Leo the Kind-Hearted Lion gets hugs while the Mayor waits his turn.

We had an amazing response to our Kindness Week in Asheville. Surrounded by a dozen children from Evergreen School and “Leo, the Kind-Hearted Lion” (alter ego of Barry Weinhold), Mayor Worley signed a proclamation declaring February 13-20 as Kindness Week in Asheville.

The “Sounds of Kindness” concert at Jubilee, Sunday, Feb. 13, featured Richard Shulman, Marina Raye, Sherman Hoover, Daniel Barber, Linda Kendall-Fields, and members of the Jubilee Choir. A volunteer who was selling tickets at the event reported, “One man said he was buying the ticket for the person behind him in line. She was a complete stranger! She was so pleased that she paid for the person behind her, and folks kept paying it forward down the line for quite awhile!”

Erin Mulkey receives an award for her poster on kindness from Cathy Holt, KC Volunteer Coordinator, while Leo the Kind-Hearted Lion offers congratulations.

Just prior to the beginning of the concert, winners of the children’s Kindness Poster Contest were honored. Winners included Tiara Blair and Brittany Williams, 1st and 2nd Prize (Middle School); Alice Jamison 1st Prize, Tyler McDaniel and Elis Parham, tied 2nd Prize (5th Grade); Darius Rogers, Coli Scoggin, and Quanteria Sitton, 1st Prize, 2nd Prize and Honorable Mention (3rd & 4th Grades); Stevie Waters, Hannah Seidenberg McCall Rice and Erin Mulkey, 1st Prize, 2nd Prize and Honorable Mention (tie) (1st & 2nd Grades).

The Interfaith Celebration of Kindness, co-sponsored by the United Religions Initiative, Christians for a United Community, St. Eugene Roman Catholic Church and the Kindness Campaign, was held at St. Eugene Roman Catholic Church. Nearly 300 people attended. Adding to the festivity were music or dance numbers by the Praise Dancers from Greater New Zion Missionary Baptist Church, the St. Eugene Children’s Choir, the Greenwood Consort, and the Jubilee Dancers. Expressing the theme of kindness in all faith traditions were Frieda Nash of the Asheville Baha’i Spiritual Assembly, L.C. Ray of the GNZ Missionary Baptist Church, Didi Anandausa of Ananda Marga, Richard Stennett of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Swannanoa Valley), Father Frank Cancro of St. Eugene’s Roman Catholic Church, Sharon Oxendine of the American Indian Lumbee Nation, and Cantor Debbie Winston of Temple Beth Ha-Tephila. Judith Toy of the Buddhist Cloud Cottage Sangha led a “tonglen” meditation, breathing in the suffering of the world and breathing out peace and kindness. Ahmad Amara, representing the Muslim faith, was unfortunately ill, but Robin Wells of the URI read his excerpts from the Koran about kindness. Susun Slatky and Shiner Antiorio provided sign interpretation for the deaf. The potluck dinner afterwards gave everyone a chance to taste one another’s foods and to chat informally.

Interfaith Dialogue Dinners Extend the Effects of Kindness Week

To increase our interfaith connections, the Kindness Campaign is launching a series of “Interfaith Dialogue Dinners.” Thirty-six people have applied to be part of the initial dinner groups. These will be groups of six to nine people from diverse religious or faith traditions that will gather for a series of three dinners to explore the religious and spiritual connections they may have around the theme of kindness. Trained facilitators will help guide the dialogue process. The groups will begin meeting in March. If you are interested in joining an Interfaith Dialogue Dinner group or starting your own, please contact Cathy Holt at (828) 252-3054.

Other events of Kindness Week: several well-attended showings of the movie “Pay It Forward,” and a terrific performance by the Asheville Playback Theater of the audience’s stories of kindness. Children’s posters were on display at the Asheville Mall, Sky People Gallery, the YWCA, Jubilee and Pack Library.

Emma Family Resource Center Receives Community of Kindness Award

On February 16, a “Community of Kindness” award was given to the Emma Family Resource Center (EFRC) for their contributions to the community. “Communities are sustained when their members work to sustain each other,” according to Arenda Manning, director. Emma is home to a large and growing immigrant population and EFRC’s programs and services strive to meet the unique needs of these families. Their programs of emergency assistance include a food pantry, emergency assistance for housing, heating oil, utilities, and prescriptions, and a clothing closet. There is a free medical clinic and a WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) clinic.

The “Emma Bucks” Project is a community service exchange program modeled on Time Dollars, which makes it possible for neighbors to do things for one another and get their needs met mutually, without the use of cash. For example, a woman might drive an elderly neighbor to a doctor appointment and run some other errands, in exchange for Emma Bucks—which she could then use to hire a teenager to mow her lawn.

EFRC also offers “Love and Logic” Parenting Classes, a Latino Parent-Child Playgroup, a Homework Club, ESL classes, a summer camp, “Growing Minds-Healthy Bodies” (nutrition, gardening, physical activities), Family Gardening, and “Emma Walk & Talk” for adults.

The Kindness Campaign will be working with the Advisory Board to design an awards ceremony that recognizes all the kind people who are making a difference in this neighborhood. The Awards will be presented at potluck dinner of the neighborhood residents.

Have you received a “Spread Kindness” button? Turn it over and you will see how you can keep track of your button after you pass it on to the next kind person. Visit a section of this website, www.thekindnesscampaign.org, and record your button number and how you received it and to whom you passed it on. This will help the Kindness Campaign collect stories of everyday and outstanding kind acts and help you find out how far your button has traveled seeking other kind people.