Celebrate Kindness Day Bolingbrook on May 15, 2021

Kindness Day Bolingbrook will host its community celebration on Saturday, May 15, 2021 with the launch of their first Kindness Day Story eBook, the unveiling of an interactive mural dedicated to Kindness Day, a Make-A-Wish pre-celebration, free Kindness Bags, free ice cream and much more.

“We are excited about the premiere of our first Kindness Day Story eBook featuring a collection of kindness stories written by youth from our community,” said Marissa Yelenosky, founder, Kindness Day Bolingbrook. “My hope is that this first collection of kindness stories will continue to encourage our youth to be kind to each other and to themselves. I’m especially grateful to the Fountaindale Public Library for making this book a reality.”

At the Fountaindale Public Library there will be a full day of activities dedicated to Kindness Day Bolingbrook including Kindness Bags that will be given out for free while supplies last at the library’s Children’s Services desk or via their drive-thru. If you take your Kindness Bag to Taco Dale Bolingbrook on Kindness Day you’ll get a free Mexican specialty popsicle or scoop of ice cream. For those that don’t have a Kindness Bag, you can get a free popsicle or scoop of ice cream with each entrée purchase. Kindness Day partners including Maplebrook Chiropractic, Bolingbrook Bank & Trust, AI Restoration Services, Jake McVey of Baird & Warner, the Village of Bolingbrook Police and Fire Departments, Ashbury’s at Boughton Ridge, 4 K.I.D.S. Sake and Spanish Ladder have all helped with providing goodies for the Kindness Bags.

To add to the excitement, there will be an unveiling of an interactive mural designed by well-known artist and Make-A-Wish mom Stacy Lazzara. This mural will be located in the main hallway of Pioneer Elementary School, as a tribute to Kindness Day Bolingbrook and in honor of all the students, staff and families that were kind to Samantha and helped her to recover. “This mural will be truly inspirational. My dream is that every child and person in the world is the recipient of the same type of kindness and love that our daughter and our family received during our difficult times,” expressed Yelenosky.

A child that will be the recipient of kindness on May 15 is 3-year-old Lukas Voelz. Voelz is battling Leukemia and will soon be having his Backyard Oasis Make-A-Wish come true. To celebrate, Lukas and his family will be guests for special activities that day, organized by Kindness Day Bolingbrook and hosted by Kindness Day partners Prince Arcades, Escape Hour Room, Ashbury’s at Boughton Ridge, Fountaindale Public Library and Tim Wallace Landscape Supply & Nursery.

Below is the Saturday, May 15, Kindness Day 2021 activities recap. More information can be found on the Kindness Day Bolingbrook Facebook page and www.fountaindale.org/kindness.

• 9am-close/while supplies last- Fountaindale Public Library (300 W. Briarcliff) has dedicated an entire day to Kindness Day activities including giving away free Kindness Bags while supplies last. A special “Kindness in Other Languages” video presentation by Spanish Ladder where you will learn kind words in Spanish and Mandarin will premiere. “Kindness Day Stories 2021” where Kindness Ambassadors read some of the stories featured in our first Kindness Day Story eBook will also debut. The link to these videos and a list of other fun and inspiring kindness activities for all ages can be found at www.fountaindale.org/kindness.
• 9:30a-5p Share your Kindness Story or thank others for being kind to you. Messages will be recorded on camera in front of a specially designed Kindness Day backdrop located in Children’s Services at the Fountaindale Public Library. This collection will be featured on YouTube at a later date.
• 10:30a-11:30a The Voelz Make-A-Wish Illinois family and Kindness Ambassadors will participate in the Mini Movin’ & Groovin’ Fountaindale Public Library outdoor program and then be recognized in a small ceremony at Children’s Services.
• 10a-9p Taco Dale Bolingbrook (1196 W. Boughton Rd) will be giving away, with each entree purchased, one free ice cream cone or specialty popsicle from their Ilda’s Ice Cream and Pastries shop. If you bring your Kindness Bag from the library, no purchase is necessary.
• 10a-5p For those that stop in at Dog Dayze Doggie Daycare & Boarding (570 W. Boughton Rd), you’ll get free freshly popped popcorn and a treat for your dog.
• 12p-1:30p 4 K.I.D.S. Sake will be hosting a Family Chalk Art Competition with a prize wheel behind Bolingbrook’s Village Hall (375 W. Briarcliff Rd). Each child who participates will get a box of chalk to draw with and be eligible to win prizes.
• All Day-May 15 is the last day you’ll be able to pre-order Take-N-Bake pizzas from Home Run Inn Pizza Bolingbrook, to help Pioneer Elementary School. They’ll be donating 30% of all proceeds for orders made using this link: https://hrifundraising.raisely.com/kindness-day2021. Pick-up days for your orders are May 17, 18 & 19.
• 1:30p-2p The unveiling of an interactive mural designed by well-known artist Stacy Lazzara and Make-A-Wish mom in honor of Kindness Day will take place at Pioneer Elementary School (1470 Raven Dr). The unveiling will be recorded and shared on the Kindness Day Bolingbrook Facebook page and YouTube channel. This is a private/ invitation only/rsvp event with limited in-person attendance.

About Kindness Day

Kindness Day Bolingbrook was first introduced by Bolingbrook’s Mayor Roger Claar on May 18, 2018 in recognition of the overwhelming kindness Samantha Yelenosky, a resident of Bolingbrook and then-student at Pioneer Elementary School, received from classmates, teachers, staff and her community when she returned to school after facing tremendous health challenges. Her parents wanted to share their gratitude for the kindness she received and express how simple acts of kindness were critical to their daughter's recovery. It became a community celebration in 2019 and since then has been celebrated yearly.

Video Links:

1. 2021 Kindness Day Bolingbrook Celebrations https://youtu.be/gk2g1VM-uvs
2. Make-A-Wish Illinois Celebrates Kindness Day 2021 https://youtu.be/ERwzeXM1NnU
3. Why We Joined Kindness Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FidzZ5PAnHM
4. Lurie Children’s Patient Spreads Kindness Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ULyLvFpwM
5. Samantha’s Make-A-Wish Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWn81CgOKQw&t=59s
6. The Bergacker Family- Heart Conditions/Waiting for Heart Transplant https://youtu.be/NtMVGkDHESU
7. The Dunmore Family- Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome https://youtu.be/KmVYIS2Y8PU