Superhero Food Drive Part 1

The Superheroes set out last week to visit the downtown businesses and ask them to help them out on their latest mission.  The Superheroes are out to help Community Outreach and bring back some food and other goods to fill their shelves for the upcoming holidays.  We made several stops along the way and gave them all a flyer to post in their stores.  We are asking the businesses to have their employees, customers, and friends to donate these items and the Superheroes will be by to pick them up.  This mission is just a continuation of our goal this year to make an impact on the Community of Nevada by giving back.

I will have a follow up blog next week letting you know how are efforts went.  I am excited and I am sure that our community will bond together to help the Superheroes feed the hungry.  If you want to help and donate food feel free to drop it off at any of the downtown businesses.  I know Belles and Beaus is even giving a discount in their store if you bring in canned goods.  If you can’t make it downtown you can bring them by the community center or just take it to Community Outreach.  We are looking forward to hauling in a lot of food on Monday November 19^th!!

Remember always be a Superhero of Kindness!!

Veteran's Day Parade

The Superheroes have been very busy the past few weeks trying to make a difference in Nevada.  We have had two major missions lately.  One is a food drive for the local food bank, which I will tell you about tomorrow so check back in then, and last night’s mission which was to thank our local Veterans for their service.

To take a step back a bit it was a couple of weeks ago I received a call from a person that was putting together the local Veteran’s Day parade and asked if the Superheroes would be a part of the celebration, they did not know yet in what capacity but they wanted us there.  To say I was excited to get the Superheroes involved would be an understatement to say the least.  So the stage was set and wheels were in motion to get the Superheroes in their first parade!  After attending a meeting or two we figured out what we were going to do and we were ready.

It was a frigid evening but we bundled up and joined several other students, teachers, and parents from St. Mary’s and walked in the parade.  We waved our flags and waved at all the people watching the parade from the sidewalk.  After we completed the parade route we readied ourselves for the big moment.  We sang the National Anthem said the Pledge of Allegiance and listen to a few people speak about their service and what it means to be a Veteran.  It was then our turn to give our thanks.

When Mayor Leonard announced us we came out of nowhere and swooped in to give each of the honored Veteran’s from WWII a carnation, which were donated to us from May’s Floral a BIG THANK YOU goes out to them!! .  We not only gave them a flower and a smile but a few got hugs and handshakes from the Superheroes and hopefully a memory and a sense of appreciation for all they have done for this country.  I know the Superheroes are young and might not get the entire concept of what the Veterans have done for them but they do get the fact that they are great people and deserved to be thanked.  I could not be any happier than I was last night with my Superheroes and what we did.  It makes me smile still today thinking about it and it will for a long time coming.

One extra note before I end the blog today, I want to add one other short story about something I saw after the Superheroes were done.  After we handed out flowers to all the WWII Veterans we had enough for each Superhero to take one home.  I know they were all very happy to have their own flower but I know one that didn’t take his home.  I saw his mom lean over and talk to him and I do not know what was said but I do know what happened after.  This young Superhero walked over to a young man dressed in his Marine Uniform tapped him on his leg and gave him his flower and said thank you.  The Marine kneeled down and thanked the young Superhero and shook his hand.  He then again stood at attention to watch the rest of the ceremony, I did see him turn to the person he was with say something and then smile.  Right then and there I knew that my Superheroes, Nevada’s Superheroes, are making a difference!!  I said I couldn’t be prouder than I am right now and that is true, I am so blessed to work with the Superheroes and I hope one day you all are touched by them.

 

I will end this blog like I do all the others asking you to be Superheroes yourself.  A simple smile, opening a door, a thank you to the person that helped you out that is all it takes.  Today November 13, 2012 is World Kindness Day so make sure you make a special effort to make everyone you meet smile.  We can’t all wear the cape but you can make a difference, but seriously how cool are those capes!!

WE"RE BACK!!

With the new school years comes a new group of Superheroes and we are excited to start spreading kindness.  With a little direction and reading the book “Have you filled a bucket today?” we were ready to take on our ultimate goal of making people smile. 

We all donned our new capes and we were ready to set off on the first mission of the year.  This was a two part mission and we had a long walk and lots kindness to spread but we were up to the challenge.  The first stop was a familiar one, Nine Patch Quilt & Fabrics, to thank a very nice lady for donating the fabric for our capes.  About 2 months prior to our first mission we needed new capes for our new Superheroes and with one call our needs were answered.  A very kind lady stepped up and said that she had some extra fabric lying around and it might fit our needs and that it did!!  So we were headed to thank Sandra Horvath for her generous donation.  As we walked into the store you could see the smile on her face and we knew we were off to a great start.  As we always do we gave her a few of our trademark hearts and a special thank you for her to hang on her wall.  The Superheroes answered a few questions and asked many more but that is what we do, we learn as we go.  We posed for a few pictures and thanked Sandra again and we were off on the second leg of our mission.

The second leg had a great importance especially to me as the leader of the Superheroes.  We were on our way to the Vernon County Ambulance District to thank them for all of their hard work.  This is a trip that we tried to make last year but it never seemed to work out, but I do not think our timing could have been any better for this trip.  The people over at VCAD were in need of some caring and warm smiles and needed a bit of a pick me up.  Earlier in the week they had suffered a great loss when one of their EMT’s lost his life in a vehicle accident.  The Superheroes to my knowledge did not know of this loss but I think they gave them a little bit extra in their heart to each of the workers.  I do not think we have handed out more hearts in anyone spot.  I also saw a lot of good hugs and some high Fives and handshakes.  I know we couldn’t erase the pain that they were feeling but I hope for the short time we were we brought some much needed smiles and relief to them. I know that I was very impressed with the Superheroes.

 As we always do we got several pictures with as many people we could and of course we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to get a photo in front of one of their cool ambulances.  Though many of the Superheroes can’t even pronounce ambulance we still had a great time looking at them and learning about what they do.  It never ceases to amaze me at how these young kids grasp the concept of what these people do and how hard they work.  They know they are out there to help and are truly grateful for all they do for us and our families.  I honestly do not know who gets more out of these missions them or me. They truly know what kindness is and how to share it with everyone they meet.

I am really looking forward to this year and all the good things that the Superheroes are going to do.  It will be hard to top last year but I think if any group can do it, this is the group.  Though we are a smaller group than last year we are not lacking in the heart department.  Keep an eye out for the Superheroes we are out to do some big things this year.  We are already working on our next big mission; we plan on helping the entire community with this one so, brace yourself Nevada Missouri!! 

As I always say no matter how big or small you are you can make a difference with just a simple smile and a kind word, and even though you don’t have a cape you can be your own Superhero of Kindness.  But seriously how cool are those capes!!

Superheroes go big at Cottey for smiles before finals!

Well the Superheroes were at it again spreading kindness and joy around the City of Nevada.  This time they made a trip to the campus of Cottey College to help the faculty, staff, and students make it through finals week.  This was the biggest mission to date for the Superheroes and one that was very special for everyone, we pulled out all the stops and even had some help from the originator of the group Kristal Burns who came in all the way from Missoula, Montana to help.

This mission itself was on Monday May 7^th but it had started a few days earlier for me, I got the privilege to pick up Kristal from the airport the Saturday before.  This was a big moment for me I finally got to meet in person the creator and founder of the Superheroes of Kindness, a person I had emailed, skyped, and talked to numerous times and asked a thousand questions we were finally going to be face to face.  Needless to say I was just as excited as the Superheroes are when they get to go on their missions.  The ride home was a great one time flew by as we talked about past missions that we had been on, future plans for each of our groups, and of course the mission at hand.  I knew I was in the presence of someone that I had grown to respect and admired I tried to hold my excitement in but I do not think I did a very good job.  I had lofty expectations for this latest mission and did not want to let her down.  In the next couple of days I had the opportunity to show Kristal around the town and introduce her to a few of the people that had helped me out in getting my Superheroes started and make them as successful as they are.  It was also an opportunity for those same people to pick Kristal’s brain and get some more of the background of the Superheroes, it was almost a whirlwind tour of Nevada if you will.

Finally the time had come to put the Superheroes on display like they had never been before, like I said earlier this mission we pulled out all of the stops and we were going to impress everyone we came across that day.  On this mission we had some help from a few of our new friends, one being the KC Chapter of the Guardians of the Ribbon.  In case you are not familiar with this group they own and drive the Pink Fire trucks that you might have seen to raise awareness about cancer and all who are affected by it.  Please go to their web site http://www.kcguardians.org or like them on facebook  http://www.facebook.com/PinkHealsGreaterKSCity to find out a lot more about who they are and what they do.  Hollie and Dave we so very gracious and brought down the Jennielee to share with the Superheroes and all of the Cottey College Campus.  This was a huge heart on the Superheroes cape to have them join us and be a part of our mission it was important to us since Cottey is an all girls school to raise awareness and to have all who have been effected on campus know that there is support for everyone!  The Pink Fire truck added an element of Kindness far beyond what the Superheroes could ever do and Hollie and Dave are Superheroes in their own since, they might not wear capes but they have those cool fire trucks and all that pink stuff and that is just as cool as our capes.

Another friend that came to help was the Nevada Police Department in the form of Officers John Foster, John Millard, and Brian Moorhouse.  These three officers stepped up and made sure that the Superheroes not only made it to campus with our very own police escort but they made sure that when we needed to cross the streets that traffic was stopped and we all made it across safely.  It was very fun to have these true heroes along with us for the day.  Not only did we feel safe but I must say the police escort was probably one of the coolest things ever, but I will get to that more here in a minute.

Also along for this mission were several friends and family members of the Superheroes.  I must say we had no shortage of help for this mission and we were thankful to have them all along for the journey.  It is very special to see an adult in a cape hand in hand with a Superhero spreading kindness to everyone they meet.

Ok so the stage was set we had our parade in line and it was time to head to Cottey College!!  The Superheroes were all very impressed as we started the trip to Cottey and they heard the police sirens and asked ”are those for us?” when told yes one Superhero simply responded “We are famous!”  Thanks to this police escort we had a smooth ride to the college and heck we even got to run a red light or two. 

Once on campus we were greeted by Mari Anne Phillips, Vice President of Student Life for Cottey College, she was going to be our tour guide and escort around campus.  Once off the bus and assembled we were off and running literally.  The Superheroes were very eager to get this mission started and to get kindness flowing all over Cottey.  Our first stop was to thank the people behind the scenes we dropped in to see the staff that keep campus looking great, they included the maintenance, cleaning, and facilities staff and if for not for them things would not run so smooth or look so good on campus.  We gave them all one of our signature paper hearts and to kick it up a notch, just for Cottey, a fresh single stem daisy.  Of course we answered a few questions, asked a few ourselves, and posed for a few pictures then we were off to our next stop, the dining hall.

In the dining hall we were greeted by all the cooks and staff, of course we had some flowers and hearts for all of them.  We also met Jean Foster there and she was ready for us, she had prepared a sack lunch for each Superhero and even had special place mats for all of us.  The Superheroes sat and waited to surprise the students!  It wasn’t long before the students started to come in for lunch and this was a very special time for the students and Superheroes as they got to eat together.  The conversations at the tables were to say the least very diverse and very interesting, nothing was off topic.  We talked about pets, school, capes, hair, clothes, why some students talked a little different, and of course how delicious lunch was.  After the Superheroes finished their lunch they went straight to work.  They were handing out hearts and flowers as fast as they could, we also broke out another special gift for the seniors little rubber ducks dressed in caps and gowns.  Not all of these ducks made it into the hands of seniors I am sad to say but they were returned to an environment that are comfortable in, the waterfall display in the Cottey dining room.  On last report there were a few still floating in the pool.   As far as getting things passed out I know for a fact they no student was able to come or leave the dining hall without being met by at least one and often several Superheroes.

While we were in the dining hall our last special guest for the day showed up and that was Brad Douglas from KSN in Joplin and has his own segment on the news called Brad’s Beat.  He came down to video tape the Superheroes and even interviewed a few of them for his segment.  He to was blessed with a heart and a flower and that evening his segment was probably the best I have ever seen, but then I might be a bit biased.  If you want to see the Superheroes on Brad’s Beat just click this link http://fourstateshomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=279432.   It was great to have Brad down and have him spread our acts of kindness to others.

After the interviews were over and most of the Cottey students had been to lunch we set out on campus again to spread more cheer, our goal now was to visit some of the administrative offices and meet with Cottey President Dr. Judy Rodgers.  Of course on the way we stopped back by the fire truck for some more pictures and once again with the help of our police officer crossed the street.  We met a lot of very nice ladies and handed out more hearts and flowers.  Once in the Presidents office we sat around the board room table and Dr. Rodgers thanks us for all of our hard work and kindness and even gave each of the Superheroes a gift bag filled with all kinds of assorted goodies.  We left the office with a resounding THANK-YOU and went on our way.  This was sadly our last stop of the day but we had shared many smiles and lifted many spirits so our job at Cottey was done.

As we made our way to St. Mary’s the Superheroes had lots to say.  Each of them had a favorite part of the day and each remembered a different part or a different person that they made feel happy.  It just goes to show you that these Superheroes get just a lot out of making people smile.  I know I have said this before but it cannot be said enough no matter how big or small you are you can make a difference.  You do not have to hand out flowers, hearts, or rubber ducks nor do you have to wear a cape to spread kindness, but seriously and I heard it a lot on Monday how cool are those capes!!