K is for Kindness

04/30/2024

We are humbled to be a small part in helping educators & students make a BIG difference in their community by spreading KINDNESS. 💛🩵
Thank you Mrs. Jefferies for all you do!

08/13/2023

Mark your calendars! Save the date!!

Our 5th annual K is for Kindness day is just around the corner on 9.11!! This year we are fortunate to be able to return to classrooms around the county to read books and share demonstrations with young students reminding all of us how just one simple act of kindness can truly change the world.

That Monday morning, we will be taking 50 volunteers to Bessemer City Primary where my mom spent her 31 year teaching career - please click this link for more details and to sign up to join us! All books and materials will be provided!! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4FAEA623A13-kisfor

If you can't join us at Bessemer Primary, but are interested in spreading the K is for Kindess fun to a classroom near you, we will be happy to share book information, materials and talking point details for your use! We are also challenging local high school students to partner with their school counselors and peers to organize groups of students to go into the local elementary schools to read books and do kindness demonstrations! If you or a student you know are interested in participating, please comment below or message me for more information!

It is our intention to supply each volunteer with a book to be read to the class and then donated to the classroom library. If you are unable to volunteer as a reader but would still like to support our efforts, please consider purchasing a book from our Amazon wish list! They will be mailed directly to us and we will note your donation on the inside cover before sharing it as part of this year's K is for Kindness efforts! Click here fore the Wish List link:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2U3ZP98T73POY?ref_=wl_share

Thank you for helping us remember my sweet mom in this speacial way as we seek to humbly spread KINDNESS to the kids in our community!

08/13/2023

Mark your calendars! Save the date!!

Our 5th annual K is for Kindness day is just around the corner on 9.11!! This year we are fortunate to be able to return to classrooms around the county to read books and share demonstrations with young students reminding all of us how just one simple act of kindness can truly change the world.

That Monday morning, we will be taking 50 volunteers to Bessemer City Primary where my mom spent her 31 year teaching career - please click this link for more details and to sign up to join us! All books and materials will be provided!! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4FAEA623A13-kisfor

If you can't join us at Bessemer Primary, but are interested in taking spreading the K is for Kindess fun to a classroom near you, we will be happy to share book information, materials and talking point detials for your use! We are also challenging local high school students to partner with their school counselors and peers to organize groups of students to go into the local elementary schools to read books and do kindness demonstrations! If you or a student you know are interested in participating, please comment below or message me for more information!

It is our intention to supply each volunteer with a book to be read to the class and then donated to the classroom library. If you are unable to volunteer as a reader but would still like to support our efforts, please consider purchasing a book from our Amazon wish list! They will be mailed directly to us and we will note your donation on the inside cover before sharing it as part of this year's K is for Kindness efforts! Click here fore the Wish List link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/099609993X/?coliid=I36HIG3ATMM1Z4&colid=2U3ZP98T73POY&psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_lstpd_WHPX549QZ488NQ45V8X8

Thank you for helping us remember my sweet mom in this speacial way as we seek to humbly spread KINDNESS to the kids in our community!

Inspire Kindness.

11/23/2022

Yesterday was INCREDIBLE as we spent the day delivering NINE grant checks awarded to educators at eight public schools across Gaston County! Thank you to those that helped make this financially possible, to the teachers that took the time to apply for grant funds for special projects & to ALL of the incredible education professionals in this county that work tirelessly day in & day out to impart knowledge, kindness & compassion on our next generation.

We feel so fortunate to have had such a beautiful example of KINDNESS to inspire us to shine our lights bold & bright! We pray these small gifts can bless the lives they touch in BIG ways.

J.B. Page Primary School
Lowell Elementary
Brookside Elementary
Cherryville Elementary School
Bessemer City High School
Bessemer City Primary
Pleasant Ridge Elementary
New Hope Elementary

09/05/2022

Teacher Grant Application - for 2022, grants are only available to Gaston County School teachers; we hope to expand our efforts in the coming years.

[email protected] 704-458-6002

09/05/2022

4th Annual K is for Kindness 9.11.22

This year we are bolding stepping out in faith and expanding upon our idea to continue to spread and inspire kindness, especially in the youth of our community through their classroom teachers. It is not our intention to actively solicit or campaign for funds; however, some people have asked if and how they can join or support our efforts. We established K is for Kindness as a 501c3 a while back, but now are set up to easily receive tax deductible donations via Venmo and Zelle for anyone wishing to contribute. The attached flyer provides this and additional information.

Although grateful for any monetary support that allows us to further our mission, our number one goal will always be to inspire and challenge one another to be better - to BE KIND, especially on this anniversary of a terrorist act meant to divide & destroy us...

We believe Kay's greatest gift was the ability to shine her light directly on each & every person around her, to make them feel seen, feel heard, feel valued. Isn’t that what we all want? From the tiny child at the heels of a busy parent to the most evil extremists that reek terror on entire nations... Each are begging to feel SEEN, to feel HEARD, to feel VALUED. We believe that though her light was meek & humble it shone boldly & brightly in this way.

It is our hope to inspire others to find your own WHY, your own WHO, your own HOW & very boldly, very intentionally, in a very personal way, simply shine your light in a dark corner of your place in this world. Stretch out of your own comfort zone, reach across divisive lines, offer a smile, go out of your way to really HEAR what someone is saying, truly LISTEN beyond basis, see their VALUE despite disagreement & above all else, RESPOND with compassion and KINDNESS.

K is for Kindness. Be kind.

09/05/2022

2021 also marked the first year we chose to spread our efforts beyond just Bessemer City Primary. We did fulfill FIVE Bessemer Primary teachers' full Amazon wish lists for their classrooms, but we also gave FIVE $500 grants to teachers around Gaston County. This is something we hope to continue - and expand - in 2022 and beyond!

09/05/2022

3rd Annual K is for Kindness 9.11.21
(originally posted on Jodi's page)
Saturday will mark the 3rd annual K is for Kindness Day for our family. It’s our attempt to remember my moms legacy of genuine thoughtfulness & kindness each year on her Angel-versary. Each year we ask friends & family to do at least one very personal & intentional act of kindness not just to honor my moms life, but more importantly as a reminder to each of us to boldly shine our own lights of love & kindness into the world around us. We have always been acutely aware of the significance of the 9.11 date to our country’s history & felt that magnified the desire to intentionally choose to be kind on that day…. But, this year just feels different. Maybe it’s that time truly does heal, although I still feel my moms absence as deeply as I did the day she slipped from my arms to His…. Maybe it’s the exhaustion of weathering a global pandemic for over a year & a half & the lack of normal & fear of the unknown that seems to consume us…. Maybe it’s the divisiveness that seems to plague every aspect of our lives & has us questioning relationships & even the seemingly simplest of choices…. Maybe it’s that each Labor Day weekend, the Paw Creek & Coulwood community I once called home remembers the life of a young girl taken too soon by a drunk driver…. Maybe it’s that I personally know half a dozen moms & dads my age facing their own cancer battles or that our Belmont community just lost a beautiful mom, wife, daughter & friend far too young to the hideous disease…. I can’t put my finger on why it feels different this year, but I know that it does. So, while our family will spend 9.11.21 honoring & remembering my mom, what we experienced three years ago was merely life happening just as life should…we let go of a 69 year old nana who had lived a full, beautiful life. I know that what we experienced was sad but it absolutely was not tragic. There is a difference & my heart aches for those truly enduring & navigating heart wrenching tragedy & pain. I know that while it need not be in memory of or to honor my late mom, our world, our community NEEDS a day - a weekend - a week - of each & every one of us genuinely, intentionally reaching out to others in KINDNESS. So, I challenge you, in the days ahead, as the 20th anniversary of a terrorist act meant to divide & destroy us approaches, to find your own WHY or your own WHO or your own HOW & to very boldly, very intentionally, in a very personal way, simply shine your light in a dark corner of your place in this world, to be inspired to stretch out of your own comfort zone, to reach across a divisive line, to offer a smile, to go out of your way…
to simply BE KIND.