By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

It was like any other winter evening when Mina Breuker headed out to get the mail. Except this time around there was a package among the letters.

“I know John VandenBerg,” said the CEO of Holland Home about the Allendale Christian School teacher who sent the package. “His in-laws are good friends of ours but I hadn’t seen him or his wife in a while and really didn’t know why he was sending me a package.

Breuker took the package in, opened it and a surprise – or rather surprises – fell out.

“There were all these handmade cards, so wonderfully written,” Breuker said, adding that there were all kinds of messages of “thank you” and “we are praying for you.”

The fifth grade students in John VandenBerg and Jessica Kirchoff had sent the notes as part of the “Choose Kind — Spread Kind” fifth grade initiative. The goal is that by sending out letters of encouragement, the students would help spread kindness within the community or as one letter writer put it “I have learned a lot about kindness. It is a lot like dominos. When you hit one, it spreads.”

According to VandenBerg, the purpose was to spread kindness amidst the pandemic and other continued national difficulties. The idea came from VandenBerg’s own fourth grade experience, when his class wrote to then President George Bush.

“He wrote back and I thought how cool that was,” VandenBerg said, adding he wanted to give his students that same experience.

The 29 students in Kirchoff’s and VandenBerg’s classes first spent time exploring the book “Wonder,” by R. J. Palacio, which explores the nature of friendship, tenacity, fear, and kindness. The teachers used the book as a launchpad to discuss kindness and how to inspire acts of kindness. From there, the students wrote letters to share kindness with others.

The first the letters were given to Allendale Christian School staff such as the librarians and food service providers. The campaign eventually expanded to include local, state, and national leaders.

“I like it because I like seeing the reaction from the letters that people send back,” said fifth grader Eden VanderWaal. Eden said seeing how one act of kindness has a ripple effect on others has encouraged Eden to do more for others.

 

Not everyone has responded back but VandenBerg said that was not the point of the initiative.

 

“The whole idea is that people will pay it forward,” he said. “They will share the kindness and it will create this whole snowball effect everywhere creating an avalanche of kindness.”

While many think to send letters to the seniors, few have come to the management team. For that reason reason, Breuker said she felt the need to share the “beautifully written letters” with the rest of the Holland Home team to let them know that what they have done was appreciated.

“It certainly lightened the load,” Breuker said., adding that there have not been many good feelings this year and it was nice to know that the students at Allendale Christian School were working to help spread the “love” even if it is one letter at a time.