Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 9-28-18

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National Days Of Kindness Celebrated As Fall Begins
The kindness of good people shines like the sun. Sad to say, their actions go unnoticed except by those who have a brighter day as a result.
For The Family is breaking down that wall of silence with Kindness of the Heart, and its National Days of Kindness (NDK) provided a spotlight for good works across the Tampa Bay area as summer turned into fall. In fact, the Tampa nonprofit is working with partners from coast-to-coast in the U. S. and Canada to start every season by publicizing ran- dom acts of kindness.
“This should have started many years ago,” according to agency Administrator Ward Cox. “Now, we’re making up lost ground at a time when doing unto others
creates too much pain and not enough joy.”
The goal is simple to un- derstand and easy to accom- plish. Individuals and organizations can be kind in whatever way they choose, and send a 1-minute Smart- phone video of their actions to ForTheFamilyTampa- @gmail.com. Creative kind- ness is especially encouraged. Every video will be posted on For The Fam- ily’s YouTube channel along with a description of what was done and who did it.
Teaching kindness was another part of the NDK ob- servance. That’s exactly what Hillsborough County Schools did by involving the 13,000 children who take part in the HOST Afterschool Program.
For example, students
HOST Instructor Teralyn Fleming emphasizes the value of being kind at Roland Park Elementary School.
from the Rampello Down- town Magnet School shared what kindness meant to them when the Hillsborough County School Board pro- claimed September 17-22 as a Week of Kindness.
Students throughout Hillsborough County re- flected on the value of kind- ness and talked about some of the kind acts they or their parents did. It was rein- forced among those in Grades K-8 by a book called “The Jelly Donut Differ- ence.”
HOST Curriculum Coor- dinator Cindy Wilkinson offered this account: “Leah and Dexter are brother and sister. They don't always get
along. In fact, there are times they can be downright mean to each other. The ooey, gooey jelly donuts in this story are a testament to the power of kindness, caring and generosity.”
It probably won’t win a Pulitzer Prize, but “The Jelly Donut Difference” sparked a lively discussion at Roland Park Elementary. HOST In- structor, Teralyn Fleming did a wonderful job in inspir- ing her students to consider kindness as an essential part of everyday life. In turn, they listed all the ways that Ms. Fleming made things better with her kindness. One stu- dent was especially grateful for how “Mrs. T. takes me to basketball practice at the end of the day.” Of course, many other teachers also go above and beyond.
Kindness of the Heart is a lot more than the National
Days of Kindness. It’s a con- tinuous celebration of the positive when almost every- one agrees that there is too much negative stuff going on. This includes the Third Annual National FAM Awards (the Academy Awards of Kindness) that will take place on November 16 at the Chil- dren’s Board of Hillsbor- ough County.
Your 1-minute Smart- phone video could win a Family Flame Award in the following categories: Ran- dom Acts of Kindness, Par- ent, Spouse, Sister, Brother, Son, Daughter, Volunteer, First Responder/Military, Praise and Gratitude, Kind Initiatives and Programs, and Kindness to and from Animals. The deadline for emailing them to ForTheFamilyTampa@g mail.com is November 1.
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