“I wish my mom was here to see this with us,” said a single mom with her daughter this Mother’s Day morning. Reading the phrases onThe Kindness Bus brought her to tears, tears of joy. If I had to make a guess, I would estimate 500 moms walked by The Kindness Bus today. Most weren’t as emotional, but most, if not all, took the time to read at least one phrase. The Kindness Bus was cozied up to the curb and the captive audience walking by and those waiting for up to 2 hours for a table at Snooze, a local restaurant were able to read the 400 or so phrases. At one time during the course of this day, I witnessed 6 moms reading The Kindness Bus with their children.
Watching this crowd wasn’t the best part, hearing the conversations was. Kindness, taught by moms on Mother’s Day is a time tested core value every day of the year. The Kindness Bus, with its messages, started some great conversations with mothers standing nearby and those watching from above.
A joyous Mother’s Day to all moms!
Put an end to Bullying & Adolescent Suicide
In year 3 of this mission, I introduced a bicycle ride to my travels to raise
awareness about issues kids are having to deal with at far too young an age.
Bullying and Adolescent Suicide are two of these challenging burdens most kids
will unfairly have to overcome throughout the remainder of their lives. At rides
end we will have ridden enough miles to traveled the perimeter of the earth, twice.
Mothers Teaching Kindness
May 13th, 2012One of the World’s Kindest Persons
May 12th, 2012
Starting the past few days at 4:45AM to get the best parking spot in town has paid dividends. The foot traffic is key to viewing The Kindness Bus. I love watching at a distance, within earshot of moms and dads explaining what some of the writings on The Kindness Bus means to them.
Riding The Kindness Bicycle between the raindrops today, was a bit challenging at times, but had a great impact on many. I think riding in the rain shows to others, my dedication to this cause.
Friend, Nawang Khechog stopped by The Kindness Bus as I was getting ready to ride The Kindness Bicycle. This proud Tibetan man and I spent time together catching up on what has been going on in each other’s lives since this past fall. Nawang lives an incredible life of kindness and compassion towards the world we live in. I always feel enlightened by our conversations. What a beautiful man of peace he is.
A Welcome Rain
May 11th, 2012
During the nearly 4 months since the beginning of The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes, all of the towns have one thing in common, it doesn’t rain too often. Looking forward to getting some things done that I have put off for a while was a big help in accomplishing most of my list.
Today I had an interview for The Mahalo Show by its founder, Jessica Dancingheart. This film project will feature several individual’s acts of kindness and their cause and effect. It should make for an interesting film and help to spread the word about the goal of One Million Acts Of Kindness.
Sarah and Suzi, two Boulder residents stopped by to express their gratitude. Sarah has volunteered to help in her spare time, with growing this mission to others across the country.
Erin, a Boulder High School junior, was glad to see The Kindness Tour come to her town.
Today’s welcome rain needs to continue for another day to give me more time to complete my continual list of chores.
Boulder Fire Department
May 10th, 2012
While out riding, I met Hero Firefighters, Jennifer, Chris and Joe as they arrived at the Administration building in Boulder. They were nice to take the time to talk with me about all the services the Boulder Fire Department performs. Boulder’s Firefighters do a lot more than fight fires. Every Firefighter is a state certified Emergency Medical Technician. Every engine crew is equipped with, and trained to operate, a Cardiac Defibrillator. They are prepared to; deal with flooding in a business or house; extricate someone from a vehicle accident; rescue people from a stalled elevator or a collapsed trench; effectively deal with carbon monoxide alarms or tree branches on power lines. Many of Boulder’s Firefighters have advanced training in dive rescue, hazardous material spills, wildland fire fighting, or fire safety education.
This town is filled with families visiting for graduation tomorrow, there is no room at the inn, so to speak. I love the crowded streets and sidewalks. Information about The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes spread in a big way today.
Heading Back to School
May 9th, 2012
It is graduation week in Boulder and families from across the United States and beyond have descended on this town by the thousands. I headed to the University of Colorado at Boulder which was a great place to take The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes today, as many of those families were walking the grounds. This is my favorite type of captive audience, families from everywhere, viewing the signs on The Kindness Bicycle and creating conversation that doesn’t occur often enough in most families. The Kindness Bus had a great, all day parking spot in a high pedestrian count area of town. This was a great day of conversations with hundreds of groups.
A big thank you to Vinnie for his great photos and donation as I was packing up The Kindness Bus.
Back in Boulder, Colorado
May 8th, 2012Last fall I spent more than a month in Boulder as I was heading west on my 7,400 mile ride. This visit, I will spend only a week in this town and then another week in Colorado Springs before I move quickly east to New York City. While in the Big Apple for the entire summer, I will visit all Firehouses, all Police Precincts and Veteran’s facilities in the five boroughs. This will be almost 300 stops in a three month period. The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes will culminate the 4,000 mile ride to Ground Zero. I can think of no better way to honor these Heroes.
National Trust for the Wounded Warriors
May 7th, 2012
Below is information taken directly fromNTWW thru its Advisory Board has selected multiple areas of giving that we will concentrate on. Our giving comes in the form of direct financial donations to other non- profit organizations that have a proven record of solid financial management, programs that reflect our areas of interest and a management team prepared to address with additional funds from us an expansion of their efforts to serve your needs and that of your family.
We have provided for individual funding requests and the admission of fundings for other 501(c)(3)’s that have requirements that do not necessarily fall into one or more of our areas listed below. We wish to have a positive impact on those in need.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Not only the Injured come home. NTWW will take an active role through support of other 501(c)(3)’s who have demonstrated an active participation in assisting our Injured and their families as you and your family manage expectations and capabilities as you search to attain new career opportunities.
NTWW will assess the existing programs offered by other 501’s and assist those qualifying organizations by providing funding to advance them in achieving their objectives. Third party relationships with the on line career development community will potentially serve to support this program’s advancement.
EDUCATION
NTWW will initiate support for members of the 501 community who will promote and help provide access to quality education to the Injured and/or their spouses. Many of our Injured may have unique physical requirements and/or limitations which may prohibit them from returning to school or from going to work. Family members, specifically the spouse, may need to advance their academic qualifications in order to support family requirements. We will endeavor to seek out programs thru other 501’s that have established an active role in this important area of individual and family recovery and advancement. Funds will be made available to provide additional financial assistance above and beyond the Veterans benefits. These funds will be accessed both thru the participating 501’s and thru NTWW directly.
FAMILY COUNSELING
A lack of consistent family counseling is another problem which NTWW will help address as many Injured and their families have geographic limitations as a result of living in the more remote areas of our country. The unique stress experienced by the families of our Wounded who are presently serving overseas and/or have been injured offer a complex, but required, challenge to enhance programs for their benefit. Our Advisory Board will seek existing 501 organizations and other support channels to provide funding for the advancement of improved and expanded care for those in need.
This will include potential support for those suffering from PTSD, drug and alcohol abuse and the ongoing issues the Injured and their families face every day as they strive to recover.
REHABILITATION
The Veterans Benefit programs address the rehabilitation of the Wounded with great care. The issues NTWW will address are the geographic requirements of the Injured and the consistency of quality rehabilitation programs individually designed to speed the physical and emotional recovery of those requiring extended and long term physical and or psychological attention that can only be realized through consistent care. The selection of existing 501’s who provide this geographically sensitive level of attention are very limited. NTWW will work with all parties to understand the needs that are not met and the solutions required to address this area of consistent care which is a right of our injured and a requirement for proper healing.
HOUSING
The Veterans benefit program designed to support the renovation, modification of existing housing for the Injured exists but varies in its impact based on labor and supply costs by community. Real-estate prices vary around the country and the result is that an injured soldier may not realize the same impact of the Veterans benefits programs based on their residence community. For the more seriously wounded who require new housing to accommodate their individual set of circumstances, the maximum funding available for housing is not adequate in many cases. A number of well-structured 501(c)(3) organizations have emerged to address this area of concern. NTWW will select those organizations who meet our requirements will receive funding to support expansion of their efforts.
