By Audra H Anders for The Aha! Connection
I wanted to give you an update about the origin of these signs. Thanks to an email from my friend MC. I’ve taken the liberty of removing some of the more personal parts of the story. She did the first 200 signs at her expense and now she is charging a small amount in hopes people will pay it forward. Each sign cost $7.00. Click here to send an email requesting to purchase a sign.
Excerpt of an email from LW – the sign originator: “Be Kind” signs?? ….here’s how it started…in February, my husband and I made a trip to Kentucky. We were attending a memorial service for my dear friend’s father. We arrived at the church early so instead of going in we decided to drive around in the surrounding neighborhoods. Admiring the quaint and charming homes, we also noticed varieties of signs in all the yards. I started to really look at each sign we passed. There were Real Estate signs, For Sale signs, political signs and the “BE KIND” signs! I kept searching for an advertisement or the name of an organization taking credit for the signs. Nothing to be found! Just a simple message to “Be Kind”. So, we carried on and attended the service. Ironically, those speaking at the funeral could not say enough about just how KIND my friend’s dad had been….to everyone…everywhere…always! It resonated. We returned to Dunwoody on a Saturday and attended church on Sunday. Just so happened our church was experiencing a “sad” and controversial time. The annual conference was about to vote on a controversial topic and it was going to be a “no win” how ever the vote went. Just a sad Sunday. I remember distinctly, our Senior Minister’s closing words to the congregation. He closed with the benediction and then he urged us all to go and just “be kind” to one another. A day later, my husband tells me that he just couldn’t get the signs we saw in KY off of his mind so we started making some calls and digging around to get more details on the story. Then, we decided to make it a personal mission to encourage kindness in Dunwoody and our surrounding communities. The Kindness Sign Story is very simple. People in a small community had a gut feeling they could simply print and distribute signs with a simple message to BE KIND. Today in this world of so much controversy and condemnation, we thought that we could try to make an effort to remind ourselves, and each other, that being KIND could possibly change a someone’s day and maybe your own life.
My little family decided we would give it a try and see if we could get a little spark burning in our community. We hope it reaches much further than that and we thank each of you who have helped fan the spark thus far. I have great faith in our Dunwoody neighbors and other neighborhoods that if we all pitch in, we can make a change and set a good example. And who knows, maybe someone from out of town will be driving through, see our signs and take it with them to where ever they are from!! “
Original Post:
Forwarded from an Aha! Subscriber (Thanks TS):
Many people are wondering where to get the ‘Be Kind’ signs that are appearing in yards throughout Dunwoody. This positive message is being spread by a private citizen who uses her own time and money to produce the signs.
