Thursday’s Thought- Doing something good,…April 11th, 2013
I am not posting this because I want to gloat about how awesome I am, … I wanted to write a post about the awesome feeling you get from doing something good for someone else!
As most of you know, I am from Newtown. I was born and raised in that small, little, quite town, with a house over by the lake in Sandy Hook. December 14th will be a day that most of us will never forget. And being that Newtown is an iconic portrait of a quaint, New England town, with a flagpole in the middle of the road, everyone knows everyone in some way.
I, like most of you, felt a need to do something. I want to thank you, Ann Curry, for inspiring people around the world to pay it forward. If you are not familiar with her challenge, you can click here to read the full story. This is my story of one of my #26acts of kindness…
One afternoon while I was surfing around on Facebook, an old friend of mine sent me a message. He said his wife was working on a program called Kid Share. It was a program for the children of Newtown and they were going to be working on creating a book with writing and illustrations. I inquired for more details and I automatically got a response from this passionate, crazy lady, Kristina, who created Kid Share… it went something like this, “Erica, we are so glad to have you aboard to our team! Welcome…” and before I could mull over how many hours it would be or how hard and time consuming it would be, I had already signed up…. And for that I am SO THANKFUL!
Over the last 2 weeks, I have driven to Newtown to volunteer to be the photographer of this project. The 30 kids that signed up were placed on 4 teams that had different themes, given directions, and then lead by some amazing adults to create…. And oh boy did they create! For me, being a fly on the wall, just there to photograph the events was an incredible thing. For the afternoon, for the last 2 weeks, Kid Share has been a place to let loose, share and discuss. For me, one of the most telling things that the kids created together was the “Newtown Is,…” poster. As a group they added words to the wall that is how they feel about THEIR town. Words that jumped off the paper for me were, Epic, Fun, Special, Woodsy, and The Best Place on Earth… The Best Place on Earth…. See for me, I’ve been volunteering there as part of my pay it forward, for me to give back to a place that meant so much to me. Newtown is where I grew up, where I will always call home- and The Best Place on Earth just.hit.home… my home… not only was volunteering the last 2 weeks hard but it reminded me why I love Newtown. My participation in this project has helped to realize the spirit that I have always known to exist in Newtown is alive and well. On most days you can find a news crew in Newtown continuing their coverage from that tragic day, but it’s heartwarming to observe the kids in this program still thinking that their town is the best place on earth despite the events. For me, volunteering for 2 hours a day for the last 2 weeks helped renew my spirit. I sought out to give something back to my hometown, but ended up receiving far more than I expected and for that I am grateful.
I’m not sure if I should count all 8 days as separate acts of kindness or if it should all count as 1. So, with that being said, here’s to my next #25acts.
“We are Sandy Hook, We choose love”
