I got to sit down and chat
today with a new little friend, Owen. He
is only 3, but he is FULL of energy, ideas, imagination, and KINDNESS.
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| He is a funny one, my new friend! Made me laugh |
Owen’s birthday party this
year was CAMPING themed – complete with a bonfire, smores, a tent, and even a
campfire pinata that his dad made! But
even though the official theme was camping, a “sub-theme” of kindness
was woven in, too.
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| Cool campfire pinata |
Because you see, instead
of asking for GIFTS, Owen asked his guests to bring food donations for the Little
Yellow Free Pantry! Isn’t that
amazing??? His mom and dad brought him
by today so that we could talk a bit and learn about the sweet little boy and
his birthday donations.
Owen’s mom, Janelle, works
with United Way so knows alllll about non-profits and volunteerism. A friend of the family had a birthday party and
asked for food donations, so Owen’s parents were inspired to do the same for
his event. “At first we were going to
collect for AFAC, but then I remembered your posts about the pantry and thought
that would be even more local to help out,” she said.
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| The birthday boy and his kind parents |
And help out they
did! Owen’s guests brought bags of shelf-stable
food, which they then donated to the LYFP.
And today when the family came over to talk about it, they got to meet a
pantry guest who stopped by. I love it
when that happens – connecting donors to receivers – it really brings the
system “full circle” and makes it real.
Owen is a sweetheart. He loves reading books, his favorite color
(today) is blue (his dad says that changes quite often…). He likes hopscotch (though he says he is not
that good at it, and walks on the hopscotch board instead of hopping) and has a
great imagination. And this little
dynamo is really kind.
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| Owen tried out our newest project, the “stress relief” station 🙂 |
Happy belated birthday,
Owen! I am glad you got to go to Great
Wolf Lodge and celebrate after your party.
And I am very, very thankful that you collected food for the Little
Yellow Free Pantry. Because of YOUR
KINDNESS, other neighbors have fuller bellies.
Kind kids rock.
P.S. – items currently
most needed for the Little Yellow Free Pantry are dried beans of any kind (we
are out of lentils and almost out of other kinds as well), single serving heat and eat soups in cups, single serving
drinks of any kind except milk which we have enough of (water, iced tea, juices,
etc.), cans of fruit of any kind, deodorant, and sun screen. Our Amazon wish list can be found at the link
below (Costco wish list coming this month).
THANK YOU!
