Hello everyone, and welcome back to our Weekly Uplifting Stories!
This week, we found a Mexican mattress company who really wants your dog to sleep comfortably, a crocheting bus driver, making sure all her schoolkids have the colorful, warm hat of their choice and a New York restaurant that brings in grandmas from around the globe to share both their recipes and their culture with each other and the lucky diners.
We also found a woman who decided to write inspiring messages on rocks on the beach - which exploded into a whole kindness movement. And to round it out, The Random Acts of Kindness website may just inspire you to become a RAKtivist in your daily life!
Let's get started!
Credit: Colchones Berun Facebook Page - Happy Day of the Dog!
This is too adorable. Mexican mattress company Colchones Berun runs a sometime promotion where, if you bring in your costume-wearing dog and buy a mattress, you get a dog-sized mattress for free. Best BOGO ever? Probably.
To celebrate their new store opening in Chihuahua last summer, the company offered free pet beds to the first 50 customers who brought in costumed pets. How did you not know about this?!
From their Facebook account, it looks like this mattress company not only sells high quality mattresses and frames, but they also support the community with fundraising, and lots of attention on 'perros' (dogs) when it comes to dog adoptions and caring for them.
And they still regularly take donations to enter giveaways for dog mattresses!
In case you missed it, here's last week's stories: Weekly Uplifting Stories - Week of March 6th, 2023
Ok, we all know what a Random Act of Kindness is, right?
Turns out, there is an entire website dedicated to the idea - RandomActsofKindness.org. The massive site has free resources on:
As well, there are games, coloring pages, posters, a blog, lessons and ideas on how to be kind and spread it around or raise awareness.
There's even information on how you can become a RAKtivist - a Random Act of Kindness Activist. These are the people who make it a point to put a smile on someone's face, to share their seat on the bus, to make someone else's day a little brighter, for no other reason than to be kind.
Maybe the best part of the website is the whole page of seemingly never ending Kindness Acts - stories from everyday people recounting moments that touched their hearts.
"Do you have someone in your life who inspired you to be a better person? Did you witness an act of kindness that left an impression? Share your kindness story with the world." - RandomActsofKindness.org
What a great resource! We sometimes forget that it doesn't take much to show kindness to others, and you never know when a simple gesture can make a WORLD of difference to someone, or something in need.
Even if you don't feel like becoming an official RAKtivist, you can start looking for opportunities to make someone feel like all is not lost.
You can follow their Instagram page here.
After The Kindness Rocks Project founder Megan Murphy lost her parents, she found herself searching for guidance from them on her daily beach walks.
Looking for a sign or a message from them lead her to looking at the rocks and sea glass she found on the beach. After much introspection, she realized that she already had the answers within herself.
Bringing a Sharpie on a beach walk one day, she found herself writing positive messages on a few of the rocks she found - and to her surprise, that night, a friend of hers messaged that she found one of them without knowing it was Megan.
Though she didn't admit to the rock art, Megan realized it had really touched her friend with the simple message. From there, everything took off, and now people from all over have taken up the cause to spread kindness and positivity in their communities.
The project's mission is:
ONE MESSAGE
AT JUST THE RIGHT MOMENT
CAN CHANGE SOMEONE'S ENTIRE DAY, OUTLOOK, LIFE - Kindness Rocks Project
From mental health focused rocks with messages such as, "People care," "Only human," and "You matter," to ideas on how to get started, creative ideas for lettering and a mental health inspired calendar, The Kindness Rocks Project website is a wonderful resource if you want to get started as well!
You can also follow them on their Instagram page.
School bus driver Patti Reitz, better known as 'Miss Patti' has worked for the Clarence Central School District in New York for over three decades. One of the 'favorites' for the students, she started making crocheted hats for the kids who ride her buses - and has worked her way up to 7,083 of them!
She started the crocheting habit in 2005, when she was caring for her mother in the hospital. She lets the kids choose two colors, and even makes a special kind with a hole in the back for ponytails.
“The one boy gets on the bus, and he goes ‘what are you doing?’ I said I’m making a hat. He said ‘that would be great going down ski slopes at Holiday Valley.’ So I said what color would you like? That started everything,” - Patti Reitz from interview
Miss Patti buys all the yarn and supplies herself, but does receive gifts and gift cards from her students as well, especially around Christmastime. She plans to keep going until she can't make them any more. Think of all those cozy, warm little heads she's covered!
In Staten Island, New York, restaurant Enoteca Maria knows that grandmas make the best food.
Appropriately, the eatery, which celebrates "Nonnas of the World," invites grandmothers from around the world to come cook and share their history and culture with each other and the lucky patrons.
Owner Joe Scaravella started the restaurant in 2007 to honor his grandmother, mother and sister, who have since passed away, as well as their Italian heritage. He started with just bringing in Italian nonnas (Grandmas), but in 2015, opened his invitations to include grandmas from countries around the world.
Real grandmothers from every country across the globe are invited and hired as chefs to cook the recipes handed down to them that they cook at home for their families, that make up the fabric of the culture they were born and raised in. - from the Enoteca Maria website
With Nonnas from Azerbaijan, Japan, Belarus, Argentina, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Trinidad, patrons know they will be getting an experience and meal like no other place around. You can even find out who is cooking that day by checking the Nonnas of the World Calendar!
They also hold classes for aspiring chefs, so they can learn how to prepare signature dishes from around the world - directly from the experts.
And there you have it! Which of the stories resonated the most with you?
Every time I sit down to look for these stories, I am inspired by these people who start with a small idea to help someone, or just to give a little kindness and compassion to others. Most of them just seem to have no agenda. They weren't necessarily looking to start a movement or be famous.
They just saw an opportunity to be kind. To make someone's day easier. To spread some joy around.
Think about what kind of world this would be if we all did that, just once in a while. Food for thought!
Do you have an uplifting story of your own that you'd like to share?
Message us in the comments below or reach out to us on our Instagram page and we might share your story in a future article!
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