I have been SO busy with
preparing for the next Kindness Activist fundraiser, the 3rd annual yard
sale, that I have been remiss in sharing how some of previously raised funds
have been used! Let’s fix that right now,
shall we? I am going to take a break
from sorting and hanging and such to share some KINDNESS STORIES! Here we go!
Instead of “saving the
best for last”, I am going to start with the story of a Kindness event that I really
enjoyed! Of course, one is not “better”
than any other, because kindness of all forms makes the world a better place –
but this one was super sweet.
After my mom died, my dad
remarried. He has passed away now, too, and
his wife now lives in a memory care home in Omaha, Nebraska. I have always enjoyed talking with seniors, they
have good stories to share! And I like
that places like where she lives have activities and events for the
residents. So, I decided to host a
VITUAL BEACH PARTY for them!
I was in Florida at the
time and naively thought, “This should be easy!
I can just “bring them to the beach with me” somehow. Long distance. Piece of cake!!”. I actually thought that maybe this event
could be a trial run and I could somehow host virtual beach parties with other
Alzheimer’s patients or hospice patients – people who may have a hard time
getting to the actual beach, but would enjoy it.
So, after speaking with
the activities coordinator to set up a time and date (she sounded as excited as
I was!) I set about ordering beach supplies for the home. I wanted the residents to be able to see the
ocean (virtually via Zoom) but also somehow feel as if they were there. So, I ordered funny sunglasses. Leis.
Pretty straws with pink flamingos on them. Seashells.
Small beach balls. A kiddie pool. Tiny water guns. Bubbles.
Beach buckets and shovels, and KINETIC BEACH SAND for them to play with
in their buckets!
I had thought of
everything, right??
Except, these were people with
Alzheimer’s and other memory issues.
GOING to the beach in real life would be one thing, but doing it VIRTUALLY
proved to be a bit confusing for them!
My sister, partner, and I got
to the beach early to set up and figure out the technology (thank goodness we
had a cell signal at the beach). We
waited a while and finally the staff member at the home connected with us on
Zoom. But the technology was far from
perfect… They could see US, but we
couldn’t see THEM! Haha.
So here we were on the
beach – ready to build a castle “with them”, go in the water “with them”, dip
our toes in the sand “with them” – but we could not see them! Nor could we HEAR them over the sound of the
waves crashing…
Time to improvise!! We just went on with the event with the
assumption that they could see us. “Hi,
welcome to the beach!!! Would you like
to follow me to the ocean and we can dip our toes in??”. We built a sand castle, watched it get
destroyed by a wave, swam, found some shells (shhh, we had “hidden” them so we
could easily find them on camera…), and generally chatted.
It was fun, but a bit
stressful. I later got an email from the
woman at the center who said, “It was great! Thank you so much for doing this!
Our residents had a blast… The ones who didn’t understand still loved all the
goodies you sent! 😊 “
So that was a relief! And they posted some adorable photos of the
residents “at the beach” so we finally got to see that YES, there were people
on the other end of the Zoom call.
 |
| The ladies having fun "at the beach" |
 |
| Something tells me that may be a VIRGIN pina colada... |
 |
| Ahhh, a relaxing afternoon at the beach |
They also repurposed some
of the decorations and sand that we had sent by making them into
decorations! Isn’t that great?
 |
Reduce, reuse, recycle!
This clever table decoration was made reusing
the kinetic sand, pretty straw, and shells from
the beach party! |
All in all, the
money was wisely spent. But am I ready
to replicate it at other care facilities?
Let’s wait until next summer to think about that…
 |
Beach party from our vantage point - "Which way do I turn my
cell phone?? I can't HEAR them over the waves!!" |
Amount spent: $236.39
A neighbor posted in a
Facebook group that she was looking for coffee pods for the coffee maker in the teacher's lounge of the school she teaches at. Well, let’s be
honest. Teachers have to spend their own
money for way too many things already – mainly classroom supplies – so the
least a school can do is provide them with good coffee, right?
But, sigh, in this
instance the teachers were supplying the coffee. AND THAT’S WHERE KINDNESS ACTIVIST COMES
IN! This is just the kind of need that Kindness
Activist funds are good for! Teachers
deserve to be applauded and spoiled a bit, right?
So, I talked with the
woman who posted and she chose which types of coffee pods to get. Amazon to the rescue – and now the teachers
have a bit of coffee.
Amount spent: $29.51
In a related story,
instead of coffee, this one is about TEA.
Many of the Afghan
refugees who had to hurriedly leave their homeland are being relocated to the
metro DC area, where we live. The
communities they are moving to are being so supportive! Apartments are being secured. Furniture and clothing are being
donated. These people are arriving with nearly nothing but are being welcomed with open arms.
A woman in our community
contacted a charity and was assigned a refugee family to help. She crowdsourced the neighbors and boy did
they come through! The new family arriving
must’ve felt overwhelmed by the warm welcome!
Their entire apartment was furnished with donations, I think, and food
from the Little Yellow Free Pantry helped to fill their shelves.
But as I thought about the
concept of being forced to leave a homeland, I realized that no matter what
material things were waiting for you in the new land, it would never be like
HOME. I tried to think of something I could
do to bring a tiny bit of the comfort of home to families arriving, and I settled
on TEA.
Tea plays an important
role in many cultures. It is not only a
drink, it is a tradition. So, I asked
around to people in the area that are from Afghanistan to find out which tea
would be reminiscent of home for the new arrivals. Turns out it is this one:
I ordered 8 fancy tins so
that it could be shared with 8 arriving families. I hope that they will drink a cup and smile
remembering what used to be, and be happy for all that is to come here, in
their new home.
Amount spent - $125.26
Ok, last story for this
entry. I didn’t plan it this way, but I guess
it relates to the story of welcoming new immigrants to America, too.
We noticed to a flag
flying in Florida was in rough shape. It
was faded and ripped and did not seem vibrant enough to reflect the patriotic
spirit that we know that home owners have.
 |
| Sad, tired old flag |
But, like their flag, the
homeowners ae going through a difficult time.
They are both out of work and one is suffering through a very hard
period of grieving. So I thought that Kindness
Activist funds would be a perfect way to brighten their spirits and their flag.
We purchased a nice, brand
new flag and left it with a note on their porch. And, lo and behold, the next time we looked
at that flag pole, the battered flag had been replaced by the clean and crisp
new one.
 |
| Beautiful new flag |
Amount spent - $24.98
