Holiday Kindness

It is the HOLIDAY SEASON!

That can mean different things for different people:  joy, sadness, excitement, grief, stress, magic, depression…  Those are the same emotions that we experience at other times of the year, but somehow when the holidays roll around, they are magnified.  So, this year, I am going to consciously do my best to put KINDNESS in the forefront of my mind as I jump into the holiday season.  Sharing kindness with someone experiencing joy can enhance their joy (which can easily rub off on you!).  Sharing kindness with someone experiencing grief and sadness can shine a small flicker of light into their darkness.  And sharing kindness with people around us who we have no notion of what they are feeling can create ripples of kindness – ripples that will slowly spread to others and extend kindness further and further.

It is in that vein that I share some recent uses of Kindness Activist funds with you.

I love, love, love to surprise people by buying their Christmas tree for them.  We have done this every year since Kindness Activist began, and 2022 could be no exception!  So, I have been looking for someone to spring the Christmas tree surprise on.

But it is tricky!!!  I THOUGHT I found the perfect people in the holiday section at Home Depot one day.  They were pursuing artificial trees – up and down the aisles.  I could tell they were serious and would likely make a purchase on that shopping trip, so I pretended to be looking at holiday decorations, too.  I could tell when they had made their choice, so I strolled around to secretly see which tree it was and check out the price tag.  YIKES – it was over $300!!!  As much as I wanted to treat them, that seemed a bit much, so I kept quiet and left.

On other shopping trips, I saw people looking at trees, but they didn’t seem ready to commit yet.  Some days I stood and waited for someone to come through a check-out line with a tree but came up empty handed.  Ugh!

But I think those fails were meant to be, because when we finally found the people to treat, it was obvious that they were the exact right family for this kind surprise.  My partner David and I were in Bellevue, Nebraska on our 23^rd wedding anniversary.  Before going out to a fancy meal, I said, “Let’s stop at Walmart and see if we can treat someone to a Christmas tree!” (because nothing says “romantic anniversary event” than a trip to Walmart, right???). 

Welcome to Walmart

We walked around a bit, then started watching a sweet family with 3 kids and 4 adults.  One by one, each child chose a toy from a shelf, quietly walked it over to the shopping cart, and were told by an adult that they could not get it and needed to go put it back.  The youngest girl was especially sad that she couldn’t get the Barbie she coveted. 

We saw the mom stroll into the Christmas tree section and quietly followed her, pretending to be looking for our own tree.  As I “looked”, David went back to ask who we thought was the dad of the family if they were going to buy a tree that night.  But the man said he didn’t understand English, and David returned to me without the info. 

No matter, it quickly became clear that the mom was in the market for a tree and had indeed decided on one.  She had looked up and down the aisle at all of the options – big and small – and was ready to put a smaller, cheap tree ($69) in her cart when I spoke up.  “Excuse me – are you going to buy that Christmas tree?” I asked.  She smiled and told me yes.  “Well, we would like to treat you to a tree.  I saw you looking at those, too,” I said, gesturing to the more expensive ones.  “Would you like a bigger one?  Do you have space for one??  We can spend up to $200 on your tree”.

Her eyes lit up as she asked if this was true, were we actually going to buy their tree???  When I assured her it was true, she began to cry and a smile covered her whole face.  We looked together and she chose a beautiful, pre-lit tree that was $189. 

She and I walked back to the rest of the family and she explained to them (in French) what was happening.  They all smiled.  I told the kids that we had seen they had chosen toys earlier, and they should each go grab the toy and put it back in the cart for us to get.  That plan didn’t go as I had envisioned…  Instead of grabbing the toys they had previously picked and been told they couldn’t get, they grabbed big, fancy, very expensive things (the biggest being the whole display of LOL dolls that the littlest child really thought was a “set” and she “needed” 😊 ).  In the end I talked them down – each girl got a Barbie, and the boy got a small gumball machine and a little candy item. 

One of the things I loved most about the experience was what one of the little girls said as we were doing self-check out.  David and I had been shopping and talking with the family for about 20 minutes at that point, and the little girl looked up at me, eyes wide, and said, “Wait…  Are you WITH us???”.  It was beautiful.

What made the kindness even more special is that 2 of the adults were visiting Omaha from Cote d’Ivoire.  They got to witness a totally random interaction that showed them a good side of America.  It wasn’t the gun violence seen on tv.  It wasn’t the car crashes or reality tv shows or political fighting.  It was KINDNESS – seen firsthand.  And it was lovely.  Perfect way to spend our anniversary.

Kindness Activist funds used:  $222.33

 

The next use of funds retold here is not related to holidays that roll around in December, but one that happened in October – Halloween.  I love Halloween, which makes perfect sense because I love giving gifts!  And Halloween is a whole night of giving – giving TREATS to kids who ring the doorbell!! 

A sibling duo – pre-teen sister and small brother – have been visiting the Little Yellow Free Pantry daily for the last couple of months.  I think they are relatively new to the neighborhood.  The girl is very talkative and enjoys engaging.  The first time I met them at the pantry she explained that their mom has enough money to buy them food, but not enough for snacks.  Thus began a daily stop (or two) at the pantry for chips, dried fruit, crackers, nuts, juice, candy…  The kids are very respectful – always say thank you and take only what they need (though I have had to work very hard to keep the young boy from throwing his snack packages on the ground…).  Sweetly, the girl takes time to look through the whole pantry (not just the snack section) and sometimes finds items that she takes home for the family – cake mixes, cereal, pasta sauce…  Her maturity level at such a young age (helping to provide for the family) is amazing. 

October 30^th I asked (without thinking) what they were going to dress up as for Halloween.  “We don’t have costumes,” she told me, “But we will go trick-or-treating anyway”.  As someone who loves dressing up and seeing kids dressed up, this revelation hurt my heart.  “What would you like to dress up as???” I asked.  She wanted some sort of fairy outfit, he wanted a specific color Transformer.  “Done!” I naively thought.  I explained that I had beautiful light up fairy wings I would loan her, and we would run to the store to grab the Transformer costume.

Ok now…  Not only do we not have kids, but we also never buy store bought costumes for ourselves, we make them.  So, I had not thought ahead to the fact that showing up in the costume aisle at Target around 7:00 pm the night before Halloween was a recipe for disaster.  The costume section was a MESS – everything was thrown into one aisle, many bits and pieces lie on the floor, and everything was very picked over.  As you might suspect, the color of Transformer the little boy had requested was impossible to find.  But hey – there was a SPIDERMAN in his size, and the chest even LIT UP!!!  Bingo!!

The tale doesn’t have the storybook ending that I would like it to so that we could wrap it up with a perfect little bow.  The girl picked up the costumes too late to bring them to school.  They didn’t dress up in them and parade down to our house on Halloween night to show us how cool they looked.  And in fact, the girl didn’t return the wings when she had promised she would (causing me to do a lot of self-reflection, the wings were not the issue (I don’t need light up fairy wings really, now do I???  It was more about my feelings being hurt that a promise was not kept). 

In the end, my wings came back undamaged.  We saw the little boy in his Spiderman suit out taking a walk and stopping at the pantry on a random day (the costume had gone through the wash, so no longer lit up).  And the kindness had made the kids happy.  And really – that’s all we can hope for, right?

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $25.97

 

A local elementary school counselor contacted me last year to ask if Kindness Activist could help pitch in so that they could supply some families at the school with Thanksgiving meals.  It seemed like a perfect use of funds, so of course we donated.   We wanted to help again this year, so we gave the school $250 to help buy food to put together turkeys and side dishes for 11 families.  Thankful to be able to help.

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $250

 

I was contacted by a counselor at a local school saying that they had a mom of four students at the school who had just had a baby and was in need of a diaper bag and breast pump.  It is nice when asks are so specific – that makes granting them easy! 

Photo of the robe gifted to the mom (from the website, not the mom wearing it)

I shopped online and found a cozy robe for mamma, clothing and pacifier holders for baby, coloring books, colored pencils, paper, crayons, and books for big brothers and sisters.  Then, hoping to make Kindness Activist money stretch further by not buying the other items, I put an ask out into the community, and they did the rest…

We were overwhelmed with replies!!  More than one breast pump arrived (in excellent condition).  Beautiful diaper bag.  More baby clothing.  A diaper changing mat.  A car mirror!!!  Everything the new mamma and her baby needed.

These are examples of kindness that I love – when a whole community gets behind a mission.  Inspiring!

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $194.24

 

I consider it such an honor to be entrusted with the Kindness Activist funds, and am always on the lookout for new, creative, responsible and diverse ways to use them.  So, when I saw someone online asking if anyone had a juicer (she was looking for the exact same inexpensive but effective juicer we have), I knew it was a good fit!!

This was a simple gift – a quick act of kindness (order juicer, run to store to grab some oranges to go with it, and deliver to recipient).  These small acts of kindness go a long way to spread sunshine and happiness in the world!

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $35.01

 

That's the current report.  More news about how Kindness Activist funds are used coming soon.  Until then - may the holiday season find you healthy, feeling loved, and on the look-out for kindness.

The Giver Gets, Too

We often think that the receiver of an act of kindness gets the most out of it. 

But here is a little secret, shhhh.  Often, the giver of the act of kindness gets an equal (if not more) amount of wonderfulness out of the interaction.  Here is a hypothesis I would like you to consider:  in terms of joy and magic received, the act of GIVING kindness is equal to or greater than the act of RECEIVING kindness. 

Don’t believe me??  Try the theory out yourself.  It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture – just carry someone’s groceries for them.  Or tell a stranger how cool their necklace is. Or buy the person standing outside of McDonald’s asking for money a Big Mac.  Those simple acts of kindness will make you feel good – I guarantee it!  (And if they don’t, what the heck, I will give you your money back!!)

I was reminded of this concept this week when I saw a neighbor post about the neat trick-or-treat bags she just made for people.  You see, this neighbor experienced a traumatic loss a few months ago, and has been having a horrible time dealing with grief.  She spends her days working, and outside of that, crying.  She hasn’t been eating right.  She hasn’t been going out much.  She stopped doing the crafty things she always loved to do.  This woman has been drowning in a pool of grief.  Which is understandable - losing someone you love is horrible, and it takes a very long time to process.    

But then I saw her post in a local group that she wanted to make trick-or-treat bags for people…  I thought happily, “Ah, a hint of her old self!”.  Last night she sent me photos of the completed bags and they are adorable!  I know that the receivers will be so happy with them. 

And I also know that the maker, the GIVER of the act of kindness, felt a little bit better after giving them away.  Did that act of kindness make her grief disappear?  No, no.  The grief is still there and will be for a long time.  But did that act of kindness, the making of the bags, the reveal of how cute they are, the giving them away, did that bring a spark of shine to her life?  I bet my paycheck it did.  And maybe that experience of giving kindness will be like a little lifeline for her.  Maybe the next time she is feeling lonely and blue she will remember how giving kindness felt, and she will dig deep and do it again.  And little by little, perhaps kindness will help to build a little ladder that she can use to crawl out of the overwhelming sadness. 

Thanks for being a Kindness Activist, neighbor.  I have a Kind Is Cool shirt for you – may you wear it in good health.

 

Here’s an accounting update on how some Kindness Yard Sale funds have been used recently:

A neighbor was looking for headsets for her classroom.  She wrote: “I hate to ask but ….. headphones. We need them badly for our 3rd grade room. So many students cannot buy them, and I have a special student who is triggered by noise. He loses it every time we need to work on iPads and his seat mates don’t have headphones and need to have volume up to work on apps. This teacher is stressing!”.

These are the exact situations that Kindness Yard Sale money is perfect for!  A friend found a great deal on headsets and we ordered 12 for the classroom.  But I wasn’t the only one who heeded to call for help!  Other neighbors also pitched in!  This week the teacher who asked for the headphones shared a thank you: “Take a look, my dear community. This is you in action! This is kindness! This is consideration! This is thoughtfulness in action! When I asked for help with headphones I only asked for a few. I never thought I could ask for the class set I needed but nevertheless you came through. I was overwhelmed with your generosity over and above. From the Kindness fund to each and every neighbor who contributed or offered to help… I and my forty-five sweet 3rd graders want to send our deepest gratitude!”.

Isn’t that perfect??  And she has a great system for storing them, too.

Headsets for all!

I love helping out teachers.  They have such important jobs and are deserving of our respect (and a lot bigger paychecks than they receive).

 

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $139.80

 

Made another small purchase with Kindness Activist funds.  This one was for Depends, the adult size undergarments/diapers that some people need.  Someone wanted to see if they would be a good fit for their elderly mother, and there again, it seemed like a great use of the money raised at the yard sale.  So I ordered a pack and sent them directly to the household that needed them. 

Haven’t heard yet if they are a good solution for the situation, but I am thankful to have the Kindness money to help the family give them a try. 

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $12.88 (again proving that acts of kindness don’t need to be fancy or cost a lot, simple, small acts go a very long way) 

 

Who likes to have a tea party??  Everybody does, that’s who!!  Including a 3 year old neighbor boy.  Turns out, he has gotten into tea parties lately, so I hooked him up with a really cute tea set and some fancy schmancy cookies (macaroons) to go with it. 

Lucky for me, he came with his mom to pick it all up, so I got to try it out, too!!  Let me just tell you, tea tastes even BETTER when it is served in a fancy pot and fancy cups (even if the “tea” in question is water). 

Ahhh, a little tea on the front porch.  Delicious!

His mom later reported that he tried a bit of actual tea at home, too.  Little friend – may your tea parties always be fancy and may simple joys continue to delight you as your grow up. 

You go kid!  Even a fancy tablecloth!  Now THAT'S a tea party!

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $45.84

And finally for this report – spices.  A family from Bolivia moved to our community to start over.  They came with practically nothing, so a kind neighbor put out a call for needed items.  One thing on the list was SPICES, so I chose that. 

I have learned from traveling to other countries and hosting international guests at our home that each culture has their own spices that they like to use.  Not every country is the same in the kitchen!   I asked what spices would be good, got them together, and the woman came and picked it all up to give to the family.

I hope that the spices help them cook food that feels comfortable to them, is tasty, and reminds them of home as they begin their new lives in America.

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $113.02

 

 

 

 

The Humanity of Kindness

I hope you will indulge me in sharing some more Kindness Yard Sale stories.  I feel so lucky that I get to experience all of the magic, and I really like to share it with others.

 

People not familiar with the concept of the Kindness Yard Sale are often stunned that the philosophy actually works – I mean, if shoppers “pay what they wish”, it will be impossible to fundraise, right?  But the concept of “pay what you wish” works really well in this setting!  It is hard to explain, but once shoppers “get it” they GET IT! 

 

And yes, some shoppers pay far less than something would sell for at a “normal” yard sale.  But there are also shoppers who pay far MORE than the value of their purchase – understanding that they are not really “paying for the items” but are donating to a CAUSE.

 

And sometimes, well sometimes people are magnificent.

 

Story 1 - Take the neighbor who hadn’t had any time to visit the sale.  This neighbor has a difficult life – many people living in one house, trouble finding work, health issues…  I know that they do not have much in terms of money.  But this woman is sweet as can be and supportive of all of the work that I do.  So, as she walked by last evening, she said, “I don’t want to shop at the sale, but I want to make a donation,” and handed me a $5 bill.

 

That $5 bill was a LOT.  It could’ve been used to buy milk and eggs.  It could’ve put a bit of gas in the car.  But instead of using it for those necessary things, she chose to donate it.  She has been the recipient of acts of kindness from Kindness Activist, and now she was giving back. 

 

I encouraged her to come shop, and once she finished making and eating dinner she did return and get some clothing.  It made me happy that she was able to participate.

 

There are others who donate without shopping – sending Venmo or giving cash.  I see those sliding into my apps, friends, THANK YOU!  It is beautiful to see the kindness in action.  I appreciate it so much!

 

Story 2 - Our neighbor Danyae, the artist I have written about before, is a staunch supporter of my Kindness Activist work.  She is a refugee from China and has had such a hard life.  Her immigration status finally changed a couple of months ago and she now has permanent residence in the country that she loves so much – the United States of America.  This change in status also means that she now qualifies to get an EBT card so she can go to the grocery store and shop.  Danyae survived solely on food from the Little Yellow Pantry for 7 or 8 months.  Not only did she not have funds to buy food, but she believes that food and water are often “poisoned by the government” so not safe to eat.  I convinced her that the pantry food was safe, and she found a home in this community of kindness.

 

And now Danyae is giving back.  She has probably volunteered helping with the yard sale around 100 hours!  She is such a hard worker!  If I find a good task and set her up doing it, she is very successful and gets the jobs done. 

 

But, of course, she also needs things.  She is an artist, so needs paint and brushes.  She needs comfortable shoes (she walks and uses the bus system).  She needs clothes for the changing of the seasons.

 

I know her story and I know that she has literally nothing in terms of finances.  The government houses her and now pays for her food.  Her social worker is trying to find her employment (which is difficult given her mental issues).  She will have to move to a new apartment soon and I am advocating that be not too far from our home so she will have some friendly support. 

 

But given all of those factors, Danyae still insists on paying for her Kindness Yard Sale purchases.  I try not to take her money, boy do I try.  I explain she has “paid” by helping so much.  I explain that the yard sale is over, so today she can take what she wants for free.  But NO.  She insists that she pay.  (She wanted to pay $100 for some beautiful paintbrushes that she explained are very, very expensive and hard to find, I talked her down to $10 😊 .)

 

Danyae was also very helpful with translation services a couple of times during the sale!  One man showed me two wooden treasures he had found on a shelf and asked if I knew what they were.  “Hmmm, I have no idea,” I replied, “…but let me find Danyae!  If this writing is in Chinese she will tell us what they are and what they say!”. 

 

And sure enough, Danyae knew exactly what those treasures were.  They were pieces of wood that aristocrat artists, the elite, in China use to hold the edges of scroll paper down so that they can paint or write on it!  And she told us what the Chinese characters meant.  She did the same for a beautiful Chinese basket that was at the sale – translated the characters on the coins attached to the basket.  It is fun to see her eyes light up when she sees her language and can be of service by interpreting it.

 

And transversely, hearing some of the stories of her past are heartbreaking.  Today she was assisting me as we tried to sort the leftover clothing from the sale before the rain came.  We have many, many jeans, and I know that they are good to wear in the fall and winter.  I asked Danyae if she ever wears jeans (I had never seen her in them), thinking we would pull out a couple of pairs for her.  She told me, “No!  No.  I do not wear jeans.”  The strong delivery of such a simple statement made me wonder if there was more to the story, so I asked why not.  “My mother wore jeans,” she explained.  “They threw rocks at her.  The people in the village threw rocks.”  Sometimes I wish I was not so curious and didn’t ask about the story behind the stories, as they can be heartbreaking.

 

I will be hosting an evening art showing of Danyae’s work sometime soon.  I hope that the community will rally behind her and show her the love she so freely gives to me and others.

  

Story 3 - I learned a good lesson/had a good reminder of diversity at this year’s sale.  We go through loads and loads of bags as we check people out and give them their purchases.  Neighbors donate many cloth and plastic shopping bags for us to use.  Last evening, I was bagging some items that a mother and daughter purchased.  I reached down for a bag and found a really good one – Halloween!  It was orange and black and had a big, cute spider drawn on it.  It even had a little flashlight attached to it to use while trick-or-treating.  I showed it to the little girl and I oohhed and ahhhhed over the bag as I starting filling it with their items.  Then the mom quietly but confidently said, “May we have a different bag please?  We do not celebrate Halloween”.

 

Ahhhh – foot.  In.  Mouth.  I apologized as I grabbed a different bag and asked the mother to take the flashlight off the first bag so that her daughter could take that home with them. 

 

I was also reminded of the importance of pronouns.  As I sat and talked with a neighbor on the steps while their teenage child shopped and shopped, I referred to the child as “she”.  The mother quickly but gently said, “they”.  It was another reminder that I needed.  Pronouns, names, IDENTITY in general is so important. 

 

In the end all was well, no hurt feelings.  But those were good reminders for me that this community is diverse not only in nationality, race, language, gender expression, size, shape, and color – but also in religion.  I will be more mindful of that now that those women so kindly but confidently brought that to my attention. 

 

 And finally, story 4.  Now that the sale is over I have the big task of figuring out what to do with the leftover items.  I will donate some clothing to the women’s shelter, some to the general shelter, some to schools, and give some away in the local Buy Nothing group.  But other items – what to do with it all???  I knew there is an upcoming Halloween costume exchange – all costumes go there.  I know teachers often need books for their classrooms, so I put out an ask that people come pick out any books that they want (we will place the rest in Little Free Libraries around town).  A neighbor came and got craft supplies to make homecoming signs for high schoolers.  And I knew a local teacher was looking for stuffed animals for a big event coming up – animals go there.

 

The teacher needing animals came right away when I messaged her today.  She and I dug through the piles of animals that didn’t find homes during the sale.  We found EVERYTHING – bears, dogs, bunnies, turtles, stingray, whales, parrots, snakes, cats, fish – even COWS and PIGS!  In the end, we found over 3 garbage bags FULL of stuffed animals for the school event (and we still have all of the other stuffies that are not animal shaped!)

 

Car full of stuffed animals!pronou

So once again I am reminded that the Kindness Yard Sale is not only a place to raise money.  It is not only a place to find treasures.  But it is also a place to learn, to find community, and to be reminded of the beauty of the human experience.

Neighborly Kindness

Our neighborhood has a listserve.  And a Facebook group.  AND a second Facebook group!  You would think, given all of those online resources, that we must live in a super close-knit, well connected community, maybe one with a fancy schmancy Home Owner’s Association (HOA) or even a big old fence around the whole area.  Or you might imagine that the neighbors all know one another, play Yahtzee together on Friday nights, and invite one another over for dinner.

But those ideas about our neighborhood would be wrong.  Because even though I belong to 3 different electronic groups whose memberships are made up of my neighbors, the truth is that I do not know many of them.  Oh sure, I know a few by name, and I know some enough to smile and say “hi” if they walk by while we are working the garden.  But we are not the type of community where we all really KNOW one another.

So all of that is to explain THIS:  a neighbor named Kia has been kind TWICE to us lately, and I have never even MET HER.  J  Isn’t that fabulous??

The first time she offered her kindness was in October.  I had a grand Halloween costume idea but lacked the necessary materials to make it, namely, I needed a BIG PIECE OF CARDBOARD.  For a couple of years I wanted to dress up as bacon (me) and a big egg (David), and this year we finally had the time to make the costumes!  Only, we had no big sheet of cardboard…

So I posted on our neighborhood Facebook group asking if anyone perhaps had a big box they could give us, like from a flat screen tv or a refrigerator.  Luckily for me, someone I didn’t even know replied that she indeed had a box and we were welcome to it!  She said they had just bought a new crib and if the box was big enough for what we needed we could have it!  She gave us the address for pick up and when we realized it was only, like, seven doors down from us we walked down to pick it up.

Yup, we had never met the neighbors seven doors down.  And even after we picked up the perfect box, we STILL didn’t meet Kia!  Her husband opened the door and gave us the box, but Kia was inside feeding the kids.  (The box worked perfectly!  It was just what we needed and David’s sunny side up egg was lovely!  It was the perfect complement to my bacon.)

Hey!  It is BACON and EGGS!!  (Egg made out of a cardboard box from a baby crib!)

Wait a minute, who is that?  Could it be - EGGS and BACON??? 

Fast forward to January when we got hit with a big blizzard.  We had, like, three feet of snow and we own one (old and bent up) shovel.  Let’s just say, we had our work cut out for us…  And Kia posted a super sweet message to the neighborhood Facebook group.  She said, “Hey neighbors, someone came by and shoveled not only my driveway, but several of my neighbors as well.  We’re new to the neighborhood so I’m not sure if it’s something the county does or a neighborhood good Samaritan.  I’d love to know who it was so we can thank them.  Anyone know?” 

Proof that the snow was DEEP - this is a row of rental bikes in our neighborhood.

I replied with a comment telling her it was NOT the county J and that sooomeone must have been very sweet to her!!  Later I sent her a private message asking her to share the identity of the mystery shoveler if she found out who it was so I could recognize them in this blog.

Well, not only did she tell me who did it (they will be recognized in a future kindness entry here), she offered to loan us her family’s ELECTRIC POWER SNOW SHOVEL!!  Yes, she didn’t even KNOW US and she was going to trust their fancy new tool to us!

Well, she didn’t’ have to offer twice – off we went to borrow it!  But wouldn’t you know it, when we knocked on the door, AGAIN WE DID NOT GET TO MEET KIA, the sweet person who offered us the shovel in the first place!  She was feeding the baby, but her nice husband was happy to loan us the shovel.

Isn't this cool??  Because it was so deep, we had to do layer by layer with the Power Shovel, but it worked! 

And though I must confess that the snow was a wee bit too deep for the electric shovel to be 100% effective, it sure was FUN to use!  More often than not I got snow thrown back on top of my head, but it was a sunny afternoon and the impromptu snow shower was fun!!  It made shoveling silly and a bit easier.  (And that electric shovel would be perfect if you had only a couple of inches to scoop instead of a couple of feet!)

I am sure this goes without saying, but after a few hours when we had shoveled all we could shovel and went to return the fancy electric shovel, you guessed it, no Kia… J 

We survived the Blizzard of 2016 :)

So this story proves that even if you do not officially KNOW someone, if you have NEVER EVEN MET THEM, you can still be super kind to them!!  You can make someone very happy even without ever having met them.

Thanks Kia – you are a Kindness Activist.  I will walk down to your house this week to deliver your Kindness button – wonder if I will officially finally meet you????!  J

I found this photo of Kia on her Facebook page.  I am putting it here so next time I see her walk by I will recognize her!  :)

Do you know a Kindness Activist?  Or maybe, like Kia, you don't even KNOW them, but they have been kind to you?  Tell me about them!  Send me details at:  kindnessactivist@gmail.com .  Let's share stories of kindness and make the world a more kind place!