This is a photo of Ray, our crossing guard, and my daughter. Ray is from Zimbabwe. This is his first winter in Canada. I have been warning Ray for a few weeks now about how cold it will be in the winter and have been trying to give him tips for staying warm. I have been telling him he will need snow pants to survive. Earlier this week, on a surprisingly cold day, I asked him where his snow pants were. He said he didn’t have any yet. I asked him if he would like me to ask around the community to see if anyone had some they could give him and he said yes. He also asked if I could find some boots – it was then that I noticed he was wearing running shoes! It was below -10 Celsius. I said I would for sure find him some better winter gear.
So I put a call out on my Facebook page that same day to all my awesome friends in the community. And my amazing friend Nicole dropped off a pair of her son’s old boots the following morning! I took them over to Ray at the end of the school day and he changed right into them. They fit perfectly.
My daughter and I felt so happy and good. We smiled, with hearts that were filled up with love, our whole walk home. Doing Acts of Kindness for others makes life so much fuller.
I took this beautiful photo and told Ray about World-Changing Kids and asked if I could share this story. He said yes and wants to see it. I brought him my business card the next day so he could look this post up.
Since sharing the original post on Facebook, the outpouring of support has been amazing! My new friend Adena Abbas offered to buy Ray a brand new pair of mitts from Costco. She also asked around at work for some items and will have some to give to me on Monday – including a North Face winter jacket! My awesome friend Kaitlyn Lalonde, from the Sewcial Kat, has offered to knit Ray a beautiful scarf. And the lovely teenager who gave his old boots to Ray has also offered to give him a scarf while he awaits his custom, hand made scarf.
Community is so powerful when we unite to help share love and kindness!