I’ve used Spoonful of Comfort to encourage family and friends through celebrations and challenges. It’s a meal delivery service that primarily focuses on comforting soup and cookie options—with many special touch options available. They pay attention to details. A fantastic ladle comes with every soup order, so even though the gift as a whole is edible, there’s a small something left behind for lasting encouragement and use. Delicious gluten free and vegan options are available. And everything is packed with care.
I received a Mothers Day email from the company, then received this follow up a few days later:
Dear Friends, For many people, Mother’s Day is a difficult time. It is for me. After losing my mom, I’ve always struggled with the cheerful messages in early May. Spoonful of Comfort has sent some of those messages lately. And if they’ve been emotional for you, I’m sorry. If you’d like to opt out of our Mother’s Day emails, please let us know. We’ll pause for a few weeks. I appreciate your loyalty to Spoonful of Comfort. Thank you for letting us help you send comfort and care when the time is right. Yours, Marti Wymer, Founder and CEO Spoonful of Comfort
Just below the signature was a convenient button to click with the phrase, “Skip these emails.” I clicked the button, not because I have a reason to skim through Mothers Day this year but because I have many friends who have struggled or continue to struggle as the holiday approaches and passes. I wondered how easy it really was. Would it be like other opt-out landing pages, where you have to click on a reason or even just another button? No. All it took was that one click in the body of the email. It opened a Spoonful of Comfort page that simply confirmed the opt out of Mothers Day emails. Easy peasy.
Easy peasy is exactly the opposite of what holidays can feel like to people grieving and healing from tragedies. So many businesses put forth a lot of effort to gather as much of the consumer holiday pie as possible. Here was one company living their purpose out loud. They want people to experience comfort, and they did what they could to comfort an often overlooked group of people. I am thankful and inspired.
I know we can’t extend comfort to every single person without leaving someone out or offending someone, but we can do our best to extend compassion and respectful sensitivity. It’s not easy, and we can’t assume everyone who steps on our toes when we’re already having trouble limping along has bad intentions. Sometimes we’re just clueless. If nothing else, we can acknowledge that’s a possibility, and be responsive when we see someone might have been offended by our words or actions. Without a doubt, each of us has others around us who need just a little bit of patience and empathy today. Take a moment to extend a hand, an ear, and a dose of comfort.
Pure Purpose 