My Weekend With Matthew and Colton spreading kindness in NYC
by Waverly W. Aka The Kiditor, 8 years old
When I interviewed Matthew Profaizer from The Pursuit of Restoring Faith in Humanity (http://kidsnewsnyc.com/join-the-pursuit/), I never imagined he would be coming to spend a whole weekend here in NYC with me and my mom along with his Co-Founder Colton Abplanalp…but that’s how me and my mom are, we get an idea and we make it happen! We thought it would be a fun and nice thing to do to get those guys over here and see how we could work together to make NYC a little bit happier and kinder during February – it is, after all, the month of love! (The Mom here! I am so proud that we pulled it off and Kidsnewsnyc.com had the honor of being their first ever NYC trip!)
We had some Skype meetings before they came to figure everything out, mom was calling and emailing all these places to get people involved, and we worked really hard and finally had a great plan for when they came. I was really excited for it!
The week before they came, me and my mom got really really sick and my mom worried so much that we wouldn’t be better and also that the guys would end up getting sick also. Thankfully it all turned out ok though, and we were all better when they got here and our Weekend of Kindness could begin! When they got to NYC, first they ate some of my mom’s awesome brownies (she even put peanut m and m’s in there for the special occasion) and then we decided to go right out and surprise someone randomly. So we met up with one of our supporters, Charles from Friendthem.com, and walked over to Chipotle. We decided to surprise a lady with kids on the line by buying dinner for them! I was kind of nervous but she was really happy and guess what? She ended up buying dinner for the people behind her! That was our whole reason for doing this – to inspire everyone to be kind to each other. Success! We did a few more things like that before going home – it was a school night, after all…
The next morning we got up early and went over to a 7-11 near my school so we could surprise people on the line by buying their morning coffee (thanks to Friendthem.com again!). We went in and told the manager our plan and he was SO NICE and really happy to be a part of it! His name is Nam and he was amazing. There was a long line of people buying coffee and me and the guys just kept telling them all that it was paid for – they were all so happy and couldn’t believe it! The people who worked there behind the counter were really nice (Jessica and Mike) also and they made it really fun and easy for us to do this (I was nervous at first – I never do anything like this!! Especially not on the way to school!
(The Mom here again! It was really nice to watch all this happen. For around $2 you can really start someone’s day off on a very happy note – and it changes your own day, too! That was a really great experience for us).
I had around 7 minutes before I had to be in school, and mom had to work, but the people that worked there were so super awesome that my mom had an idea as we were leaving – let’s surprise THEM! So we raced across the street to Glaser’s bakery and bought the most delicious looking apple crumb pie, raced back across to 7-11 and there was another random act of kindness done on people who totally never expected it! They were really happy and said they were just talking about how none of them had any breakfast. We fixed that!! 🙂 Hey, I never get to have pie for breakfast….
While I was at school and my mom was at work, the guys walked around NYC talking to people and also giving out yoga class passes and discount cards that were donated by Integral Yoga. Then when we all were back home, we were ready for the next part of our plan: Flowers! So we walked over to Michael’s Floral Design NYC and picked up the most beautiful golden roses I’ve ever seen! (Here’s Mom again! OMG you should have seen and smelled these roses. Um, I guess there IS a difference between florists’ roses and grocery store ones!! Thank you for donating them for our cause, Michael!!)
We went outside and I saw a lady right away that I wanted to make happy. I’ll let you see for yourself: https://youtu.be/cjIb4_dfeFo
OK, are you back? That made me and my mom so happy – we loved making her day brighter!! Then we went to the World Trade Center area and gave out the rest of the beautiful roses. People were really surprised and happy, especially after they found our they were not for sale! I guess it’s not the most usual thing in the world to get a rose for no reason at all.
On Saturday, we went over to Queens to a place called Hour Children, where we brought a bunch of valentine’s day crafts and candy and hung out with all the kids there. It was really fun! Matthew is really good at making pinwheels, lol! My mom’s boyfriend’s company, Blinds, Shades and More, Inc. even surprised them at the house across the street by donating three free shades for their windows! They were really happy about that, of course!
On Sunday, we had two things planned: First, we went over to Glaser’s Bake Shop again because they loved our Weekend of Kindness idea and wanted to give us some delicious pastries to hand out to hungry people! So we went there and picked up the bags (thanks for the cookie!!) and went over to the west side and gave many people a surprise yummy breakfast. Thanks, Glaser’s!
The guys had a plane to catch, but we had time for one more thing! We went to meet my friend, Kid Chef Juss Baked (http://kidsnewsnyc.com/kitchen-juss-baked/), who made a whole bunch of heart cookies to give out to people! That was so awesome, we surprised lots of people like policemen, crossing guards, working people and of course just people walking around. It was a great way to end our Weekend of Kindness! And I even got another cookie…it’s Kool to be the Kiditor, as I always say!
The Mom here, one last time! I want to thank all our supporters again – Friendthem.com, Glaser’s Bakery, Juss Baked, Blinds, Shades and More, Inc. and Michael’s Floral Design NYC, and OF COURSE the amazing collaborators Matthew Profaizer and Colton Abplanalp. I am so honored that we got to work with them on this beautiful project, that we got to host their first trip to NYC, and that I got to make them pancakes!! Oh, and in case you’re wondering…they did NOT get sick! 🙂
Please support these fabulous people, and remember: You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you – John Bunyan
https://www.facebook.com/JoiningThePursuit/ www.pursuiters.com
https://www.facebook.com/Michaels-Floral-Design-NYC-949345821806593/
https://www.facebook.com/justin.chef
https://www.facebook.com/Friendthem/
https://www.facebook.com/glasersbakeshop/
https://www.facebook.com/HourChildrenInc/
Instagram @blindsshadesandmoreinc
And don’t forget us!! https://www.facebook.com/kidsnewsnyc/
Instagram @kidsnewsnyc @waverlywinchester
