Kindness Activist Funds - Stories of How Some Have Been Spent (July 2025)

It’s been a while since I have shared an update about how Kindness Activist funds have been used, so today’s the day!  Ready? 

Here are just a few of the ways that money has been spent to spread kindness lately:

GARDENS!

Here at Kindness Activist, we love gardens!  Flowers, veggies, fruit trees, you name it - gardens are great!  Given that love, it was an easy decision to support 2 Arlington based gardens with kindness funds.

First – the Walter Reed Annex Community Garden.  This amazing resource is managed by a lovely neighbor, Ljudmilla.  She is a very kind and wise woman who runs this huge community endeavor.   And when I say “community”, this work DEFINES community!  Volunteers come to the garden every Saturday between 8:30 am – 11:30 am to weed, plant, dig, harvest…  Those amazing volunteers do everything GARDEN (including sweat).  This incredible resource then donates what is grown to help feed the community!  And we are not talking small donations here either.  They donate thousands of pounds of healthy, fresh produce to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC), to local elementary school food pantries, and even the Little Yellow Free Pantry is lucky enough to get veggies sometimes, too!   So, when we read that the garden was going to put up a SEED LIBRARY, well, it was a no-brainer that Kindness Activist should help out with some packets of seeds. 

Adorable new seed library!

If you or your organization would like to get involved and help garden, please email:  gardenwalterreed@gmail.com .  After all, what could be more fun (and meaningful) than getting some dirt under your fingernails and helping feed neighbors at the same time??

 

Ljudmilla in her happy place - the garden

Kindness Activist funds spent on seed packets for the garden's new library:  $117.68 

The next garden kindness funds were used to support this season is the Thomas Jefferson Community Garden, located at a middle school in South Arlington, VA.  This is another amazing local resource that not only donates produce to the community, but also teaches local children about organic food and gardening.

I learned they could use some support when I saw this message on a Facebook group that I belong to: “ISO 50’ garden hose and watering wand attachment.  I help manage the Thomas Jefferson Middle school garden and we are in need of a couple hoses that are in decent condition. If you have one you no longer need, please let me know. Thanks!”.

Thomas Jefferson Garden

Well, a garden as important and active as TJ needs good equipment.  I reached out to the person who posted asking for hoses and a wind and asked for recommendations of which ones they would prefer.  I am pleased to say that the volunteer gardeners at TJ now have 2 new hoses and 2 lovely watering wands to help cultivate their crops!

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $149.14

 

 The metro DC area has been VERY HOT this spring and summer.  This can be uncomfortable for everyone of course, but it can cause more than discomfort for people without housing.  Extreme heat can be very dangerous.  Several guests of the Little Yellow Free Pantry do not have housing, so are outside in the extreme temperatures.  Two guests were still sporting long pants in the 100 degree heat, but were hoping for some shorts to help cool off. 

 

We found some good shorts online that are comfortable, cool, and fast drying.  And as luck would have it, they came in a pack of 3.  So, not only did the 2 pantry guests get new clothes for summer, so did another person experiencing homelessness that was in desperate need of shorts.  This small expenditure will hopefully help 3 people have a better summer.

 

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $21.21

 

 

Ok, ok, ok, I did it – I clicked on a Facebook ad!  But in my defense, I couldn’t help it!  They showed it to me so many times, and, well, it looked so cool that I simply HAD to click!

 

And that “click” is how we ended up having “You Are Awesome” pop up on our sidewalk when it rained. 

 

Shhh - and now we wait for the rain...

You see, Rainworks is a product that you spray on a dry concrete surface (using a stencil), then when it rains, your “secret message” shows up!  Oh, it is fun!  I am hoping to find someone with a Cricut who can make us more plastic stencils that say things like “Kind Is Cool” and “Kind Kids Rock”.  That way, when the skies are gray and the raindrops fall, at least the sidewalks will be cheery!

You are AWESOME!

P.S. – have a Cricut and some time to create?  Email us at kindnessactivist@gmail.com!  We would appreciate some stencils for creating rainy day messages!

 

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $26.66

 

When a neighbor was looking for snacks for the teacher’s lounge of a local elementary school, Kindness Activist was quick to jump in.  I mean, if TEACHERS don’t deserve snacks, then who does??  Plus, it was teacher appreciation week!

 

The neighbor told me, “We have a project of revamping the teacher’s lounge. Sadly, the staff lounge is not at all a place for them to relax and take a break. They deserve the world”.

 

I agree - teachers deserve the world!  They work so, so hard to ensure that their students are safe, engaged in the classroom, and thriving.  Teachers deserve snacks!!

 

Teacher SNAAAACKS

This was an easy wish to grant.  As I told the neighbor, I wish we could grant MASSAGES for all of the school staff, but snacks will have to do.

 

And snacks in the Teacher's Lounge - ready for educators to come munch on

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $76.91

 

And last (but not least) for this accounting report – random food deliveries 😊 .  My partner David and I love to grocery shop (in fact, we went to a grocery store on our very first date, and we have been shopping together for over 37 now).  So, often when we go to the store, we spring a special grocery delivery on a neighbor (usually people we have never met).  It works like this:

 

We do 2 shops – one for us, and one for a random person.  We separate the items in our cart – “ours” and “theirs”.  Then we take all of “their” items out of the cart and take a photo of David holding everything.  It is quite funny (and tricky to find a way for him to hold it all without dropping it).

 

Then I post in a local Facebook group:  “It’s (insert day of week) night and you know what that means…  Kindness Activist would like to deliver (insert meal – breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks… here).”

 

Then we list everything included in the offer. 

 

The post continues: “Person chosen must be available via Facebook messenger to arrange delivery to take place before (insert time). Preference given to someone who has not received a meal delivery from Kindness Activist before. Person chosen must come out to our car (in front of where you live) to pick up when we pull up.   Not necessarily giving to the first person who responds.”

 

I post, we wait a bit for responses, then choose someone who we have never treated before!  We bring the groceries to their home and get to meet them, which is always fun!  We really like doing these deliveries and the recipients are always very grateful.

 

Here are a few we have done recently:

 

 

Red, White, and Blue edition for 4th of July

 

Breakfast edition

 

Snack edition

Breakfast again

Green edition for St. Patrick's Day

Average cost of each surprise grocery delivery: $35

 

Thanks for following along in the Kindness Activist journey.  We believe that spreading kindness makes the world a better place, and we appreciate the love, encouragement, and support we receive from the community. 

 

Together, we can make the world kinder.  One little act of kindness at a time.