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- There are all these religions, so everyone can sing along.
And all these people singing together make just one song.
- - Rumi
Prayer by Judith Toy
of Cloud Cottage Sangha
at the Interfaith Celebration of Kindness,
Feb. 13, 2006
Margaret Evans of St. Eugene's Catholic Church,
at the Interfaith Celebration of Kindness,
Feb. 13, 2006
– Katherine Rose "A couple hundred people of various faiths coming together and expressing themselves in very different ways, but all giving the same message about charity, kindness, giving love and encouragement—if 200 people can come together, we can bring the whole world together in very much the same way."
–Roger Beaumont "I liked the eclectic mix of many races, creeds and religions, and how Kindness was the core of everything. Sitting, eating and chatting with people I'd never met before was a positive experience. People were getting to know each other a little. Each year, new people are coming and sharing in it."
– Stephen Levine "I was truly impressed and inspired by the Celebration. And it really was a Celebration. The energy in the sanctuary felt wonderful.... There was such diversity on one hand and such unity on the other. I absolutely think events like this can bring the community closer."
– Carla Taylor "There we were all one, for a common purpose: to show that we support kindness in the community. I believe that it breaks down religious differences when we come together as a group to celebrate something we all believe in: that there's goodness, kindness in each of us. This event inspired me to want to volunteer for the Kindness Campaign!"
– Joanna Walsh Kindness Week, proclaimed by Mayor Bellamy, began with an award ceremony in which Barry Weinhold, Director of the Kindness Campaign, and the Mayor gave out "Community of Kindness" awards to eleven agencies that helped refugees from Hurricane Katrina. Other events were a Valentine's Day dinner cooked by Kindness Campaign volunteers for homeless women and children, and several showings of "Ryan's Well," an inspiring documentary film about a young boy whose efforts made a huge difference for a thirsty Ugandan village. Why do people cook for the homeless? Annie Mitchell, one of the volunteers, said, "I enjoy serving people—not just to be nice for Valentine's Day, but throughout the year. I volunteer in my church, and I care for my handicapped sister. I just like to help out and share the kindness that's in my heart." Roger Beaumont, who baked 4 dozen cookies for the women and children, added this: "To mindfully and with kind intent make dozens of cookies to be shared, somehow brings together Nonviolent Communication and the teachings of the Buddha. They are both ways of doing things reflectively, thoughtfully, meditatively. I take great pleasure in feeding others my cookies and other meals. Sharing food seems for me to be a way of pleasing, of inviting vulnerability, a stage for receiving and giving empathy."
Servers at Valentine's Day Dinner at ABCCM Women's Shelter -
(from left) Julie Profita, Cathy Holt, Annie Mitchell,
Jenny Howard, and Lynn Brooks.
From Goodwill Industries Kindness week was Feb. 13-17 and we wanted to participate in our community and thought of several options. The clients in the art classes made over 300 valentines; primarily from discarded-donated paper. Community Access staff then distributed them with the clients at Magnolia Health Care Center, and our drama and visual art group distributed them on Feb.15th at Eliada Home for Children. The store staff had given the art department over 200 bottles of brown finger paint which I could not use and I had a large box of green crayons formerly donated which I had no use for so I included (with our valentines to Eliada’s 4 year olds) large sheets of paper for them to make their own tree pictures! We gave them a few other new items to supplement their project, and they were very pleased and started enjoying them right away. I am attaching a picture of one of the classrooms at Eliada. The other Valentines were distributed to over 120 kindergartners at Black Mountain Primary School on Feb. 16 after our Music Group gave a wonderful interactive children’s performance. We also handed out samples of Braille as we discussed differences and blindness, the cut outs of Braille were from old donated Braille magazines. The children went back to their rooms and practiced writing their names in Braille (I had included Braille alphabet info. sheet for the teachers from my donated encyclopedias here in the art room).
