12 Months of Kindness Mid-Year update

Kindness and giving back is fundamental to our family and one of the ways that we try to keep that in the forefront of our minds and hearts is to commit to a task of kindness, (at least) once for each month of the year.  The important piece about 12 Months of Kindness is making sure that you plan out and/or track  your efforts each month.  Otherwise (as we've found in the past), it's easy to forget about your dedication by the end of the year...because you know, life.

Here is where we stand now at the mid-year point in our 12 Months of Kindness commitment.  First quarter of the year update.

January - it took us until March (!) for Violet and I to finish up our January kindness when we headed east to visit a high school friend who had recently had her first baby (hi Renee and Ava!) to visit for a little while and drop off dinner and dessert.  It was a great visit and I loved catching up and talking about all things newborn and new momma.

April - the kids and I put together a special care package to send all the way to the Democratic Republic of Congo to Raph, our WorldVision sponsor kid.  The kids worked hard on drawing colorful pictures and letters for him and we stuff that envelope full of pencils, erasers, toothbrushes, colored pencils, and stickers.

May - Gemma accompanied me to the Conemaugh Valley Senior banquet in May to award our family scholarship to two deserving twelfth graders.  We have students complete an essay explaining the positive impact they believe they've had while attending Valley and we've selected scholarship recipients for the last seven years! This year, Brandon and I selected Kaitlynn and Becca.  Our scholarship is one of my favorite kindness tasks and I so appreciate getting a peek into the lives of young people into our community and all the good that they do!

June - I led the efforts with the amazing help of the Conemaugh Valley Alumni Association to put on the second annual 5K and family fun run/walk in June.  This year we had a blue and white theme and a scavenger hunt for the family portion.  The 5K begins early in the morning, followed later by the family fun run/walk scavenger hunt.  We had several 5K runners even return to walk the trail again with their families.  As always, this event reminds me how lucky I am to have supportive people in my life ready to help and volunteer wherever they are needed.  This CV community has something very special and this event was another reminder of that.

If you're seeking some inspiration, check out my Kindness Pinboard here, or the 12 Months of Kindness Pinboard here that I collaborate on with Ashley from The Big White Farmhouse.

There are also amazing opportunities in your own local community if you keep you eyes and ears open for it.  I recently joined the Family Service Group - Johnstown, PA (thank you, Megan!) in which projects and ideas are presented each month that are geared specifically towards families with kids.  This month we are saying thank you to our local heroes (firemen, police departments, EMS teams, etc).

Also, you can check out:
12 Months of Kindness 2015 intro post
#12mokp (on instagram)