A kindness project has deeply touched the community of Tillamook, Ore., after the death of two locals — a young mom named Wendy and her 8 year old daughter — who were killed in a car crash. Their deaths broke the hearts of all who knew them, but their memory has sparked a chain of kindness.
On the one year anniversary of their deaths, their families launched the “Act In Kindness” project, with the help of County Commissioners who decreed Feb. 8 as Tillamook’s Act in Kindness Day. 2,000 cards were distributed in local schools for students to give to others along with a gesture of kindness.
By the end of the day a card had made its way to the office of Beatrice Michel, who had been Wendy’s eye doctor for years.
“I had the privilege of knowing Wendy since she was a young girl and felt her loss deeply,” Dr. Michel told the Good News Network.
She was delighted to be part of Wendy’s tribute and to give her last patient a gift of eyeglass cleaner and a new case while passing along the card that read, “I hope I brightened your day! Now it is your turn to make someone smile by passing this card along with your Act in Kindness, inspired by Wendy and Shelby Mizée (pictured, left).”
“It is my hope that these cards will continue to make their way from person to person spreading kindness and joy in honor of both Wendy and Shelby,” said Michel.
As she left the office for the evening, she stopped by a local tearoom owned by Shelby’s grandmother, and told her how touched she was by the project. They shared tears and a hug and Michel left with twenty more cards to pass out.
“The next day I was getting my hair cut and my stylist said they, too, had received one of the cards. I took the opportunity to anonymously pay for someone’s haircut and asked the stylist to give her client the card.”
The family has set up a web site with a printable version of the kindness card (click to download the PDF), in hopes the project will spread far beyond their small community and bring joy to many in honor of Wendy and Shelby.
The website offers these kindness suggestions:
- Give a compliment.
- Pick up litter.
- Leave flowers on someones front door.
- Bake a cake for someone.
- Tell someone you love them.
- Make a card to thank your teacher.
- Pay for coffee for the person behind you in line.
- Write a letter to a child who could use some extra attention.
- Offer to pick up groceries for an elderly neighbor.
- Put a coin in an expired meter.
- Send flowers to a friend.
- Call or write a teacher who affected you.
- Share a box of donuts with the school office, or co-workers.
- Leave a generous tip.
(Visit www.wendyandshelby.com to see more and join the effort.)
Fabulous!
I love all these examples of ways people are being kind to strangers, BUT, does it strike anyone else that these acts often mostly benefit people who are similar economically and culturally? I mean, paying for the latte for the person behind you in line is GREAT, but it doesn’t help build connections across cultural or economic lines, and it doesn’t help anyone really in need. I’m not trying to be a grinch, but I think that these kinds of things would be even better if they could be used to expand our connections across groups, rather than reinforce group solidarity and bonding.
Why not give us a couple of examples of what you’d LIKE to see?
Hi Geri:
Yes, you have a point. It is much harder to create genuine, spontaneous kind actions that bridge a gap. But I liked the one where someone paid for lay-aways at K-Mart, for example. There have been stories about people paying heating bills. I like the generous tip idea. Anyway — all of it is good. I just think it takes more imagination to reach out to people who are different, and I guess I need more time to come up with better examples of what would be good. Do others have ideas? Thanks.