FORT KENT, Maine — There’s been a lot of sadness and tragedy depicted in the news in the days leading up to Christmas in Maine and around the country.
So, I’m taking the opportunity to redirect readers away from shootings, crimes and conflict to wax a bit poetic about some pretty awesome and good things going on just outside our doors.
Because, you see, there are people who, no matter what, just want to go that extra mile to try and make life a bit better for someone else.
Among those thoughtful souls are my friend Jonathan Kelley and his team of holiday elves in central Aroostook.
Jonathan is known in Aroostook County for organizing races and triathlons that have opened up a whole world of friendly competition to people like me who never imagined lacing up a pair of sneakers for a foot race.
This fall, Jonathan and his friend Jessica Ouellette talked about ways to do more for the community, and came up with Project ONE.
Simply put, according to Jonathan, “Project ONE aims to develop a culture in our community of giving back and transforming lives with small acts of kindness through volunteerism.”
But he wanted to do even more and get young people involved.
“We saw the need to work beside the youth of our community, either as parents or friends, in building a further sense of community,” he said
So Jonathan and Jessica pulled in their friends Jamie Chandler and Dr. Renee Fournier and really got the ball rolling.
“Project ONE is extremely important to me,” Jessica said. “I have two young children and I want them to see how important it is to spread love and kindness in the community so that they grow up knowing that is the norm. We are really all about helping our community come together to help one another [and] we can’t underestimate the power of small random acts of kindness.”
So far, the project has raised money through local fundraising efforts and put on Project Thanksgiving, cooking at the Presque Isle Homeless Shelter; Project Breakfast, bringing Santa to the youths of Mars Hill; and Project Christmas Celebration, throwing a party for the Aroostook Autism Group in Presque Isle.
Then these past few weeks, the volunteers came up with Christmas Kindness.
Taking their cue from videos they had seen about people around the country surprising strangers by paying for groceries or gifts in stores, the Project ONE crew decided to give that a whirl.
“In total, we raised $1,300 in just under two weeks,” Jonathan said. “We have used that money now, with the idea of helping local people [by paying] for groceries at Shop ‘n Save, IGA,, and Steaks n’ Stuff in Presque Isle and Shop ‘n Save in Caribou.”
He said the reactions from store patrons has been amazing as the Project ONE elves and junior elves, decked out in Santa hats roamed the store aisles surprising shoppers with the offer to pay for their purchases.
“Some have been prideful and politely declined,” he said. “Others very grateful. One such lady said she was greatly moved, tears in her eyes, as she said she had just lost her father weeks prior. You never know where people are in their lives, and how deep the meaning is for them — that’s the beauty.”
For Renee Fournier, the incentive behind the Project ONE volunteerism is simple.
“Our mission is to lead by example and give back to our communities through small acts of kindness and volunteering,” she said. “I hope that it sparks a new culture of caring and kindness, especially among kids.”
And it seems to be working.
Tuesday night, according to Jessica, Project ONE seemed to spark a mini pay it forward movement.
“We paid for the over $200 worth of groceries for one lady and she turned around and paid for the groceries of the customers behind her and they in turn paid for the groceries for the person behind them,” she said. “This is exactly what we were hoping to see happen — people were paying it forward. It was so heartwarming to see the holiday spirit and the gratefulness of the people we came together to help.”
Project ONE is paying it forward one random act of kindness at a time.
That’s something we can all celebrate and emulate this holiday season and all year long.
Julia Bayly of Fort Kent is an award winning writer and photographer, who writes part time for Bangor Daily News. Her column appears here every other Friday. She can be reached by e-mail at jbayly@bangordailynews.com.
