by Derek White
The Thomas County Community Fund has been spreading random acts of kindness throughout the community over last week. Nationally, the week started off on Feb. 10 as the National Random Acts of Kindness week for over two decades running. Through spreading happiness and appreciation to various groups in the community, the fund was assisted by four student ambassadors to conduct their random acts of kindness.
Seniors Jalyssa Sabatka and Natalie Wederski teamed up with juniors Brittany Schwartz and Shaylee Holzmeister to spread good spirits throughout the Colby community. The Community Fund selected these four girls through a random selection based on essays that they had provided when applying, and a review of their community involvement.
This week the students with help from the community fund handed out 39 dozen donuts to every schoolteacher, staff, and administrator in Colby schools private or public. They handed out donuts and coffee to the staff at the hospital, and most exciting they’ve given away three surprise grants.
These grants require zero paperwork from the organizations they went to help and are selected by the four student ambassadors to the foundation. They’ve convened and decided that these groups are doing good things in the community, and they want to provide some funding to help with their causes.
They gave the Downtown Christmas Light Committee $1,500 to help purchase more lighting for next year. They gave $1,000 to the United Methodist Church’s Helping Paws pet food bank program, and they gave $1,000 to the Thomas County Amusement Foundation.
The four students were the one to choose which groups received the grants, and the decision was made from their youth experiences that impacted their childhood. They were focused on how to impact others in the community in hopes that they received the same if not a better experience due to their contributions.
The students had a great time handing out the grants, and found a new perspective on how appreciation goes a long way. “It seemed like something so little to us, but it makes a big impact on what they do, and it shows them how much we appreciate what they do for this community,” said Schwartz.
The youth ambassadors were very appreciative of the Thomas County Community Fund Director Jada Tubbs, who has helped carry on the random acts of kindness week. “She just wants to thank people for what they do in our community, because that's a huge, without a community, we don't have anything,” said Holzmeister.
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