The Kindness Crew offers their hearts to thecommunity

By Brandie Majeau
The Thorhild County Kindness Crew was ready to leave its mark on the community once
again. This time armed with hearts full of compassion and ready to touch the hearts of
strangers. Thorhild Library in partnership with Thorhild Family & Community Support Services
welcomed their Kindness Crew on the evening of February 15 with the remnants of Valentine’s
Day still echoing its emotion of warmth and tenderness. Fabric generously donated by Tanya
Halun (Gnome Matter What), was cut in heart shapes, ready for the evening project. The crew
embarked on a journey of learning how to create no-sew heart-shaped stuffies that would be
passed on at the evening’s end.
Scissors snipped along the outside edges, creating the basis for the knots to be tied,
holding the heart together. Laughter filled the library as bits of fluff flew around the table and
clung to clothes and hands, wafting, and littering the floor with an artificial snowfall of crafting
consequences. The design was suggested by Thorhild Librarian, Kathy Passay when she came
across the project on Pinterest. The project was definitely a learning experience but it brought
about perseverance and leadership between the younger and older crew members. Struggling
hands looked to more dextrous ones to complete the tricky knots and grins radiated with pride
as the occasional heart decided its shape should now become a bean. Goal accomplished, not
only the completion of the projects, but the purpose of coming together, sharing in happiness,
and making others feel good.
The projects did not end there. Once clean-up was complete and a dinner shared, the
Kindness Crew discussed the far-reaching impact these hearts could have. The programming
was designed to give of oneself and a means of passing on kindness. The idea is to promote
comfort, to pass on graciousness and selflessness, to let a stranger know that someone out
there cares, to offer a little drop of hope on an otherwise bleak day. “Squishy is comforting”
commented one of the Crew, and a parent volunteer offered her novel poetry, “Here’s a little
heart to cuddle when your heart begins to crumble.”
The Kindness Crew packed up their squishy hearts and headed to chat with the Thorhild
Fire Department. The emergency service volunteers were interrupted in their training for a
particularly good reason. Over a dozen hearts were gifted to the team to use in emergency
service situations. Each heart crafted with laughter and compassion to be passed on when
someone is in desperate need of a ray of sunshine, a cuddly, comforting piece of someone
else’s heart, even if it might be disguised in the shape of a bean.