all morning and were ready to take a break and see a movie.

Our last stop for the week was at the bus stop. We met two ladies who were waiting for the bus. We were able to give them each a pre-paid bus pass.

We had a wonderful week and hope you did, too. Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and Twitter to get special clues about each day’s surprises. You can also vote in our Share the Smiles contest to help determine which area non-profit will receive our $2,500 donation!

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Tuesday surprises: a marathon of surprises & a special donation

November 23, 2011 in Surprises

With 5 surprises to deliver, the Surprise Squad was kept busy as we made our way around the Coralville area yesterday. Our marathon round of surprises began at the Iowa Pediatric Dental Center, where we surprises Molly and her stepson by paying for his dental services. Going to the dentist is painful enough, so we enjoyed making it easier for them. Once the rest of the staff found out about our surprise, everyone was excited to learn more about the Surprise Squad, and we actually ended up having fun at the dentist’s office — imagine that!

Coralville Public Library employees Susan & Maria enjoy their Yummy's cookies.

After sharing a few stories with the dental staff, we made our way to the Coralville Public Library. We had received an anonymous request through our website to surprise Maria and Susan at the library, so we brought Yummy’s cookies to them. Both women were honored that someone had thought of them!

Next, we headed over to the bus stop at Coral Ridge Mall to hand out a few more bus passes. The mall was busy with people preparing for the holidays (already!), and many people were interested in what we were doing to surprise Damian and Patricia. Patricia was especially thankful to receive the bus pass, and we had fun making her smile.

After the bus stop, we paid a visit to Coralville’s Laundromania to surprise Africa and Heather, who were finishing up a few loads of laundry. When we handed out a few rolls of quarters to them, Africa thought we were joking! We had fun telling her that yes, we really were giving her free laundry money!

For our final stop of the day, we visited a woman named Linda at her home to deliver a special requested surprise. Linda is involved with The Preemie Project, a local organization that provides hats, booties, blankets and sleepers to premature and critically ill infants born at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. Linda makes as many as 900 blankets and sleepers every year, and each year on Black Friday, she visits fabric stores to buy all the fabric she’ll need for the year at a discounted price. We continue to be inspired like people like Linda, who make such a difference in our community, so we surprised Linda with a gift card to Jo-Ann Fabrics that will pay for enough fabric to make 25 blankets!

Linda told us that because of the economy’s current state, it has become more difficult to find funding to purchase the fabric for the blankets and sleepers, so we were happy to help out, and if you’d like to support The Preemie Project, you can too. The Preemie Project is one of the Johnson County organizations in the running for a $2,500 donation from the Surprise Squad. If you’d like to vote for The Preemie Project, or any of the other eligible organizations, click here to place your vote!

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