Traverse City Record-Eagle

Community

July 9, 2012

Northern Notes: Random acts of kindness

By Stephanie Beach sbeach@record-eagle.com

It was a dream come true for lucky Traverse City residents when volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints showed up at their doorsteps offering to do “random acts of kindness.”

It was all part of the church’s Day of Service, when local congregations look for ways to give to the community in different ways. The event is now in its third year and thousands of congregations participate.

Volunteers offered to mow lawns, rake leaves, remove fallen branches, wash windows and fix leaky faucets. Other volunteers distributed free popsicles to children shopping at local vendors and fishing downtown, returned shopping carts for people, picked up garbage and left sticky notes with cheerful messages.

“The best part was seeing the surprised looks on people’s faces when we worked for free,” said church member Allison Ensign. “It was so fulfilling seeing the happiness that can come from something as simple as being offered a free popsicle on a hot day or finding a sticky note with an inspirational message written on it.”

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Susanne C. Pilath is a registered nurse at Munson Medical Center who wrote to say that although she’s been an RN for more than 30 years she and the other nurses at Munson have never been recognized during Nurses Week like they were this year.

“All MMC nurses were thanked this year by Cambria Suites, a relatively new business that wanted to extend their thanks to MMC nurses by giving us rooms on the house for a night,” Susanne wrote. “It was so enjoyable and a real treat! ... (I) want to thank Cambria Suites for their kind gesture from all MMC nurses!”

Susanne also would like to thank the Grand Traverse County Road Commission for following up on her concern regarding the light at North Long Lake and Zimmerman roads, which was operating at 5:15 a.m.

“It was a waste to sit at a red light that early in the morning with no traffic,” Susanne wrote. “They changed the light to a blinking light until 6 a.m. which is how most lights in the city function. Thank you again!”

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Pathfinder fourth-grade student Arieanna Pepellashi is passionate in her love for animals, but recently channeled that passion into action.

A very successful fundraiser last winter encouraged her to approach a few of her classmates with the idea of creating original student art and selling it to raise money for needy animals at the Cherryland Humane Society. Other students caught wind of her idea and quickly joined in.

Students created more than 40 pieces of original art that were displayed at the Silver Swan for a silent auction. Silver Swan owner Petra Pepellashi, Arieanna’s aunt, helped organize the event, donated food and created certificates of appreciation for the student artists who participated.

Over the course of just four hours, the silent auction generated $1,734 for the Cherryland Humane Society. Based on the fundraiser’s success, the fourth graders, the Silver Swan and Pathfinder plan on hosting a second art gallery sometime in the fall.

 

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