Helping out in our community

Over Christmas this year, we really started to try and teach Keshav about the spirit of giving back to our community.  While he is still only 2 years old and doesn't completely grasp the concept, he has started to understand that there are people who live near us who need help sometimes, and it is kind to try and help others in need.  The Kindness Elves helped to introduce these concepts to Keshav, and even though the elves have returned to Santa Claus at the North Pole until December 2014, we hope to expose Keshav to more and more community service opportunities throughout the year!

This winter has been very cold and snowy, and along with cold weather comes many viruses and bacteria causing stuffy noses, fevers, and coughs.  Both of the kids have come down with colds this year, but we have been fortunate to be able to care for them at home and try and prevent further illnesses by proper hand washing and avoiding crowded places.  Unfortunately, there are many families living in shelters that have to be around others in a crowded environment and often can't avoid the spreading germs.  I found out about a nearby shelter called the House of Hope in Lowell, MA that houses 26 families and 27 children under two roofs.  They have had several illnesses go through their communities and were running out of basic supplies to keep the bugs away (such as cleaners and sanitizers) and to help with symptoms (Advil and Tylenol for fevers).  They were collecting these supplies so that they could help their residents feel better for the rest of the winter, and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for us to help!

We are so happy to live in our amazing neighborhood, so we reached out to our neighbors and collected these items to donate to the shelter.  Many of our neighbors participated and dropped off medicines, tissue boxes, cleaners and sanitizers!  One of our neighbor's sons even used the money that he earned shoveling driveways to buy some medicines for the children at the shelter!  It was very heartwarming to see such kindness coming from those who live around us!

We hope that by exposing Keshav to community service at this age will lead him to be an active participant in his community as he grows up!  We're lucky to have a sweet little boy who is willing to learn and participate :)