Being Kind to Mother Earth

We don’t have quite enough going on over here at Kindness Activist (insert sarcastic tone here…) – so we STARTED ANOTHER PROJECT!

We adopted some streets in our county!!

I have always liked seeing the “This stretch of interstate adopted by…” signs and wondered how the programs worked.  I recently decided to stop wondering and start doing!

First, I put out a call for CREW MEMBERS.  I was hoping to get a dozen – we got 17!  And that is perfect, because there will always be times when some people have conflicts and can’t attend.

Then, we filled out all of the paperwork.  Doing that opened up the online map so that we could see which streets had not yet been adopted and…  drum roll…  basically the “adopt a street” program in Arlington County is so underutilized and probably unknown that not a single street around us was adopted.  That is sad in that it means no one is “taking care of them”, but it was good in that we could choose whatever street we wanted!

I had a couple of criteria in mind.  I wanted a street:

-         Near our house so that we could use our home as a meeting place for all volunteers

-         In a busy area so that it would likely need some cleaning

-         Close enough to walk to

It was easy to find a street meeting those requirements.  In fact, it was so easy that instead of adopting ONE street, we adopted THREE!  We chose streets around Sequoia Plaza, a busy office complex down the street.  Here is the map – the blue/purple streets are ours:

The street we adopted

 When you adopt a street/s, you agree to clean them at least once a quarter.  You also agree to wear safety vests.  Today was our first cleaning, and so we donned our vests!!

12 kind volunteers set out to see what this “Adopt a Street” was all about.  We had buckets on loan from the county and plenty of “grabbers” and gloves.

The inaugural Kindness Activist Street Cleaning Crew!

We weren’t sure what to expect.  When you are in a car driving through that area, the streets look pretty clean.  (Shhh, one volunteer messaged me threatening to go drop some litter around there so that we would have something to pick up, because we were afraid it would be a bust!  Don’t worry, she didn’t do it 😊 .)

 

Finding bottles behind bushes

Wait, did you find a plastic bag?

But we quickly learned that even though it may look trash free when looking out your car window, when you are on foot and actually LOOKING for litter, there is a loooot to be found.

 

Clean-up in action!

We found bottles. We found cans.  We found strips of rubber and chewed gum and wrappers.  We found a box.  We found yard signs.  We found a hub cap.  We found broken glass. But what we found the MOST of by far was CIGARETTE BUTTS.

 

This was just ONE area with lots and lots of cigarette butts,
and this is AFTER we had picked some of them up already!

They are disgusting, and they were everywhere!!  You could definitely tell where the workers from the Sequoia Buildings come out on their smoke breaks ☹ .  So that is one thing I will be including in our report: there need to be cigarette butt receptacles at every entry to the offices and at the bus stop.

 

These two worked really hard

The dozen of us worked for about 90 minutes and we got a lot done!!  And do you know what?  It felt good.  I mean, not only was it a lovely sunny day to be outdoors, but bending down and picking up trash felt like a very tangible way to give back to the community.  We were literally making the space cleaner and prettier!  I was very proud of us!!

This little buddy worked all day yesterday perfecting his grabber tool technique!

 

We found a couple of special things while we were out.  Well, I say “we” found them, but really one little helper did.  She seemed to find all of the weird stuff!  First she found a set of keys in a bush.  Then she found a lottery card (not a winner, drat).  And then she found the best thing of all – a wallet!!!

 

The finder of all of the weird things and her mother

The wallet was very clean and looked new, so it didn’t feel like it had been out there long.  There was no cash in it but the driver’s license, credit cards, and insurance card were still there.  When I got home, I posted in a large community Facebook group to try and find the owner.  We had his name, knew his age, and had his address (I just listed his name and age in the post, and said we had found something important of his). 

 

Before long I got a Facebook message.  A woman had tracked the man whose wallet we had down and gave me his address (which matched what was on the license) and his phone number.  We called him and wow, was he happy!!!  Turns out he moved recently and lives near us so he jumped in his car to come retrieve the wallet.  He asked what he could give as a reward for finding it and I told him no reward was needed, we were just happy to find the owner.

 

He came to get the wallet and is so sweet.  He explained that his wallet was stolen just today right out of his bag at a local 7-11.  The thief must’ve grabbed it, saw that it had no cash, and threw it.  We told him that a little girl had found it, and he was very grateful.  He even gifted her some sweet pajamas from the Washington Wizard’s basketball team.

 

Jon, reunited with his wallet

And here is a cool part, too.  He wants to join the street cleaning crew!!  We are technically full, but hey, I think we should make an exception and add him to the list, don’t you?  We gave him our social media links and the website info and he texted to say, “I appreciate the mission your group has and it is a blessing for me.”  Hey Jon, we are adding you to our list of volunteers, so get ready!

 

All in all, it was a very fun project.  In fact, David found it so fun that after we had come home, had a snack, and sorted out the recycling from what we picked up, he went BACK and cleaned up some more on a street we hadn’t even adopted.  He had noticed some garbage in a retention pond area and wanted to tidy it up.  He even picked up a CAR BUMPER (add that to the list of odd items we found…).

 

First round of cleaning – done!  We will be back in a couple of months for round two.  Until then – PLEASE DON’T LITTER!!  Be kind to Mother Earth!

 

 

David in action

So much to pick up

Just SOME of the garbage we cleaned up

John was quite happy to pick up the loaned 
buckets from the county

A Big, BIG Thank You To VOLUNTEERS! (And a Big Reveal)

Oh.  My.  Goodness.

The kindness filled the room!!

We hosted a Kindness Activist Volunteer Thank You party this weekend and wow – I am speechless.

There was just SO.  MUCH.  LOVE! 

When you plan a party, you never know how many people will come.  I mean, if it is family you can pretty much count on people (unless, of course, the flu hits…), but when it is community members who have pitched in and volunteered for a cause…  How do you project numbers?

We sent out invites and asked for RSVPs.  I think lots of invites ended up in spam folders, so I tried to text or message people, too.   And still, I know that some of those who were invited never got the message (I know this because I ran into one of the people the night before the event and casually mentioned it.  They were like, “What party?”.  Oops.) 

So let me say this from the get-go – if you volunteered with Kindness Activist the past year and did not get an invite to the event, it is probably in your spam or promotions folder.  I am sorry.

I was afraid we might have booked an amazingly beautiful and big venue (The Cooperative Plaza Conference Center in Ballston) and would have only the party planning crew (me, Ixi, Kathleen, Betsy, and Heather), a few close friends, plus of course David (the husband for scale) who I had asked to take the night off of rehearsal show up for the big event.

But the people who turned out…  WE HAD FUN!  Like, seriously good fun!

Y’all – there were over 100 people there!

People of ALL ages.  Of all nationalities.  Of different faith beliefs.  Of different social economic statuses. 

We were a diverse group with one very important thing in common – we all believe in the power of kindness.  And you better believe we celebrated!

We had face painters!  Thank you to Gray, Dally, and Johanna – you did amazing work and the kids loved it.

VERY happy guest with face paint
(who also wore a light up tutu!)

We had a photo booth with old school printed strips of 3 photos – thank you Eugene you were so patient and sweet (and busy).

We had a craft table – people make their own kindness coasters to bring home and they turned out soooo cute!  Thank you Katherine, Emily, and Karen -  you went through a lot of modge podge and made people very happy.

Katherine assisting A in making a coaster

Just a few of the MANY beautiful coasters made!

We had amazing raffle prizes and very excited winners! 

Kids getting ready to reach into the bags and choose the raffle winners

We had kid art on every table and all around the room!

We had FOOD – oh we had lots of food!  Cake, petite fours, brownies, blondies, sandwiches, sliders, chips, nuts, veggies, fruit, cheese, crackers, bread…  And CANDY – boy did we go through a lot of candy.

The room as the first guests arrived

Food table and guests

It was just so amazing to see these people all together in one room.  The joy and happiness and KINDNESS that emanated filled my heart with happiness.

And so many kind things happened at the event itself – unplanned of course. 

For example, three volunteers won t-shirts for helping us for over 50 hours – Danyi, Ixi, and Teresa.  Instead of keeping the shirt, one of them gave it to a French exchange student who had come to the party with a volunteer because he is trying to do “all the American things” while he is here.  What a great example of American kindness.

Two of our VERY dedicated volunteers

And this is a fun one.  I was walking around right before I planned to do a little speech, and I noted that one of the volunteers who is a sign language interpreter had ended up at the same table as other volunteers who are Deaf.  “Kismet!” I thought as I walked up.  “You found one another!” I told them.  Nope – they had not realized the connection, that they all use ASL!!  The Deaf couple had planned to use a speech to text app, but because the interpreter was there and willing, she interpreted the speech.  Thank you Jennifer! 

Friends were made at the event.  Two or three people have contacted me since the party telling me about the fun person they met and will stay in contact with.

Not one but two new volunteers were involved with the event.  Both had independently reached out to me in the weeks leading up to the party explaining that they were government employees who had just lost their jobs in the huge cuts that are hitting our community so badly.  Both were at a very difficult time in their lives, but they had realized that volunteering, helping spread kindness, might make them feel better.  One explained that she wanted a volunteer opportunity where it would be ok if she broke down and cried in the middle of it.  Say no more – please come help us set up!  So nice to meet a new friend.

Kids were involved in the party and they were so proud.  We told the stories of some of the youth involvement and other children who were present have been inspired to start planning.  A friend reached out today saying her son is talking about hosting a lemonade stand (like 2 girls whose story we shared at the party).

These Kind Kids all held fundraisers for Kindness Activist

A kind neighbor, Mandy, designed the beautiful invitation (thank you Mandy!).  She offered to make a print of the invite, sans words, for the event.  It was going to be a raffle prize, but then it hit me:  our friend and volunteer from Ukraine, Nina.  The print was of sunflowers, which represent her homeland.  It was meant for her.  Nina’s daughter was sick and they were also very sad the day of the event, so they could not attend.  But I showed the guests the sunflower print, explained it would go to Nina’s family, and asked everyone to hold Ukraine in their hearts and pray for peace.

Beautiful framed sunflower print - artwork by Mandy Wylie

One thing I shared was the success of the 2024 Kindness Fundraising Sale.  We had kept the amount we raised a secret so that we could share it with the volunteers first.  Now that they know, we can share the details far and wide:

Around 110 amazing volunteers put in over 500 volunteer hours on the Fundraising Sale.

These volunteers were recognized as Fundraiser Rock Stars:

·      Julia – flew in all the way from Florida to volunteer

·      Danyi - worked herself to the bone

·      Kathleen – guarded the volunteer room the entire time so that we could leave valuables there without worrying

·      Jennifer, Ferdousi, Yousef, Emily, Andrew, Laurie, Leah, Suzy, Danyi and more - worked very late into the night packing everything up

·      Ixi and Mac – showed up all the time at a moment’s notice to help

·      Andrew – just moved to the area, showed up to help clean up but had no idea what he had gotten himself into and worked late into the night

·      Ludjmilla – who played bad cop to our good cop at the check-out counter.  She is an amazing negotiator.  She helped people understand the “pay what you wish” concept and that this was a fundraiser for a very worthy cause.

I explained that we were nervous about the 2024 event.  We had two years worth of donations (the 2023 sale was cancelled twice due to rain).  We moved to a new location – inside a local church instead of outside our home where the event has been for years.  At our house, we have drive-by and walk-by traffic galore.  At the church, we would be indoors…  And, we have traditionally held the sale for 4 days (we advertise it for 2, then inevitably continue the next weekend because there are still lots of items left).  But with the rental on the church, we would be strictly limited to the 2 days…

So, we were nervous about how much we could raise. 

But we needn’t have worried. 

Shhh - preparing to turn around for the BIG REVEAL!

The 2024 Kindness Fundraiser raised a total of $13,829.01!!!

$13,829.01 (the penny is not pictured :) )

Isn’t that unbelievable?  Just imagine the amount of kindness that can be spread with that.

The 2024 Kindness Activist Volunteer of the Year was also named at the party – Ixi.  She is so very supportive of the cause.  She is a board member, a pantry crew member, and has brought her whole family into the fold to help out. 

Volunteer of the Year

In case you haven’t guessed it from reading this story, the Kindness Activist Volunteer Party gave me hope.  It gave me joy, and energy, and lifted my spirits.  It reminded me of some of the amazing people I am so lucky to know.

And it reinforced my believe that we can make the world a kinder place, one small act of kindness at a time.

Interested in joining the team and volunteering with Kindness Activist?  We would love to have you!!  Just email KindnessActivist@gmail.com with your name, email address, and phone number to be added to our volunteer list.  Follow us on Facebook (Kindness Activist) to see calls for volunteers.

And if you have photos of the thank you event – please send them our way to KindnessActivist@gmail.com .

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ROLLS UP THEIR SLEEVES AND GETS INVOLVED.  You are appreciated. 

 

The Claw Game was a noisy hit

Volunteer of the Year

Welcome table

THANK YOU!

And a good time was had by all!

If You Build It...

When we first opened the Little Yellow Free Pantry in 2021, I was worried.  Worried that we would not get enough visitors.

And the first few days, my worries were well founded.  A few people stopped by, but not many.

So, I made signs – printed them in multiple languages – and hung them in very visible locations on our fence so people walking and driving by our busy corner would see them.

We got a few more guests coming for food, but not many.

So, I made and laminated signs in English and Spanish and hung them at nearby bus stops.  I tried to hang one at the Department of Human Services office down the street, but a guard took it down.

And some more people came, but not many.

So – I had a grand idea.  I went to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) to talk to the professionals!!  I had never been there, but just pulled up and talked to the first person I saw with a nametag standing outside the building.

I explained my “predicament” – that we had opened a Little Free Food Pantry, but we needed VISITORS!!  I floated the idea past him of perhaps advertising somehow at AFAC.

The man looked at me incredulously.  “Ma’am,” he said, “Do you know how many people we serve here??  You do not want to advertise (unspoken but clear in his inflection – “your little tiny operation”) at AFAC”.

Well ok then.  I drove back home and did a bit of research on AFAC.  If you Google the organization today, here is what you see as their stats for 2023:

·       140,635 total family visits – a 29.4% increase over last year

·       7,634 total families referred (18,942 individuals)

·       6,586 distinct families served (16,003 individuals)

·       5,375 children served

·       Average 2,712 families served per week

·       Of individuals served: 56% female, 33.6% children,12.8% senior, 52.5% Hispanic/Latinx, 19.9% Black,8.9% Asian, 11.7% White, 1.3% Other

·       Individuals with disabilities: 8.5% overall; 25% of seniors, 2.9% of children*

So, ummm, yeah, perhaps advertising at AFAC was not the right way to go…

Fast forward 3 years. 

The Little Yellow Free Pantry has pleeeeenty of guests!!!  In fact, sometimes the number of visitors, the back and forth from the storage shelves to the pantry to refill it over and over, and the amount of food required to keep the operation running is overwhelming.  But it is overwhelming in a good way, if that makes sense.

Well, last night I took it full circle.  I was asked to go with members of the Arlington Rotary Club to volunteer at AFAC!!  I was so excited!  I would get to see it “behind the scenes” and help in preparing food for the community.

Our volunteer job for the evening was taking large 50-pound bags of white rice and breaking them down into smaller bags, sealing those, and stacking them in crates.  A group of 11 volunteers worked for 1 hour, and in that time, we made 620 bags of right to be given to AFAC clients.  Isn’t that awesome?  And it was fun!!

(Though, I must confess, as we were scooping rice into bags, sealing them, stacking them – in the back of my mind I thought, “Susan, THIS SAME TASK IS WAITING TO BE DONE AT YOUR HOUSE!  The LYFP is out of small bags of rice and you need to decant the huge bags into smaller ones!  You should be doing this for your pantry, too!”.  And, as soon as I came home, I messaged the friend who did “rice duty” for the LYFP last time and asked if she could come do it again soon (she can!). And trust me, the bags of rice we are dealing with for our tiny pantry are NOT 50 lbs each 😊 .)

I was so happy to get to visit and help out at AFAC.  And, I must confess, equally happy to come home to our muuuuch smaller, scaled-down version of community food distribution. 

Because everybody deserves good food.

*Note: I wish that I could share statistics as extensive as AFAC’s to demonstrate the population that relies on the Little Yellow Free Pantry.  I wish I could tell you the number of people, how many families, children, people with disabilities, etc. come get food.  But here’s the thing: there are no rules or requirements to use the Little Yellow Free Pantry.  You don’t need to register.  You don’t need to show papers.  And you are not “checked in” when you visit.  It is private, anonymous (except for the guests I have become friends with), and open 24/7.  Sadly, that makes it impossible to track the statistical impact.  But I will tell you this: 100% of the guests of the Little Yellow Free Pantry are GRATEFUL.  That may be the only statistic we can “track”, but it is good enough for me. 

If you would like to help stock the LYFP, we these are the current urgent needs:

-         Single serving boxes/bowls of cereal, any flavors (we are totally out)

-         Spaghetti-Os or canned ravioli (we are totally out)

-         Packets of Indian vegetarian meals (we are totally out)

-         Microwave popcorn (we have 2 single serving bags left and will be out by morning)

-         Honey (a pantry staple, we have only 3 bottles left)

-         Almond milk (almost out)

-         Jelly, any flavor (running low)

-         Single serving packs of oatmeal

-         Single serving drinks of any kind (except water and milk (we have enough of those for now) or soda) – like Capri Suns, juice boxes/bottles, coconut water (we are out), cans of lemonade, V8 blends, cans of iced tea, etc.

-         Canned items that are not vegetables or fruit – things like evaporated milk, peppers, olives, bamboo shoots, salsa, Rotel, etc.

-         Single serving cups of ravioli (2 left)

 If you are local to the metro DC area, there is a tan and green plastic bin on our front porch in South Arlington for donations.  Please put items there and not directly into the pantry.  Message me for the address if you need it.  If you would like to order from the Amazon wish list, here is a link.  You can click on “sort” then “high to low” to see the items most needed on top.  Click here for the Kindness Activist Wish List