Kindness Counts

What is KINDNESS COUNTS? In the late 1990s, Kindness Counts was started after a group of middle school students asked their teacher what he enjoyed doing during the summer months. They expected him to say he enjoyed swimming or boating or taking vacations to exotic locales, but he told them he liked to deliver “Meals-on-Wheels” to homebound individuals who had difficulty in cooking for themselves. The name of that organization intrigued the students. The all-too-common stereotype of the middle school student depicts a horrendously self-involved, vain young person seeking only the fulfillment of frivolous whims 24 hours a day. The truth, thankfully, is that many students listening to their teacher’s remarks asked whether they might be able to be involved in a similar form of community service. Within a few weeks, KINDNESS COUNTS was started.

Because the students had a desire to serve meals to those who might benefit from that assistance, the very first KINDNESS COUNTS events were full-course suppers for senior citizens on fixed incomes, in munipical housing communities. Students were taught to bake and cook, and no prior experience was necessary. Entrees at the early dinner parties included spiced leg of lamb, roast beef, mirliton/shrimp casserole, and similar dishes. Students decorated the dining hall, carefully followed instructions in preparing the rather lavish meals, and served the guests in an extremely gracious manner. In a short time, KINDNESS COUNTS became known as the group with the best-mannered young people found anywhere. The one requirement for participation in the organization is the use of courtesy at all times.
From the dinner parties for senior citizens, the group moved to the preparing and serving of large repasts at numerous homeless shelters. In lieu of the traditional soup and sandwiches, KINDNESS COUNTS has politely served golden Tennessee fried chicken, New Orleans jambalaya, sauteed tilapia in lime-butter sauce, Virginia ham, roast beef, tossed salad with Vidalia onion dressing, hot croissants, vegetables in season, cornbread stuffing, creamy mashed potatoes, old-fashioned orange cake, mulberry punch, and coffee. At the present time, the young people’s service organization visits St. Luke’s Lifeworks in Stamford each month, serving a repast of this nature.

Kindness Counts at St. Luke’s Lifeworks

Golden Tennessee Fried Chicken for dozens of thankful guests

The serving line has a lot of freshly-prepared food for the guests of “Kindness Counts”

Virginia ham is very tasty and popular with everyone in attendance.

From hot croissants to homemade orange cake, the Kindness Counts meals prompt guests to cry out, “This is a meal that’s really a meal!!”

KINDNESS COUNTS DOES OTHER TYPES OF SERVICE.

Students began to be asked to perform yard tasks for homebound senior citizens. The raking of leaves became an annual activity of Kindness Counts. The group painted the walls of Pacific House in Stamford, and students performed painting chores for others as well. On one occasion, students met on a Saturday to clean the yard of an elderly widow. Arriving at the site, they found the lady quite ill, having just been released from the hospital. She had returned home to find her basement flooded, her pump broken, her oil burner not functioning, her electricity half off, and her plumbing not working. The students and a handy parent, plus their teacher, corrected all the problems and left the lady with a pumped basement, heat and lights, a cleaned yard, a painted fence, and new flowers planted in her garden.

Working to clean up the yard

Painting the fence - which is never hard work when it brings cheer to the less-fortunate

pumping the flooded basement and repairing the pump

On June 13, 2007, at the Capitol building in Hartford, <Kindness Counts received the “2007 Challenge to Educational Citizenship Award,” presented to the members by the Connecticut Commissioner of Education.

Kindness Counts members also perform for senior citizens at a variety of locations, singing old songs of long ago and bringing good cheer to elders in our community.

Who is welcome to join KINDNESS COUNTS?

The chief requirement is that all members of the group adhere to our policy of courtesy and good manners, observing all required rules of courteous and gracious conduct. Members are expected to follow instructions and to be respectful. Any student meeting these basic requirements is very welcome to join the group. Permission forms for each event are available in Room 136, and must be obtained prior to each scheduled event. A limited number of students may participate in the monthly dinners at St. Luke’s Lifeworks, but yard clean-up events and other “good deed activities” will accommodate a greater number of members. The motto observed by Kindness Counts is “True happiness comes from making others happy. We also adhere to this concept: “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”