Home Blog Page 235

Kind 6-Year-Old Girl Uses Her Lemonade Stand to Pay Off Other Children’s School Lunch Debt

3

Amiah Van Hill is a second grader with a heart of gold who wants to pay off the student lunch debt for her fellow students at her school.

After reading about Jeffery Lew, the father who crowd-funded enough money to pay off all of the unpaid lunch debt for the Seattle School District, she became inspired to do the same in her community in Idaho by selling lemonade and donating her profits.

Amiah, with the help of her four year old younger sister Aria, set up the lemonade stand “Lemonade 4 Lunch” in the hopes of earning the $40.55 that would cover the unpaid lunch debt for her school, Hayden Meadows Elementary School.

Within an hour, the wonderful duo met their goal and they were able to help the children at her school, and it started something amazing.

Photo credit: Rachel Van Hill

“We are very proud of [Amiah] for the work she has done. Our school believes in giving back to the community and we work to instill that value in all of our students,” Principal Lisa Pica said.

“We are thrilled that Amiah has embraced that value at such a young age and we are so very proud that she has taken it upon herself to find a way to help those in need. She is a very special little lady.”

Amiyah’s mother, Rachel Van Hill, said that after the girls discovered it was relatively easy to pay off a school’s debt, they thought, “Why don’t we help more schools?”

These compassionate girls setup another lemonade stand shortly after to raise money to pay off the lunch debt at two more schools in their area, and this time they raised over $300.

Now the girls have decided to try and pay off the entire student lunch debt of the d’Alene Public School district, which comes to around $23,000.

Photo credit: Rachel Van Hill

While this seems quite a bit higher than what even a professional could hope to earn from selling lemonade, the girls setup a GoFundMe to help them accomplish this task, and they were able to raise over $14,000 to help the struggling students in their community.

“We are so impressed with Amiah’s big heart and her desire to help cover the unpaid tab from our school lunch program,” said Scott Maben, a spokesman for Coeur d’Alene Public Schools. “She heard about families who struggle to pay, and she took action.” “Amiah is an inspiration, and we are excited to recognize her for her good deed.”

If you see something or someone in your community that you want to help, give it a try. Start small, and like the wonderful Van Hill girls, your small act of kindness can turn into a wonderful ripple that helps a large amount of people.

You are Loved.

Watch these kind girls making a difference in the following video:

See Also: This 6 Year Old Girl Showed Compassion To A Homeless Man In Tears

https://www.facebook.com/UnderstandingCompassion/photos/a.626035647536445.1073741829.624091487730861/1054441544695851/?type=3&theater

Former CEO Opened $30-million Home to 70 Foster Kids Displaced by Hurricane

1

When 70 foster children did not have anywhere else to go, they found a home in an unlikely place: a millionaire’s mansion.

Marc Bell received a call from the CEO of the SOS Children’s Village who told him that the power was out at a shelter housing 70 children and a dozen adult caretakers and they were unable to stay there any longer. The children had gone without showers or a real place to sleep, and needed some help.




After hearing about their situation, Bell and his wife immediately chose to open up their $30 million dollar mansion.

“I said ‘Bring them to my house until we get it sorted out,'” Bell said. 

Thirty minutes later the home of Marc and Jennifer Bell was home to dozens of children in need.

“They hadn’t showered in five days, no laundry in five days, they were starving. Never seen so many kids so excited by pizza pie in my life. Twenty of them disappeared in seconds.”

During their stay at Bell’s home, the children all had sleeping bags, and all had many different rooms to choose from to stay in.

“We celebrated three birthdays, two doctor visits and a tooth fairy,” Bell said. “It takes a village.”

The entire time, all of the children staying at their home offered countless “please” and “thank you’s” to the Bell family. He wanted them to enjoy their time, so he brought in professional clowns, singers, athletes, and teachers who taught arts and crafts. More than one hundred friends and family members came to help cook for and take care of the 70 children, and they cooked up an estimated 800 meals over the next few days. The Bell family even brought in several ice cream trucks for the children.

“They don’t have a mom or a dad so they’re scared, and then their house parents, even though they’re there for them, they’re scared too,” Jennifer Bell said. “So to have these kids feel welcomed and to just feel comfortable, as a mom it just makes you feel like you’re doing something good.”

“It’s knowing that later on these kids are going to look back and they’re going to want to help someone else.”



The children were able to return to the shelter after things were repaired, but many of them wanted to stay longer at the mansion after being treated to such a wonderful time.

“We really enjoyed having them,” Bell said. “And for them, what was supposed to be a couple hours turned out to be almost 72 hours of enjoying being a kid.”

Watch this interview with the Bell family while they housed 70 foster children:

If you were touched by this story of kindness, let it inspire you to share some love and kindness with a person you encounter this week.

You are Loved.

Related stories:

This Kind Chef Has Provided More Than 1,000,000 Free Warm Meals To Hurricane Victims

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfz_an7DWdr/




He Held The Door Open For A Lady, Who Saw His Worn Shoes, Then She Returned With A Gift

0

Sometimes a chance meeting becomes the setting for a beautiful act of compassion. Such was the case when just as he was leaving work, Noah held the door open for someone, and had a few brief words with her;




“Meet Noah, a part of our kitchen staff. A few days ago, Noah was leaving after his shift and he opened the door for a customer and shared a few words with her. While she was talking to Noah she noticed that Noah was wearing shoes that had “seen better days.”

She finished her meal, and left. But in a little while she returned with a gift card for Noah to go and get himself a new pair of work shoes.

She left the card with a manager so Noah did not get the chance to say thank you. If you are the person who “paid it forward,” Noah would like you to stop back in so that he can say Thank You in person. If you decide to remain anonymous, then accept his (and our) thank you here.”

Credit: Zaxbys




A sweet gesture by this man Noah was enough to touch the heart of a customer, who in turn spent some of her day and money getting him a gift card for some desperately needed new shoes. We never know how our kindness will affect another, but often times it’s the light in someone’s day. This beautiful story can and does happen every day, when we just offer a small bit of kindness to someone we pass by.

If you were touched by this story, let it inspire you to share some love and kindness with a person you encounter this week. Love and Gratitude ❤

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh-q4yPhy1m/



Kind Neighbors Go The Extra Mile For Hurricane Irma Evacuees

0

With millions ordered to evacuate their homes during Hurricane Irma, the kindness and support of neighbors was the rainbow during stormy skies.

Members of the First Baptist Church of Baxley made a wonderful effort to show love and offer help to evacuees by setting up a Rest Stop for food and drink, and to help them relax from the stress and worries that come with evacuation.




Credit: Jennifer Ferguson Murphy

“First Baptist Church of Baxley, GA are ready to serve as a REST STOP for those passing through. We have plenty of food and drinks! Please direct those who need to rest, use the restroom, would like a nice meal or needs prayer our way! We will be here until 8:00pm tonight and Sunday and Monday from 10:30am to 8:00pm serving. #Irma” Jennifer Murphy posted on her Facebook account, after which people began to share and the beautiful effort quickly became known through social media with tens of thousands of shares.

Credit: Jennifer Ferguson Murphy

Credit: Jennifer Ferguson Murphy

Credit: Jennifer Ferguson Murphy




Jennifer made a follow-up post from Lanette Ferguson which read,
“My name is Lanette Ferguson. My husband is the Pastor of First Baptist Church of Baxley, Georgia. We both would like to thank you all for your gracious, kind words. Your responses to our posts were so overwhelming. Our entire community has pulled together to minister to as many people as possible in the wake of this hurricane. There’s been several churches that are housing evacuees from all of Florida and Georgia and our own community. We had planned for our Rest Stop to remain open to serve the evacuees headed back home. However, our community was hit hard yesterday. A lot of our county is without power. Our church is without power. We are giving the remaining food to the other churches that are still housing evacuees. Otherwise, our food will spoil.
We are saddened that we cannot serve those of you who had planned to stop in to visit and rest. We hope that if you are ever in our area, that you will stop in and visit and worship with us.
Again, we are so sorry to change our plans.
At this time we are checking on our elderly and cleaning up for those who need help.
We strive to be children of God serving others just as Jesus did.
Thank you so much.
If you have any questions or concerns please private message me or our niece Jennifer Ferguson Murphy. We’d love to speak to you personally.”

Credit: Jennifer Ferguson Murphy

Credit: Jennifer Ferguson Murphy

Credit: Jennifer Ferguson Murphy

Credit: Jennifer Ferguson Murphy

During times of natural disasters and when people are struggling, offering what help we can to those in need is what compassion is all about. Compassionate help is met with grateful smiles, and surely becomes treasured memories in the hearts of all those who get to see and experience it.

If you were touched by this story of kindness, let it inspire you to share some love and kindness with a person you encounter this week. Love and Gratitude ❤️



Kind Hearted 9-Year-Old Boy Ran Up And Paid For Hurricane Evacuee’s Meal In Drive Thru

0
Credit: Tara Routzong

When a young boy noticed a car in front of him in a drive thru had license plates from a state recently affected by a hurricane, he told his mom that he wanted to pay for their meal.

While in the drive-thru with his mother, Tara Routzong, 9-year-old Landon Routzong saw a hurricane evacuee in front of them, and his beautiful heart felt that he wanted to help them.

“Went for lunch today… Landon saw the car in front of us was from Florida and he declared we were paying for their meal and I agreed.”




Landon wasn’t sure how he could pay for the car in front of them, so he decided to run to the drive-thru window with his Mom’s debit card.

“But how do you pay for the car in front of you?? You run toward their window with a debit card in hand and scare the mess out of them lol. The man has left his home in Miami and was passing through to go stay with family in Birmingham.”

Landon and his Mom shared a few kind words with the evacuee, and he was deeply grateful for their kindness.

“I told him we hoped he returned to his house untouched and that we’d keep him in our thoughts. Landon and I both had tears in our eyes from how appreciative he was. I often feel like I’m failing because I can’t do it all, all the time and then things like this happen and remind me that I don’t have to. My most important job is going just fine.” ❤️




If you happen to notice someone who is struggling, who is seeking shelter, or who is trying to escape from poverty from another country, please lend them a hand. “Love your neighbor as yourself” and “Welcome the stranger” are not just a sayings, they are beautiful actions that show we are treating people right; with compassion. As we’ve learned from Landon, kindness can make such a difference and also inspire those around us.

You are Loved.

See Also: With Their Help She Rescued 21 Abandoned Dogs From Hurricane Flooding