How a Meme Ended Up Feeding an Elders’ Home
Generosity can come from unlikely places
No, that’s not a typo. A meme really did help feed an elders’ home. It all started on Twitter when user @GloriaXFiles tweeted a photo of herself on the internet. Though unintentional at the time, Gloria’s pose felt like one of those waiting to spark some creative commentary.
Before long, Twitter got busy with their creative comments. The light-hearted humor certainly lit up the local Twitter space. It's rare to see such sights on social media these days without blowing up a storm.
It's also not every day you see Twitter content translating well over to the more popular platforms like Facebook. Particularly in a country with X Twitter users and over 6,000,000 Facebook userbase. But that’s exactly what happened. Gloria’s photo was now a full-blown meme. One of these memes was on a page called Wasana Bakers.
Although the image was used prior to getting Gloria’s consent, Wasana Bakers did reach out. The bakery offered free cake as a token of appreciation but Gloria turned them down. She had other ideas.
Usually, when someone offers you free cake your immediate thought might not be “How can I do something meaningful out of this?”. But that’s exactly what Gloria wanted to do. So she reached out to a fellow tweep involved in social work. A few DMs and phone calls later, Gloria managed to set something up.
Putting smiles on those who need it
On the 1st of September, Poya Day, a religious day for Buddhists in Sri Lanka, Gloria arranged a tea-time meal for 50 residents at the Salvation Army Elders’ Home in Rajagiriya, Colombo. Wasana Bakers sponsored the cake with Gloria complementing it tea and snacks. The result was a happy group of senior citizens.
Sure, its only a simple tea-time snack for most of us. But for those who are left at the care in an elders’ home, means far more than that. To put it in Gloria’s own words, “they said it felt like Christmas for them”. If you’re one to celebrate Christmas like most of us, you would understand the impression this simple act has made in those people’s hearts.
Of course, arranging a meal for residents at an elders’ home is not rocket science. Its something almost anyone could do. But that’s exactly the point. Acts like these reinforce the idea that you don’t have to be rich and influential to make an impact. Sometimes all it takes is a simple act of kindness.
This isn’t the usual thing I write about. I spend most of my time writing about tech. But I wanted to tell this short, yet meaningful story. I wanted this to be a reminder to myself and for anyone reading, that a little bit of kindness can go a long way, as Gloria has demonstrated. So while we’re busy with our digital lives, perhaps we could all try to be a little better.
