So many people are And every once in a while, An offer like that came in A lovely neighbor named This.<\/span><\/p>\n THIS is the kind of specificity You see, we host a big annual It is amazing how many It may sound easy, but it Then I have to SORT them.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I have to make sure each glove\/mitten has a And we need to keep an eye It is a lot of work.<\/span><\/p>\n But this offer from a And, because of Sally and Yup \u2013 between my ask at S. (age 10) helped Most of the donors left You may remember these kids from a piece I wrote last year.\u00a0 And, like so many times we It also helped the people You see, this family has THIS.\u00a0 <\/span>So much this.\u00a0 THANK you Sally and kids.\u00a0 <\/span>Thank you for giving of your THANK you, neighbors who And THANK YOU, universe, If you would like to donate –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Donations can be delivered
\namazingly kind and help out in our work at Kindness Activist.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I get often get texts and messages asking if
\nwe know of anyone who needs a specific item, or if the pantry could use x, y,
\nor z.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The outpouring of support is very
\nheartwarming and gives me energy to keep going.<\/span><\/p>\n
\na very specific offer of support comes in, maybe one I didn\u2019t even know I needed,
\nthat gives me such joy.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nyesterday.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nSally sent me this message: \u201cHi there. The kids are up for a Buy Nothing blitz
\ntomorrow to find items for Project Warmth. If you post another \u201cin search of\u201d
\nask in the Facebook group, I can take the kids out tomorrow to pick items up
\nand save in my shed for you until the 20th.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\nthat you don\u2019t know you need until it is offered.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nevent called Project Warmth.\u00a0 <\/span>We collect
\ngood condition, clean winter clothing items from the community and put out a few
\nof the things at a time in front of our home on a very busy corner near
\nWashington DC.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\npeople need hats and scarves and sweaters and coats and boots\u2026\u00a0 <\/span>We give away a lot<\/u> of items each year \u2013
\nlast year we handed out over 100 coats (we didn\u2019t count the other items)!!\u00a0 <\/span>We hang them out \u2013 maybe one sweatshirt, a
\ncoat, a hat, some new socks, a pair of mittens\u2026\u00a0
\n<\/span>Then, as an item finds a new home, we replace it.\u00a0 <\/span>We do this several times a day, every day,
\nfor a couple of winter months each year.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nis a lot of work.\u00a0 <\/span>I need to put out asks
\nfor donations.\u00a0 <\/span>I often have to go pick
\nthem up.\u00a0 <\/span>Sometimes they are dropped off
\non our front porch (once so many were dropped off right in front of the door
\nthat I could not open it to get outside and had to go out the back door and
\nwalk around).\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nmate.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Have to make sure they are CLEAN \u2013
\nwe ask donors to only donate clean items but sometimes things come in that need
\nto be laundered, so that means running loads of laundry.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I need to test zippers and check for holes
\nand the like.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Anything that doesn\u2019t pass
\nthe \u201cgood condition\u201d test needs to get donated somewhere else \u2013 yet another
\nstep to be done.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\non the project.\u00a0 <\/span>If the sweater gets
\ntaken, we need to bring out a new one.\u00a0 <\/span>If
\nit rains, we need to bring everything in before it gets too wet.\u00a0 <\/span>And we need to STORE the things at our home
\nall winter so they are accessible to grab and give.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nneighbor that came from out of the blue \u2013 this took a big load off of me. \u00a0<\/span>And it not only helped me<\/b>, it was great
\nfor people who had things to donate and were holding onto them until the
\nJanuary 20, 2025 start date.\u00a0 <\/span>I started
\nasking for things a couple of weeks ago but requested they not be brought to
\nour home until we began for the season, so some families were just waiting with
\nbags of things until it was time.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nher kids, for 15 households, today was time!!<\/span><\/p>\n
\naround 9:00 PM Saturday night and 7:30 AM Sunday morning, 15 people had
\ncommented that they would love to take Sally and the kids up on their offer to
\ncome by and pick up donations.\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s a
\nlot of stops!!<\/span><\/p>\n
\nhis mom plan out the route by plugging addresses into GPS.\u00a0 <\/span>I talked to him via video when they were all
\ndone collecting and he said that the work was a bit more than he expected <\/span>\ud83d\ude0a<\/span>.\u00a0 <\/span>He explained that he had carried all of the
\nbags of donations (with ice and snow on the ground, mind you!) from the households to the vehicle and that the bags were heavy.\u00a0 <\/span><\/b>The GPS told them that the 2-hour drive
\nof 15 stops took them on a route of just under 5 miles.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgfoYHPPJneWyIwlRfPyEpYxEfoHaRstGCZNzSJit12F_x2-lmALlA-FH3K-GYp1cSERkJv3O4lPDfftWgnk9i5D8CHA-i62U8nnPFSoKFtFY6aLapl70con-Olp6mIsGETnS66Jhtbc9xNu9fZ9uaXCyWxg7CQAgmaDrJJrtjj3tk56n-WpEJsRtlAa9UG\/s2048\/21d7b86e-3aea-4b0b-a356-dba4a2a84025.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n
\nthe bags of items out for pick up, but S. said that a couple of the
\nhouseholds answered the door and talked with them.\u00a0 <\/span>He claimed the whole thing was his sister H\u2019s
\nidea (though I suspect it may have been influenced by mom).\u00a0 <\/span>While he hauled the heavy bags, H. documented everything by taking photos on an iPad.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cShe is obsessed with taking pictures,\u201d the
\nbig brother grinned.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cShe probably took
\nabout 100,000 pictures.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s my kind
\nof girl!\u00a0 <\/span>I love photos!\u00a0 Sadly, the pics she shot are in a fancy black and white coloring app and can’t be shared outside the app, so we will have to make due with photos her mom took \ud83d\ude42 .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>In that act of kindness, they handed out bottled water to neighbors when
\na boil alert came down from the county.\u00a0 <\/span>These
\ntwo are KIND KIDS<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nare kind in life, it turns out that the act not only helped the people whose
\ndonations were collected, it not only helped me<\/i> by taking that task off
\nmy plate, and it not only helped the people who will benefit from getting the
\nwarm clothing.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ndoing the kind act<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nclose ties to California.\u00a0 <\/span>They have
\nfriends who have been impacted from the fires.\u00a0
\n<\/span>\u201cFeeling pretty paralyzed by all the people we know in California who
\nhave lost homes this week, with little we can do from here but donate cash,\u201d
\nSally told me.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSo, it was nice to be
\nable to do something with our morning that we know will directly help keep
\npeople here safe and warm.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>So often when we go out of our way to do kind things, an unexpected
\nresult is that we<\/i> end up feeling better, happier.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ntime and your energy and your gas (and your wicked photography skills) to pick
\nup all of those items and store them in your shed.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\ndonated today.\u00a0 <\/span>Your winter gear will
\nhelp make someone much warmer.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nfor putting people in my life who are supportive, kind, and downright
\namazing.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nitems to Project Warmth, we will officially begin collecting on January 20,
\n2025.\u00a0 <\/span>All donations must be clean and in
\ngood condition.\u00a0 <\/span>The following items (in
\nall sizes) are needed:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Coats<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Sweaters<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Hats<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Mittens\/gloves<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Boots<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Snow pants\/bibs<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Scarves<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Sweatshirts<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>New socks<\/span><\/p>\n
\nto our home in South Arlington starting January 20th<\/sup>.\u00a0 <\/span>If you would like to participate and need the
\naddress, please email us at:\u00a0 <\/span>KindnessActivist@gmail.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n