From Paths to Wellness and Pittsburgh Cares, with love!
By Terri Winaught, Paths to Wellness coordinator
Just as rivers flow endlessly, so, too, have Random Acts of Kindness flowed from reservoirs of care, compassion, and love!
In January, 2020 before COVID cast its ugly shadows, Pitt Serves, a student organization affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh, collaborated with the Paths to Wellness Team and Psych Rehab to make items that were donated to several charities. Unfortunately, there was no such MLK Service Day this year with students struggling to return to classrooms safely.
As a way to find a silver lining in COVID’s cloud, I suggested that we find a way to do a service project on February 17, Random Acts of Kindness Day. Uncertain if anyone would be willing to collaborate, I contacted Pittsburgh Cares about making personal hygiene kits for persons served by the Winter Shelter, a project suggested by Pittsburgh Mercy’s CEO Tony Beltran. Although I was initially worried about volunteer participation, my fears were unfounded. In addition to the four volunteers who assembled kits for 30 women, many more Pittsburgh Cares members worked diligently from home, even spending their own money to buy supplies.
As of this writing, close to 200 kits have been donated, 100 of which came from just one volunteer. To conclude, I can’t thank Pittsburgh Cares enough for their generosity, or Psych Rehab enough for the time and talent of the persons we serve.
