Nine events. Two states. Nearly 100 student volunteers and countless people (and animals) helped.
This year’s Anna’s Day of Kindness student volunteers and their parents served nursing home residents, shelter dogs, foster care children, homeless families, neglected horses, people in need of a meal, abused and injured farm animals, and underresourced families. They shoveled poop, designed Easter Eggs, raked up two dozen buckets of hay, folded clothes, dug up weeds, served breakfast, walked dogs, planted flowers, and … yes … shoveled up more poop … all in an effort to help those less fortunate.
It was quite a week of honoring Anna’s compassion and kindness.
Visitors Allowed, Smiles Soon to Follow
Nursing home residents hadn’t enjoyed volunteer visits in two years, so they were thrilled when Anna’s Kindness volunteers visited Thursday afternoon.
Our volunteers became the first group to volunteer inside The Gilbert Residence since the pandemic began in 2020. The students sat alongside more than a half-dozen seniors at The Gilbert and colored Easter eggs. The volunteers and the seniors used spinners, dyes, dips, and even markers to create more than 70 beautiful holiday eggs which will be spread throughout the nursing care facility.
Volunteers Go Back-to-Back to Help Foster Families
Two straight days. Middle schoolers Thursday, high schoolers Friday. And dozens upon dozens of bags of donated clothes scrutinized, sorted, and stacked.
Anna’s Kindness volunteers pulled double duty at the Michigan Foster Care Closet, which provides clothing, shoes, coats, toys, school supplies, toiletries … you name it … for foster children and their families free of charge.
Our middle school student volunteers went through bags of clothes, sorted items in the garage, and worked through items in the drop-off sheds located in the driveway just outside the home.
Our high school volunteers helped transition the Closet to spring, taking inventory of all the winter coats and bagging them by size to be stored and help make room for warm weather clothing. The team also sorted through a shed full of new donations and sized and put away clothes so they’re ready for new foster families.
Mud, Poop, and Some Dedicated Anna’s Kindness Volunteers
Sixteen middle schoolers from across Ann Arbor braved the temps, the mud, and the manure to lend a hand to Starry Skies Equine Rescue and Sanctuary, which provides a home to horses which have been neglected, abused, or abandoned.
Our fine young volunteers’ first task of the cold morning was to rake up horse poop inside the arena, put them in buckets, and carry them out. Once the arena was clear of the horse droppings, our volunteers split into two subgroups. One group, which didn’t have tall boots, walked to the back barn and … you guessed it … shoveled more poop from the stalls inside. The other group, those with the high boots, went out into the 12-acre front pen to remove all the twigs and limbs that could possibly injure the horses.
When the hard, smelly, dirty work was done, the volunteers split into four groups and groomed some of the most needy, patient, and/or passive horses in the barn. And then they all were given treats to share with any of the animals at the ranch.
Making Peace Pretty Just in Time for Summer
Michigan winters can take its toll on even the best landscaping. But Anna’s Kindness volunteers can even the score, sometimes in less than 2 hours.
Our volunteer middle school students and their parents were efficient and effective, prettying up Peace Neighborhood Center’s gardens with a spring cleaning blitz. Peace provides year-round programming and support for area families in need of assistance.
The volunteers pulled weeds, raked leaves, pruned trees and perennials, and picked up loose trash. Once all the gardens were cleaned, they began laying down mulch, bucket after bucket, wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow.
Volunteers Clean up the Goat, Donkey Pens at Barn Sanctuary
Anna’s Kindness brought more than a dozen high school volunteers and parents out to the Barn Sanctuary in Chelsea. The Sanctuary provides a safe, caring home for farm animals which have been neglected, abused or abandoned.
Even with the Sanctuary’s goats tightly overseeing (interrupting?) the work, our volunteers managed to clear out dozens of buckets of hay, droppings, and debris from the pens in less than 2 hours. Their hard work helped reveal the grass underneath, which the goats hadn’t seen most of the winter.
Since our volunteers finished so quickly, they moved to the adjacent donkey pens and shoveled up the droppings.
Spring Flowers Bloom Early at Alpha House
Nearly a dozen Anna’s Kindness volunteers — along with Anna’s brother Alex — brought a little beauty to the grounds of Alpha House.
The middle school volunteers and their parents spent the first hour of the project trimming down perennials for new regrowth, and raking out and hauling away leaves, twigs, and pinecones that were littering the gardens. Volunteers then added color to their work, planting vibrant pink flowers along the walkway, and in front of the Alpha House signs, a bright beautiful welcome to its residents.
Seniors Volunteer With Anna’s Kindness One More Time Before Graduation
Three of our original Anna’s Kindness volunteers from 2017 — Ann Arbor Pioneer seniors Hayley Marchand, Luke Packard, and Melanie Valtadoros — returned to serve breakfast in the wee hours of Sunday morning as part of The Breakfast at St. Andrews.
The students filled paper bags with cereal, milk, juice, and raisins, and set up outside to distribute to the homeless and those in need. Melanie served coffee, Luke handed our warm breakfast sandwiches, and Hayley handled all the logistics and ‘supply chain’ issues. Nearly three dozen people in need of a hot meal, and some friendly conversation, were served by our Anna’s Kindness alumni.
A Reunion Where it All Began for Anna
More than a dozen of Anna’s former classmates joined with Anna’s mom, Fran, and her brother, Alex, working at the Humane Society of the Black Hills, where Anna’s compassion and kindness for those less fortunate really blossomed.
The volunteers greeted the shelter dogs with a special ‘frisbee treat’: peanut butter spread on a paper plate that was placed into each dog’s kennel for them to enjoy. The girls then brought out toys for the dogs and, one by one, the dogs were allowed to leave their kennels for a little bit of “play time” and a whole lot of “love time” with our volunteers. The volunteers finished by picking up some of the trash which had blown onto the Humane Society grounds.