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| Ryder harvests squash at the Apple Seeds Community Farm |
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| zoom meeting |
For my 70th birthday I decided it was time to give rather than receive. Seventy days before my birthday, I invited 7 children to join the Kindness Project and to complete 7 kind acts before my birthday and tell me about them. After getting their parents' permission, I gave them each $100 to finance acts that needed "seeds". The only rules were they could not spend the money on themselves and they had to share their acts with me. Most of the children are grandchildren of my friends. They range in age from 5 -12 years old, and live in Arkansas, Iowa, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. At the half way mark, we had a zoom call and each child shared one thing they had done so far and they got to meet each other.What a joy to receive their emails! While there were themes that ran through each list - helping friends, and animals! -each child had their own unique twist. There is no way to share my favorites... they were ALL my favorites!
THE KINDNESS KIDS:
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Abbie and Ella are
siblings in SC |
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| Lil lives in GA |
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| Pixley lives in NC |
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Parker and Ryder
are siblings in Arkansas |
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| Griffin lives in Iowa |
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| Pixley comforts Forest by the trampoline |
All of the children were tuned into the needs and emotions of others. Pixley and Parker saw children who were sad and alone on the playground and sat with them and helped them wait their turn or overcome a fear (of a waterslide). Pixley played with her younger cousin, "because he is a toddler and doesn't understand sharing yet". When they came to Park's Peak together, Ella played with Pixley who is much younger than she, and took the "kind, big sister role" (she is usually the little sister). Parker helped a friend who had fallen and skinned his knee get to the first aid station. Ryder invited a shy neighbor to play and hugged him. He also offered a toy to a child at the splash pad. Ella gave up the coveted front seat when it was her turn, to her sister. And Abbie invited her sister to a special sleep over in the new playroom of their new house.The children were also mindful of the emotions and needs of the grown ups around them. Parker and Ryder made a banner for their grandmom because she was having a hard week. And Ella and Abbie turned the tables on their mom when she came home tired from a 12 hour nursing shift and tucked HER into bed, and then tucked each other in! Lil calls her great grandmother (Mamie) every night and they talk about their day and say The Lord's Prayer together. Abbie and Ella helped their dad deliver groceries to a sick friend and Parker painted pictures to give to the elderly at the community center. She and her brother also made bird feeders so that they could enjoy the birds. Ryder got a "two-fer" (but only counted it among his acts as 1!) when he helped his granddad with his neighbor's dog! Pixley raked leaves so that her teacher wouldn't have to and she also offered her grandmother "G" a chair because "its hard for her to sit on the floor and get up and down when we play cars." I could identify with that one! Lil sought out Veterans and policemen while on vacation in Boston and thanked them and had long conversations about what they do, especially in the Navy. On Memorial Day she visited a Veteran's Cemetery and removed a large limb from the graves.
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| One of Parker and Ryder's bird feeders |
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| "G" gets a seat |
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| Parker painting |
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| Cemetery Clean up on Memorial Day |
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| Lil and some of Boston's "Finest" |
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The children liked to cook! They made meals for their parents, each other and neighbors. One child took a "just because" gift of cookies to a friend. Often the children also spent part of
their money for these culinary feasts at the grocery store. Ryder and Parker helped harvest food at Apple Seeds, a community farm with healthy food and farm to table education. (see picture at the top of the blog!)
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| Abbie and Ella fix salmon and salad for their Dad. |
Surprisingly (to me at least), chores were only listed a few times. Parker and Ryder just got a new kitten and they helped with its care and feeding. Ryder, a 5 year old!, cleaned out and changed the litter box all by himself without being asked (there was no mention of sweeping up afterwards!), and he was proud that he could be gentle and calm the frightened kitten.
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| Ryder and their new kitten, Pretzel |
The range of things they spent they money on was amazing. My 70 year old imagination would have never been so creative with donations! It was the most diverse use and best money I ever spent! Ella and Abbie bought flowers and passed them out to old and new neighbors and took them to their elementary school. Their mother reported that their new Indian neighbors were dumbfounded by their act. Ryder and Parker bought groceries for a Little Free Pantry in their neighborhood and donated two bags of food to the food drives at the retreat center where they went to virtual school. Lil thanked a veteran for his service and bought his breakfast. She also gave money to a recently paralyzed neighbor's "Go Fund Me" page who is in a re-hab hospital near her. Several children bought dog food, cat food, and pet toys and donated them to their local pet centers. Griffin bought presents for two dads for Father's Day - that were not his dad! Pixley bought word game books and took them to the elderly housing building in her grandmother's neighborhood. Abbie and Ella bought school supplies and filled two back packs for the school drive.
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| Pixley at Edwin Towers |
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| Abbie and Ella buy flowers |
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| Little Free Pantry |
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| Backpacks! |
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| Griffin delivers Fathers' Day gifts |
Donations were another way the children spent their money. Pixley donated money to her summer camp and it helped fund a climber for their playground. Lil donated to a charity in India for Covid Relief. Other charities included climate change organizations ("because kids need clean water so they won't have to go to the hospital"), food banks, foster children, and children's hospitals.
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Griffin used his computer to donate to Climate Change,
Food Banks, Children's Hospitals and Foster Children! |
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| Pixley by the new climber |
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| Griffin delivers dog food |
Feeling the energy of these children and seeing their smiles and the smiles of the folks they touched gives me hope for the next generation in this crazy world. We are giving them some challenges, but they are already tackling them and are up to the task!
And I know the Kindness Project will continue because Pixley made Kindness Coupons which when redeemed she will ask, "How can I help you?"
