One Can of Sardines

As 2025 comes to a close, I am thinking of kindness.  Of so much kindness that I was honored to receive, witness, and do this year.

More specifically, I am thinking of the small acts of kindness.  The ones that are easy to overlook.  But if we squint – if we take time to notice them – they are actually changing the world.

I would like to tell the story of one of those small acts of kindness.  One that, most definitely, changed a life.

We have a dear friend that we first met through the Little Yellow Free Pantry.  She was a pantry guest and now has become a very valued volunteer who puts in many hours supporting our organization.  She has explained to us many times how the food from the pantry saved her life.  She had nothing to eat, and chance brought her to the “yellow box” as she likes to call it.  She wrote to me, “I still remember when the feeling of hunger repeatedly led me to your yellow food box, and feeling the peace of mind after receiving food. I have also seen many visitors with thin faces eagerly walk towards your food box, feeling the joy after receiving food.”  She knows the feeling, and can now witness it in others.

She, like many people in our area, is an immigrant.  I find such beauty seeing her experience life in America thru “new eyes”.  So many things she witnesses through her volunteer work with Kindness Activist are firsts for her.  Christmas caroling – oh, that was so fun to see her discover.  “I thought this was only in MOVIES, but it is real!  We sing!  All together, we sing for neighbors.  Such beauty!”. 

And giving warm clothing to strangers.  She first saw the winter gear displayed in front of our home and benefited from it.  She needed warm clothes and felt so fortunate to receive them.  But now, a couple of years later, now she not only receives the much-needed clothing, but she shares it, too.  I have seen her quite literally give a stranger the shirt or coat off her back.  The gloves off her cold hands.  She wrote to me, “We supply clothes for the unknown, and supply winter clothing.  People get hats, scarf, gloves, hand warmer.  They stand in the snow, the smiling on their faces no money can buy.  That was real smiling from their heart and every cell, kindness is not only a word in America, it is a real life here.”

Small acts.  Not flashy.  Not newsworthy.  Tiny acts of kindness that create ripples.  Ripples that are spreading, creating even more kindness.

For a long time, this friend basically survived on canned sardines from the Little Yellow Free Pantry.  They nourished her, and she ate tin after tin of them.  One time when she was at our home volunteering, a delightfully kind neighbor, Gary, walked up with a donation:  tins of sardines.

I called for our friend to come meet this donor.  I introduced them.  And oh – her smile.  It was brighter than the sunshine that afternoon.  “This man,” I explained, “This man is bringing sardines to help fill the pantry.”

She was so grateful.  She thanked him profusely and explained the story of how she had survived on the same exact food from the same exact source.

The two have now become friends.  The donor and the recipient, both thankful for one another.  He helped arrange an art show for her which fueled her creativity and her soul. 

One afternoon recently I came home to find this volunteer working hard on our porch as she so often does.  We had a long chat, and then she told me, “Today, I brought something for the yellow food box.  I brought what Gary brought.  I brought what helped me live.  I brought a can of sardines.  It is only one can, I do not have much.  But I am thankful for Gary, for the food box, for the sardines.  So, I share the sardines.”

Small acts of kindness.

Small, but life changing.

Making a difference in the world.

Making it a kinder place.

One winter coat.  One cup of cocoa.  One gift from Santa.

And one tin of sardines at a time.

Happy holidays to all.  May 2026 bring peace, joy, and kindness.  May we keep our eyes and our hearts open and notice even the small acts of kindness.  For it is those acts that will change the world.

Vegan Food, Flowers, and More

One thing that I find so admirable in people is the ability to be vulnerable.  It is not easy opening up, showing your “less than perfect” side.  Especially these days. It seems like everyone has filters on their Instagram photos and, if you believe people’s Facebook statuses, the whole world has happy marriages and perfectly adjusted children.

That’s why, when someone is willing to open up and be vulnerable, I take time to embrace it. 

One underused part of the Little Yellow Free Pantry is a special request box.  There are instructions on it in English and Spanish that say if you have a special food need, write your name, phone number, and what you need on a little card and leave it.  There is a pen in the box, too (though it often finds its way home with visitors and has to be replaced).

I check that little box religiously but rarely find any notes in it.  But Monday I did!  I opened it to find a card, folded in half, that said:

GUS (phone number)

Vegan.

Thank you!

(big heart drawing)

You can bet it wasn’t long after I found it that I gave Gus a call!  He was surprised that someone was actually getting in touch with him.  In fact, he was sort of speechless.  I explained that I found his note and just needed his shopping list.  He stammered, unsure of what to do.

So, we talked a bit.  I asked if he lived in the area.  Nope, he told me, he just happened to drive by the pantry when he was making some deliveries.  He explained that times are tough right now – he is between jobs.  He was almost out of gas when he noticed the pantry and stopped.  He said he is fasting for Lenten.  He is eating a vegan diet for the month and eating fish on Fridays.  I commended his efforts and again asked for a shopping list.  But he could only sputter out a couple of items.  I think that is when I told him how much I respected his vulnerability.  “You know, not many people are brave enough to put a note in that box,” I told him.  “And I am really glad you did.  I love when people are honest and up-front about what they need.  That’s what this whole project is here for.”  He confessed that it hadn’t been easy to write the note.  He said he stood squarely in front of the pantry as he wrote it, so that no one passing by could see him. 

After we talked a while more, I said, “Listen, Gus.  You need some TIME.  Let’s hang up.  You think about what you want!  Text you list back to me at this number, and I will shop for it!”.  The silence made it feel like he was pinching himself to see if this was really happening.  I asked if he had enough gas to come to pick the groceries up, and volunteered to deliver them if he didn’t. 

A few hours later his very carefully crafted shopping list popped in.  He is using an app to plan his meals, so the items he was requesting were very specific:

            Half an avocado

            A 1 inch piece of ginger root

            Half a bunch of radish

            1/8 a cup of pine nuts

And the like.  Well, Gus, you were brave, you were vulnerable, you deserve much more than HALF AN AVOCADO!  So, I loaded up 2 heavy bags of items that I had in pantry storage and we headed out to buy the rest (and more healthy things that were not on his list but he deserved).

Let me tell you, finding Nutritional Yeast Flakes was not easy!  But the 2^nd store had them, so we were good to go!  We drove over to Gus’ place and met him.  What.  A.  Cool.  Guy!  David and I both got a great feel from him.  He was thankful and kind.  He assured us if there was anything he didn’t need he would share it with others.  I sure am glad he stopped to write a note – I am glad we got to meet him!

Nutritional Yeast Flakes, baby!!

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $127.85

A neighbor recently posted in a Facebook group that she was looking for glow sticks for a “glow party” for a first grade classroom.  Well, she had me at GLOW STICKs, and I was ALL IN AT GLOW PARTY!!!  I mean, what even IS a glow party??  I wasn’t sure, but I knew I wanted to be invited!!

I told her I would hook them up then ran out shopping.  I panicked a bit when I couldn’t find glow sticks, but a clerk helped me (first she took me to the GLUE STICKS and I had to explain, no GLOW, not GLUE…).  I stocked up on all of the glow stuff I could find in 2 stores (blow necklaces, glow sticks, glow balls, glow wands – anything that had “glow” in the title went in my cart!) and dropped them off at the requestor’s home.

She contacted me after the glow party and told me that it went really well.  She said, “We really appreciate your going out and buying the glow in the dark things!  The kids voted on a “glow in the dark blanket party”, which is not something either of us teachers had ever heard of!  And of course, we were going to do the party the next day.  The lead teacher is nicer than I am, I would have either limited theme choices to stuff we could do overnight or postponed the party until Monday.  You really “saved our bacon”. “

 

1st grade GLOW PARTY!

The lead teacher sent this note to the students’ parents:  “The Glow in the Dark – Compliment Party.  Mrs. A and I were able to get some glow in the dark necklaces, bracelets, and balls.  Mrs. A. found an organization that provided our class with numerous items that the class enjoyed in the effort to celebrate their dedication to learning and kindness.  We even played a glow in the dark ball game.  How fun!  The students used their flashlights and glow sticks to read today.  Some used their blankets as tents while others held them.  The classroom looked very creative.”

Glad to do it, first graders!  Everyone should get to celebrate with a glow party (and teachers in the US should not have to spend money out of their pockets to make special events like that happen).

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $47.22

Another neighbor recently asked for an armoire in a group. 

She didn’t get the armoire, but she got a whollllle lot more.

She was looking for the armoire to solve a vexing problem, one that was delicate and probably a bit difficult to admit in public.  But it turned out when she admitted it, when she was willing to be VULNERABLE, people came out of the woodwork not only with suggestions and ideas, but with, “Us, too!  We have the same issue!!”.  All of the sudden she was not alone, plus she had creative ideas on how to try and solve the problem.

I did not have ideas to help her, but I DID have Kindness Activist funds, and time to go get her a special treat.  I left this on her doorstep:

Sometimes when you are down and having a hard day, you just need some flowers.  And chocolate.  And maybe wine.  They won’t make the difficulty go away, but they WILL remind you that there are many good things in life.

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $27.41

And finally for this report, my partner David was approached at the gas station by a woman who asked for $10 to help fill her tank.  She had an old truck, which was probably a gas guzzler.  At first David said no.  But as he filled up his own tank, he had a change of heart.  Gas is really expensive right now, and people who were already living paycheck to paycheck are obviously getting hit the hardest.

He went up to the woman and asked if she needed the gas to get to work.  She said yes, she is a security guard (her logoed shirt confirmed that).  He said he would be happy to put $10 in her tank, and proceeded to do so.

When he pulled out, the woman stayed at the pump.  She was asking others to pitch in $10, too.  I hope she got enough to fill that truck up.  And I hope she made it to work on time. 

This was such a good example to me of how when everyone pitches in, things can get done.

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $10.00