From Soldiers to Snow

It has been a while since I have written an accounting update that contains more than one act of kindness, so I shall sit down this evening to do just that!  Here we go.

This first act of kindness was very moving.  If you recall, Kindness Activist sent a big box of treats not too long ago to American soldiers stationed overseas.  Well, this time it was Ukrainian soldiers turn.

I saw that one of my friends, a Ukrainian woman who is living in our community while her country is ravaged by war, was making food for soldiers that were brought to the US for treatment.  I had no idea that occurring, but as soon as I found out, I hoped we could do something – any small gesture – to show them that they are welcome here and that they are appreciated.  So, I contacted my friend and she explained that the men being sent to the US for treatment were and those in need of very difficult prosthetics.  I asked it would be possible for me to bring them gifts.  She confirmed it would be fine, let me know where they would be, and set up a time for me to go.

My partner David and I spent about an hour roaming up and down the Target aisles trying to figure out what would be good to give the soldiers.  We wanted the gifts to be things they would use while they were here (not have to lug them back to Ukraine) and things that would help them be comfortable and/or happy.  We settled on a wide variety of snacks, drinks, decks of cards, and a nice greeting card for each of them.  I packaged everything in blue bags tied with yellow ribbons – the colors of their homeland.  I wrote a message in English to put in the cards, then sent it off to my friend to translate into Ukrainian.  We wrote:

Thank you for working to make the world a safer place.  Thinking of you and your family, and wishing you a future full of peace and love.

Then off I drove – not sure if I would hand the bags to a receptionist, meet the soldiers, or what.

I was very honored that I actually got to see the men in person and thank them.  They were happy to get the gifts.  A translator interpreted a short conversation for us, and I turned to go.  “Don’t you want a picture??” the woman working with them asked.  I didn’t want to make the event seem like a photo opportunity, but she seemed to want a picture for their organization too, so I went back and stood with the soldiers for this lovely photo.

The soldiers

The gift bags

Total Kindness Activist funds spent:  $176.38

Number of wishes that these soldiers will someday be able to live in a country free of war: Infinite

 

Sometimes when we are out shopping, we use that time to do something kind for other people.  I mean, we are already there at the store, why not treat someone??  Because getting out to the store can be difficult for people, what with kids, transportation, work, gas…

So, one evening when I was at Dollar Tree, I posted in a local online group to say where I was and ask if anyone needed anything.  I said I would treat a couple of people - $10 budget each ($10 goes quite a long way at Dollar Tree!) and I would deliver the items. Responses popped in right away.  One person needed some basic supplies for their home – toothpaste, toothbrushes, garbage bags, tape, toilet paper, dish soap, paper towels.  That was easy enough to collect.  During another shopping trip to Dollar Tree, someone requested snacks – easy peasy.  And one person asked for supplies for an altar for the Day of the Dead – 4 glass candles and multi-colored tissue paper. 

Completed altar for Day of the Dead

These acts of kindness are not expensive.  They are really more about the gift of time and availability than the cost.  They are simple and fun to do.

Household supplies

 

Total Kindness Activist funds spent: $29.22

 

This January our area had predictions of a BIG SNOW.  This had everyone very excited!!  And because we have so many immigrants in our area, some of people have never seen snow.  So, those people were even MORE EXCITED!!

Everyone was asking around for sleds and snowsuits and mittens and shovels…  That’s when I saw a request – did anyone have a sled for some children to use who were experiencing their FIRST SNOW???

We hurried to the store to see if there were any left.  We hunted and hunted, but there were none to be found.  The shelves were picked clean of winter play gear.  But then we saw it – the last sled!  It was not a traditional one, it was a blow up one.  We grabbed it.  We hunted more and found a snow brick maker hidden on a shelf – we will take it!!  And we scored 3 “snow painters”, too.  And of course, we HAD to add hot cocoa and marshmallows...  I rushed home to fill the sled with air and then delivered it all to one happy parent.  I can only imagine how loud the squeals of delight were when the kids whooshed down a snowy hill.

 

Total Kindness Activist funds spent:  $40.86

Snowflakes of Kindness

Last year around this time I was gearing up to march in the Women’s March in Washington DC.  I had ideas on what I wanted to paint on my sign, but I do not know how to knit and therefore didn’t plan on adorning my head with one of the iconic hats of the march.  I didn’t plan on it, that is, until someone I had met only one time in my life asked if I would like her to knit one for me…  I was blown away by the kindness, and you can bet I was proud as punch to pull that hat on the day of the march and join thousands of other people in the streets.*

Fast forward one year…  I was reading through the online discussion about the Women’s March on Washington 2018: March to the Polls.  Part of the discussion was about attire, and the idea of wearing SNOWFLAKES surfaced.  The concept was to sew or pin snowflakes to coats, hats, mittens, whatever, and OWN THE SNOWFLAKE LABEL.  Not only own it, but show the world that a blizzard is-a-comin’, and everyone had better get prepared!  In the snowflake discussion thread I saw a woman asking if anyone would like her to crochet snowflakes for them.

Could it be?  Could crafty women be willing to share their talents with complete (and/or nearly complete) strangers just for the sake of camaraderie and kindness???  First, I quickly wrote a “Me please!!” message to make sure I didn’t miss out on the generous offer, then I sent a private message to the kind woman behind the snowflakes, Julie.  I had to know why she was willing to go out of her way and use her time and talents to adorn women she didn’t know!

Beautiful, handmade snowflakes!  Aren't they amazing?

Once she was finished crocheting, Julie wrote me back.  She is a kindness inspiration! 

Julie explained that she got the idea to make the snowflakes on Facebook.  “I saw that someone posted the idea of wearing snowflakes (to embrace the ‘liberal snowflake’ insult and make it our own) and I thought, ‘I'm going to do that!’,” she told me.  “Then I saw that someone else posted about looking to buy some snowflakes, and it occurred to me that I could make them for more than just me and my friends, so I offered them up to anyone who wanted them.”  Did you catch that?  She was already going to make them for her group of friends, but she opened up the offer to complete strangers!  Isn’t that awesome?? 

And it wasn’t only Julie.  Her 11 year old son Zachary got involved, too!  He made an illustration that she included with each envelope of snowflakes, and he also helped package and mail all of them out.  Way to use your own creativity and kindness, Zachary!

Artwork by Zachary, included with each and every snowflake!  :)

And before you get to thinking that this was a light snow fall, no, this was a BLIZZARD.  Julie crocheted and mailed out around 90 snowflakes, and she is making 50 more to hand out in person at the march!!!  Imagine the smiles on strangers faces when Julie walks up to them on march day with a handmade snowflake to wear!  I asked her how this act of kindness makes her feel, and she said, “It makes me feel great! I love being able to contribute in some way and love the community of interdependence and teamwork that the marches help foster. I've heard from people who've received them and they're so happy.”

The snowflake maker in action (with a little "help" from a furry friend...)

Of course, like many kind people, Julie gives back in other ways, too.  She volunteers at a local high school theater sewing costumes, an activity that she reports is “chaotic, but so much fun”.  Julie, as a theater nerd who was involved in many high school productions, I say thank you on behalf of the kids that you (and all of the other amazing seamstresses) have costumed.  😊

Julie summed up this kind snowflake effort by saying, “I think everyone has talents and the ability to use those to make others feel better, so I just encourage everyone to look for what they can do to contribute to the common good.”  You got that right, Julie!  We all have talents we can share.  Oh sure, maybe they are not as crafty and skilled as your ability to crochet, but we all have SOMETHING we can share with others.  And if we all did, well, just imagine the kindness that would snow down on the world!

* Here is a link to the story of the kind woman who made me an amazing hat last year:  Knit Hat Kindness

Secret Shoveling Kindness

Recently in the piece called “Neighborly Kindness” I mentioned that some neighbors were shoveling sidewalks that were not in front of their house.  They were just randomly, secretly, KINDLY shoveling for people!!  Not asking for payment, not even knocking on the door and announcing their good deed, JUST SHOVELING. 

And this was no LIGHT SNOW they were shoveling either!  It was deep (around 3 feet total) and it was heavy!  So these neighbors were, in my humble opinion, going well above and beyond being “neighborly”.  They definitely crossed into the KINDNESS ACTIVIST category!

One neighbor whose walk they shoveled, Kia, figured out who was doing it.  I asked her to reveal the secret shovelers’ identifies to me, and she did.  Turns out it was a family that lives next door to her.  I walked down and saw them in action and asked if I could take their photo. 

Not only did they SHOVEL, they also SMILED!  They were having a blast.

THIS IS THE AMAZING SECRET SHOVELING FAMILY!!  Aren’t they fantastic??

The problem is, they speak Spanish, and I do not.  Of course, I know “gracias” so I did convey that to them.  But I wish I was fluent so I could tell them how awesomely kind their actions were.

You know the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”??  I hope that is true, because I just framed a 5 x 7 print of the photo above to give to them.  I will walk down to their house to deliver it, plus their KINDNESS ACTIVIST buttons.  Hopefully a SMILE is worth a few words, too, because I imagine smiles will be exchanged.

There was a LOT of snow...

Kindness knows no linguistic boundaries. 

Tell me about kindness you have seen!  Send me an email at kindnessactivist@gmail.com .

Here is how deep it was in our yard (this is before it stopped snowing...).  That family shoveled a TON of snow!

Sandbox Kindness

So yeah, the DC metro area is getting slammed with snow.  It is, in my humble opinion, fabulous!  And it really does bring out the best in some people!!

Local hardware and grocery stores (and liquor stores!) have been super busy the last few days with people preparing to “hunker down” and ride out the blizzard. 

Longest line ever at a local Trader Joe's 2 days before the storm

Lots of things were sold out – bananas (??), milk, bread, eggs…  And apparently, SALT.  Not salt for eating, but ice melt salt for steps and sidewalks.  So when I saw this Facebook post in a neighborhood group yesterday, it made me smile:

       “Since there is no more ice melt to be had, we are opening up our full sandbox!   
        Anyone who would like to come by with a bucket and fill up, you are welcome to do so 
        now (address redacted for this blog J ). Come up the driveway to the backyard,
        sandbox is next to deck and covered. Just put cover back please.”

Talk about sweet neighbors!!!  And, like so many gestures of kindness, it was not DIFFICULT, not EXPENSIVE, just KIND!!

When I finished work for the day we set off to meet these neighbors and ask them about their kindness.  We walked half a mile in the snow (which was really fun!) and found their house.  I knocked on the door and was greeted by Harold who explained that the sand box was in the back and we were free to take as much as we needed!  Other neighbors had stopped by before us to avail themselves of this sweet gesture. 

Harold and Janet, the sandbox owners, didn’t want their photo taken, but David didn’t mind if I snapped a couple photos of him while he unburied the sandbox and put some sand in our beach bucket.   On our hike back home we passed some other walkers and David, beach bucket in hand, said we were looking for the shore.  Like many of his jokes, the recipients didn’t get it…  Oh well, I thought it was funny!

Photo is a bit blurry, but it was getting dark and cold out!!  David prepares to put some sand in his purple bucket.

Such a kind gesture - to share sand!

KEEP UP THE KINDNESS, folks.  It really does make the world a happier, more livable place.  If you see, receive, or do an act of kindness, please tell me about it so I can dub you a KINDNESS ACTIVIST and you can proudly sport your “kindness activist” button!  Email me at:  kindnessactivist@gmail.com

Me when we got back from our walk - the roads were EMPTY (which is unusual in this neighborhood)

 

Snowplow Kindness

HAVE YOU HEARD?  DC is getting hit with a blizzard of “historic proportions”!!  It’s so exciting!!  I was stuck indoors all day, but as soon as I could I pulled out the old long underwear, grabbed my ski mittens, and strapped on my brand new boots to take off into the snow!!!  I really wanted to go for a walk in the snow, plus I had seen a Facebook post earlier in the day about a wonderful kindness someone was offering!

Here are my new boots :)

But it turned out that on the way to participate in the intended kindness, we happened on ANOTHER KINDNESS!    It took us quite a while to track him down, but eventually we caught up to the gentleman we were calling SNOWPLOW MAN!!

He paused long enough to talk to me and boy, was he nice.  Turns out his name is Tim Muzik and his lives in our neighborhood (about a half mile away).  He was using his little ATV(all terrain vehicle) to remove snow from South Arlington sidewalks.  Yes, I said sidewalkS, plural.  Because he wasn’t only cleaning HIS sidewalk, he was driving around the whole neighborhood and plowing, including the sidewalks around the local park!!  Aren’t the neighbors on his street LUCKY???

I asked him about it and he explained that basically, it is just as FUN as it is HELPFUL.  He likes to keep the sidewalks clean for the neighbors because, as he put it, the area is so “walkable”.  I agree!!  He said he would be making several passes around the neighborhood during this blizzard because so much snow is falling.  I asked about having enough gas to do repeated plowings and he said he got all of the gas ready yesterday.  Way to prep, Tim!!

SNOWPLOW MAN IN ACTION!  (Well, he paused to talk - he was doing the sidewalks in the park)

He also said he really likes doing this, because this is basically the only time he can drive his vehicle around in our city!  J  I say that helping others out like he is doing is wonderful, and I am glad he can have some fun while he is doing it!  (Selfishly, I just wish he lived on our street…)

Maybe bad weather brings out the kindness in some people.  It sure does in SNOWPLOW MAN.  You, Tim, are a kindness activist!  Thank you.

More about the other kindness we received in another post soon.  For now – stay warm.  And if you see, do, or receive a kindness PLEASE tell me about it!  You don’t have to write much, just shoot me a quick email at kindnessactivist@gmail.com .  Because kindness shared inspires kindness. 

P.S. – after we came back from our walk (and had a snowball fight with the neighbors…) we shoveled our sidewalk.  I reckon there are between 4 – 5 inches of snow out there so far!!

This is me, standing in the middle of our normally VERY busy intersection at 6:30 pm on a Friday night - rush hour!