Soup Tears

Ever cry over a can of soup?

I have.  Just this afternoon.

I’ve been really busy lately – work, Kindness Activist stuff, life…  You know, it all adds up.  You get it – you are busy, too.

But TWICE today I was reminded of the amazing kindness that is in this world.  Both were reminders I needed.  And I figured, if I needed the reminder, well, you might, too.

The pantry storage shelves in our basement are getting low.  Like, our food stock is the lowest it has been in a long time.  It’s always a bit worrisome to see that.  But here’s the thing – I don’t like to keep asking for donations.  I feel like I am a pest sometimes.

 

And also – the WORLD.  I mean, at least our little corner of the country is imploding…  2 friends lost their jobs today.  2.  And they are 2 of thousands. 

 

With so much uncertainty in the world, it is hard to ask for help for the pantry.  People have their own families to feed – asking them to help make sure strangers don’t go hungry feels above and beyond.

 

So I have been stressing.  Each time another category of food runs low, when I see the shelves getting bare…  It is stressful.

 

Today I put out the 2^nd to the last bag of beans. 

 

The lone bag of black beans sat in the bin, waiting its turn.

 

I hate that feeling.  Like, people rely on the pantry for some of their food, and beans are a staple.  But it was reality.

 

I was going about my day, getting lots done actually.  A car pulled over and a person got out and walked toward the pantry.  I knew they were a pantry guest, so I was glad they arrived at just the right time when it was full.

 

Only this time they weren’t coming to get, they were coming to GIVE.

 

“Oh, are you donating?” I asked.

 

“Yes…  Yes.  It is not much, but…” they replied.

 

I put out my hands and accepted their offer.

 

It was, as you may have guessed already, a bag of beans.  It was 2 cans of vegetables and a bag of beans.  My heart melted.

“No!  No, this is perfect!” I told them.  “We only have one bag of beans left, so we really needed these.”

 

They smiled and went on their way.  I am so thankful for them.  And glad that they were able to feel the joy and pride of being able to help and give back.

 

I felt better.  The sun was shining.  I was working outdoors.  I could breathe in the fresh air.

 

But that wouldn’t be the last reminder of kindness I got today.  A couple of hours later a message popped in.  It said simply, “Is there anything you are low on for the pantry?”.

 

I had a choice. 

 

Be brave and ask, or quietly say thank you for reaching out.

 

I asked.

 

I said, Oh my goodness we are low on so much right now. I need to do a big ask, but David and I are taking a quick vacation soon, and I don't want the pantry crew overwhelmed with having to carry heavy boxes and sort.  But really, anything on this list before the next few days would be so appreciated. We haven't been this low in a looooong time.  We are low on:  dried beans of any kind (have one bag left), soup of any kind except cooking soups (so not like cream of mushroom), canned fruit of any kind, canned veg of any kind except green beans.  We are low on all of that. THANK YOU for asking.”

 

And I continued on my day.

 

Two and a half hours later, another message from her popped in.

 

“I will be dropping off a big load of what you need in about 20 min. I am sure it won’t fit in the donation bin 😊 “.

 

I was speechless.

 

I thought maybe she would bring over a couple bags of beans and a can of peaches.  But no.

 

This kind neighbor went to the store and purchased:  10 bags of dry beans, 62 cans of  soup, fruit, and vegetables, and to top it off, a bag of fresh manderines.  It was a wagonful!

 

I looked at the soup and teared up. 

 

With all that is happening.  All the anger and stress and confusion.

 

There is soup.

 

There is kindness.

 

There is community.

P.S. - just as I finished putting everything away on the storage shelves, a pantry guest walked by.  I had one of the mandarins in my hand, on the way to put it in the pantry.  Oh, did they get a big smile when I held out my hand and gave them the gift of fresh fruit.

A Big, BIG Thank You To VOLUNTEERS! (And a Big Reveal)

Oh.  My.  Goodness.

The kindness filled the room!!

We hosted a Kindness Activist Volunteer Thank You party this weekend and wow – I am speechless.

There was just SO.  MUCH.  LOVE! 

When you plan a party, you never know how many people will come.  I mean, if it is family you can pretty much count on people (unless, of course, the flu hits…), but when it is community members who have pitched in and volunteered for a cause…  How do you project numbers?

We sent out invites and asked for RSVPs.  I think lots of invites ended up in spam folders, so I tried to text or message people, too.   And still, I know that some of those who were invited never got the message (I know this because I ran into one of the people the night before the event and casually mentioned it.  They were like, “What party?”.  Oops.) 

So let me say this from the get-go – if you volunteered with Kindness Activist the past year and did not get an invite to the event, it is probably in your spam or promotions folder.  I am sorry.

I was afraid we might have booked an amazingly beautiful and big venue (The Cooperative Plaza Conference Center in Ballston) and would have only the party planning crew (me, Ixi, Kathleen, Betsy, and Heather), a few close friends, plus of course David (the husband for scale) who I had asked to take the night off of rehearsal show up for the big event.

But the people who turned out…  WE HAD FUN!  Like, seriously good fun!

Y’all – there were over 100 people there!

People of ALL ages.  Of all nationalities.  Of different faith beliefs.  Of different social economic statuses. 

We were a diverse group with one very important thing in common – we all believe in the power of kindness.  And you better believe we celebrated!

We had face painters!  Thank you to Gray, Dally, and Johanna – you did amazing work and the kids loved it.

VERY happy guest with face paint
(who also wore a light up tutu!)

We had a photo booth with old school printed strips of 3 photos – thank you Eugene you were so patient and sweet (and busy).

We had a craft table – people make their own kindness coasters to bring home and they turned out soooo cute!  Thank you Katherine, Emily, and Karen -  you went through a lot of modge podge and made people very happy.

Katherine assisting A in making a coaster

Just a few of the MANY beautiful coasters made!

We had amazing raffle prizes and very excited winners! 

Kids getting ready to reach into the bags and choose the raffle winners

We had kid art on every table and all around the room!

We had FOOD – oh we had lots of food!  Cake, petite fours, brownies, blondies, sandwiches, sliders, chips, nuts, veggies, fruit, cheese, crackers, bread…  And CANDY – boy did we go through a lot of candy.

The room as the first guests arrived

Food table and guests

It was just so amazing to see these people all together in one room.  The joy and happiness and KINDNESS that emanated filled my heart with happiness.

And so many kind things happened at the event itself – unplanned of course. 

For example, three volunteers won t-shirts for helping us for over 50 hours – Danyi, Ixi, and Teresa.  Instead of keeping the shirt, one of them gave it to a French exchange student who had come to the party with a volunteer because he is trying to do “all the American things” while he is here.  What a great example of American kindness.

Two of our VERY dedicated volunteers

And this is a fun one.  I was walking around right before I planned to do a little speech, and I noted that one of the volunteers who is a sign language interpreter had ended up at the same table as other volunteers who are Deaf.  “Kismet!” I thought as I walked up.  “You found one another!” I told them.  Nope – they had not realized the connection, that they all use ASL!!  The Deaf couple had planned to use a speech to text app, but because the interpreter was there and willing, she interpreted the speech.  Thank you Jennifer! 

Friends were made at the event.  Two or three people have contacted me since the party telling me about the fun person they met and will stay in contact with.

Not one but two new volunteers were involved with the event.  Both had independently reached out to me in the weeks leading up to the party explaining that they were government employees who had just lost their jobs in the huge cuts that are hitting our community so badly.  Both were at a very difficult time in their lives, but they had realized that volunteering, helping spread kindness, might make them feel better.  One explained that she wanted a volunteer opportunity where it would be ok if she broke down and cried in the middle of it.  Say no more – please come help us set up!  So nice to meet a new friend.

Kids were involved in the party and they were so proud.  We told the stories of some of the youth involvement and other children who were present have been inspired to start planning.  A friend reached out today saying her son is talking about hosting a lemonade stand (like 2 girls whose story we shared at the party).

These Kind Kids all held fundraisers for Kindness Activist

A kind neighbor, Mandy, designed the beautiful invitation (thank you Mandy!).  She offered to make a print of the invite, sans words, for the event.  It was going to be a raffle prize, but then it hit me:  our friend and volunteer from Ukraine, Nina.  The print was of sunflowers, which represent her homeland.  It was meant for her.  Nina’s daughter was sick and they were also very sad the day of the event, so they could not attend.  But I showed the guests the sunflower print, explained it would go to Nina’s family, and asked everyone to hold Ukraine in their hearts and pray for peace.

Beautiful framed sunflower print - artwork by Mandy Wylie

One thing I shared was the success of the 2024 Kindness Fundraising Sale.  We had kept the amount we raised a secret so that we could share it with the volunteers first.  Now that they know, we can share the details far and wide:

Around 110 amazing volunteers put in over 500 volunteer hours on the Fundraising Sale.

These volunteers were recognized as Fundraiser Rock Stars:

·      Julia – flew in all the way from Florida to volunteer

·      Danyi - worked herself to the bone

·      Kathleen – guarded the volunteer room the entire time so that we could leave valuables there without worrying

·      Jennifer, Ferdousi, Yousef, Emily, Andrew, Laurie, Leah, Suzy, Danyi and more - worked very late into the night packing everything up

·      Ixi and Mac – showed up all the time at a moment’s notice to help

·      Andrew – just moved to the area, showed up to help clean up but had no idea what he had gotten himself into and worked late into the night

·      Ludjmilla – who played bad cop to our good cop at the check-out counter.  She is an amazing negotiator.  She helped people understand the “pay what you wish” concept and that this was a fundraiser for a very worthy cause.

I explained that we were nervous about the 2024 event.  We had two years worth of donations (the 2023 sale was cancelled twice due to rain).  We moved to a new location – inside a local church instead of outside our home where the event has been for years.  At our house, we have drive-by and walk-by traffic galore.  At the church, we would be indoors…  And, we have traditionally held the sale for 4 days (we advertise it for 2, then inevitably continue the next weekend because there are still lots of items left).  But with the rental on the church, we would be strictly limited to the 2 days…

So, we were nervous about how much we could raise. 

But we needn’t have worried. 

Shhh - preparing to turn around for the BIG REVEAL!

The 2024 Kindness Fundraiser raised a total of $13,829.01!!!

$13,829.01 (the penny is not pictured :) )

Isn’t that unbelievable?  Just imagine the amount of kindness that can be spread with that.

The 2024 Kindness Activist Volunteer of the Year was also named at the party – Ixi.  She is so very supportive of the cause.  She is a board member, a pantry crew member, and has brought her whole family into the fold to help out. 

Volunteer of the Year

In case you haven’t guessed it from reading this story, the Kindness Activist Volunteer Party gave me hope.  It gave me joy, and energy, and lifted my spirits.  It reminded me of some of the amazing people I am so lucky to know.

And it reinforced my believe that we can make the world a kinder place, one small act of kindness at a time.

Interested in joining the team and volunteering with Kindness Activist?  We would love to have you!!  Just email KindnessActivist@gmail.com with your name, email address, and phone number to be added to our volunteer list.  Follow us on Facebook (Kindness Activist) to see calls for volunteers.

And if you have photos of the thank you event – please send them our way to KindnessActivist@gmail.com .

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ROLLS UP THEIR SLEEVES AND GETS INVOLVED.  You are appreciated. 

 

The Claw Game was a noisy hit

Volunteer of the Year

Welcome table

THANK YOU!

And a good time was had by all!