Daniel Island Kindness Project launched

A little kindness goes a long way. And Daniel Island resident Alicia Reynolds is confident others in the community will agree. Two weeks ago, after reading posts on Facebook about individuals and families in the Daniel Island community who are struggling through various difficulties, such as illness or loss of a loved one, Reynolds came up with an idea.

“I am originally from Barrington, Rhode Island, and there was a woman in our town who had been impacted by 9/11,” she recalled. “Her sister lost her husband and she was left with four small kids. She was just overcome with grief and not able to do anything for months. But all of these neighbors and people she didn’t know stepped up to help.”

They came over to rake leaves, continued Reynolds, to take children to doctors’ appointments, and more. The woman’s sister started a group to organize those interested in helping. Requests could be made to a single contact person managing the group and then dispatched out to a list of volunteers to see who might be available to help. It allowed those struggling to remain anonymous if they wished, without having to post something publicly on social media about their personal situations. Reynolds thought the same concept could be successful here. She launched a similar effort for this community - The Daniel Island Kindness Project.

“It just feels like there needs to be more of a grassroots effort for everybody to be a little kinder and a bit gentler with each other,” said Reynolds, who moved to Daniel Island in 2014. “There is no money involved. No big time commitment. And no amount of hours you have to contribute or commit to. It’s just a wonderful way to help others and show them kindness during a difficult time.”

Within hours of announcing the new project on social media, Reynolds was flooded with support. She estimates over 100 people have contacted her to be added to her list of volunteers. So far, she has about five or six individuals who have agreed to serve as managers of the list. Each would be tasked with overseeing the island’s various populations – families with young children, middle school, high school, empty nesters, and the elderly. Response thus far has been “overwhelming,” said Reynolds.

“In my wildest dreams I never expected this sort of response,” she added. “...I think we are moving in the right direction and I’m really excited to keep it going and growing!”

For their first effort as a group, they arranged for deliveries of meals to the City of Charleston Fire Department’s (CFD) Daniel Island station, where firefighters were mourning the loss of North Charleston firefighter E.J. Mascaro, who died in a tragic car accident on January 19. Mascaro formerly worked for CFD at the Daniel Island station. Another CFD firefighter was seriously injured in the accident.

“These guys had suffered horrifically on Thursday night, and were so appreciative of the community reaching out to them with a bit of kindness during their time of need!” wrote Reynolds in a Facebook post. “This is what I would really like the project to be - for people to feel kindness right when they need it most - but without stressing anyone out!”

Reynolds and her team members at The Daniel Island Kindness Project are looking for any individuals who have some time to spare when a need arises for a local resident or community member, whether that be to cook a meal, provide yardwork services, run errands, or other tasks.

“It’s being able to do the simple things,” added Reynolds. “That might help them get over the initial shock (of a loss) or deal with an illness or other hardship. It’s not meant to be a long term crutch. It’s really just sort of a triage...A dinner once a week if that’s something they don’t think about when they come home from the hospital. Maybe it’s just leaving some soup for them on the front porch...There is a lot of latitude.”

The group will also strictly maintain confidentiality about who is in need, said Reynolds.

“It will really be kept on a ‘need to know’ basis,” she added.

To be added to the list of volunteers, please contact Reynolds at reynoldsac@hotmail.com. They are also in the process of creating a Daniel Island Kindness Project Facebook page and expect it to be up and running soon.