My heart is full, and autumn has officially begun in my world.
Kindness Activist held a
PUMPKIN CELEBRATION today, and it was, in a word, glorious.
Did it solve any “real”
problems? No.
Did it end world
hunger? Again, no.
But it DID bring together
a community in a unique way. It gave
folks an opportunity to celebrate the season.
It gave new volunteers a chance to help out and spread kindness.
And pumpkins were
the stars of the show.
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| Hard to choose which little pumpkin you want... |
Ohhhhh pumpkins. I have picked up, transported, and carried
pumpkins so many times in the last 24 hours that I may well turn into a
pumpkin! With events like this, it is always
impossible to know how many people will show up, which makes it hard to purchase
needed supplies. But we did a bit of
math and calculated that we needed 100 small pumpkins/gourds, and 50 bigger
ones. For the bigger pumpkins, we divided
the 50 into some BIG ones (more expensive), some FANCY ones (also pricier), and
some “regular” old traditional pumpkins (on sale!). The plan was to give each family one big
pumpkin, and each kid age 13 and under could also take one small one.
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| Sweet neighbor |
We had lots going on! We had:
-
Pumpkins to
choose from
-
Snacks, including
homemade cookies from the delightful Duffy, a neighbor who bakes for the Little
Yellow Free Pantry and offered to make a special batch for this event.
-
Halloween/Autumn/pumpkin
themed books to read aloud
-
The “Penrose Aldi”
– a miniature play version of an Aldi’s check-out stand and lots of pretend
groceries to purchase. The check out
stand has a belt that MOVES (when the cashier spins a handle) and a scanner
that lights up and beeps. This is fancy,
people.
-
Hot cocoa, hot
apple cider, and hot coffee
-
Candy and other
snacks
-
A raffle with 5
prizes
-
Sidewalk chalk
-
Teeter totter
- Tattoos (don't worry, the fake kind)
-
On-going 30
second dance parties (every time someone hits the button, loud techno music blasts
for 30 seconds)
-
And a super cool
craft: guests could paint or color a paper pumpkin or leaf. The talented Jessica cut out lots of those
shapes for the event using her Cricut.
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| Young artist at work :) |
Like I said, it is hard to
know how many people will show up. I always
try to steel myself to be ok if it is just a handful, but this time people came! Like, we were CROWDED!
Because of a threat of
rain, we sat up the Aldis and food on our covered porch. We had the craft table in the yard, but a
back-up craft table was ready on the porch in case it started to pour. The day was gray, but we only got a tiny bit
of drizzle once during the whole 5-hour event.
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| Penrose Aldi is OPEN for business! |
It was so fun to chat with
neighbors! We caught up with old friends
and met new people. I was delighted to
have a couple of kids be brave enough to read stories aloud to younger visitors
(and was so glad that I had time to sit on the steps and read some books aloud
myself). Whatever you do – do NOT push
that button… That was one of my favorite
stories of the day.
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| Stories on the steps - I loved hearing these |
The artwork people made
was amazing!!! We laminated most of the
pumpkins and leaves and tied them to our fence (a few kids wanted to take
theirs home). They look so cute on the
fence! And it is fun to know that the young
artists will likely walk or drive past our house and be proud to see their
pieces on display.
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| Just a few of the painted leaves. I was too busy to take a lot of photos, but I want to get one that shows the whole fence - it is so pretty! |
We gave away the majority of the pumpkins and gourds but still have some left. And that’s a good thing, because it has allowed us to surprise some people as we were cleaning up. One man walked by and said hello. We explained that we had a pumpkin party today, and he gladly accepted our offer to bring a pumpkin home with him. Another couple pulled over and parked near the pantry. That often means someone coming to get food, donate something, or perhaps pick up something that we have offered.
But this time it was
different. These people were going out
of their way – pulling over and walking up to our house – to thank us. They weren’t thanking us for today’s event - I
don’t think they even knew we were hosting something today. But they were thanking us for the work that
we do in the world. For spreading
kindness. For being a beacon of
hope. “I drive by your house often on my
way to yoga,” the woman said. “And I drive
by all the time on my way to work,” the man chimed in. They expressed how good it makes them feel to
see what goes on here. Then the woman
held something out to me. “Here, I would
like to give you this. Thank you,” she
said. I looked down at what she had
handed me and saw it was money. I didn’t
look at how much it was but I thanked her for being so kind and pitching
in. She said that she appreciates the
work that I do, and she hopes others in the community do, too. We gave them a pumpkin (it was the theme of the
day after all) and they were on their way.
When I peeked at the denomination
of the bill I realized: this complete
stranger just gave me $100… Heart. Melt. It
reminded me of another time that same exact thing happened when a new to me (at
the time) neighbor pulled over a few years ago and did the same thing. People are so kind.
We sat down to pull out
the winning names for the raffle and ANOTHER car pulled over – this time right
into our driveway. David walked over to
greet them and see what they needed.
I couldn’t hear the
conversation, but the two of them were talking for a long time. Eventually they walked over and I met the
man. He, too, drives by our house
often. He explained that he just “gets a
vibe” from our home. He asked a friend
who lives near us just what this yellow house on the corner was. “Oh!
That is FRIENDSHIP HOUSE!” they explained to him.
Isn’t that the
sweetest? We’ve heard our home called
other things – Kindness House being the most common. But I didn’t know that in some circles it is
known as Friendship House.
He thought we were a
business. In fact, he asked David if we
were open. “Well, this is our house, not
an office. So yeah, we are always open,”
David told him. The man sat down on our
steps and we chatted a long time. He
asked (as many people do) if this was all part of a religious organization.
That’s a really common
assumption, and I understand why people think it. Churches, mosques, and synagogues are most
often the groups that work to feed, clothe, and care for their
communities. I explained to the man that
people of all faiths are welcome here and indeed, were present at the event today. He asked some hard questions, like, “Why do
you do what you do???”. Those are tough
ones to answer in the moment. But I guess
an honest answer is - because I couldn’t imagine not doing it. Not talking to strangers. Not laughing with children. Not going out of my way to be kind. It is just who I am.
If our legacy can do anything,
I hope that we can demonstrate that one needn’t be a religious institution to
spread kindness. To have open arms. To be welcoming and supportive. You can be just ordinary people who have
chosen an extraordinary path. You can
just be “Ms. Susan and Mr. David” and make a big impact.
I honestly thought about
cancelling today’s Pumpkin Celebration. It
was supposed to be a really rainy day, and we’ve been busy lately and I am
tired.
But I am so glad we forged
ahead. Seeing the smiles, watching the
painting, listening to stories being read and smelling hot cocoa… It was worth the effort and time.
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| Simple yard sign - speaks volumes |
We aren’t making a huge
difference in this world. But today we
did good. We spread joy and
kindness. One pumpkin at a time.
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| The young man in blue made the sign hanging behind him. He and his mamma worked hard on it, and he was SO PROUD when I complimented him on his art. |
Total Kindness Activist
funds spent: $465.47
When I asked a young volunteer to put this sign together, she had to report:
"Ms. Susan - we have a problem... You do not have a letter "K"...". In my haste, I suggested that a letter "C", though a bit unusual, might work. Lucky for me that volunteer's mom (my friend) had the same letter set at home! She loaned me a "K". You would think an organization whose name starts with a "K" would have one...
What a pumpkin head
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| Just be kind. Cuz, why be anything else? |
