February 2019 – Grant Winners

Congratulations to Jude Al-Hamad and Connie Hammes, each will get $250 to fund their acts of kindness projects!

We are lucky to be giving an additional grant, thanks to a generous donor who made the donation in honor of her mother, “Pat Mertens, who made giving a way of life.”

UPDATE:  March 21, 2019 – See Below Pictures of completed Kindness Acts 

Jude Al-Hamad (Berlin, MD) will be making care packages and fulfilling the wants of children staying at Believe In Tomorrow, an organization that brings comfort, hope and joy to children and their families by providing respite housing services to critically ill children and their families.  Jude has organized fundraisers and collections for this organization over the last two years and donated over $1000.00 worth of summer necessities.  Jude has a compassionate heart and truly cares about this organization and these kids.

We think this is a beautiful act of kindness project and it will have a wonderful impact on the lives of these children.  Thank you, Jude!

Connie Hammes (Lake Park, MN) who’s volunteered and now works part-time at the Marshmallow Foundation, a non-profit foundation that serves as the local shelter and rescue for area dogs and cats in Minnesota.  Connie will be buying and setting up a Catio.  After we found out what a Catio was, we loved the idea.  It’s a fenced-in area (cat patio) for the cats to safely spend time outdoors. Connie said they can have 50-80 cats but there is only one window in the cat room. Cats can feel high anxiety, exhibit bad kitty behavior, lethargy and “fat cats” symptoms from the stresses of indoor confinement.  Connie wants to do all she can to give these cats the best possible life while they are at the shelter.  Thank you, Connie!

Matt Kurtz was a huge believer in the Humane Society, he got his puppy from the Wisconsin Humane Society, so we know he would be happy we are supporting this act of kindness.

Completed Kindness Act by Jude:

“I want to start off by first saying thank you so, so much again for making my act of kindness come true. This is truly an honor and it has been an absolute blast planning and executing my idea.   I was able to put together 10 care packages for the kids at Believe In Tomorrow.

It was so heartwarming and fun to make these baskets. Like I’ve told you before, I’ve done collection drives for Believe In Tomorrow before, but this time making these care packages felt extra special. There really is no way to describe all the love and kindness I’ve felt ever since you told me I won. I spent so much time making sure every product came together how I envisioned it to be.

Thank you so much again for making this possible. I hope to have made you proud and that this act of kindness ripples on to many more!” – Jude Al-Hamad

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Completed Kindness Act by Connie: