SPREADING KINDNESS
Local businesses take part in 2024 ‘Leap of Kindness Day’
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. >> Communities around the Capital Region, the United States, and the World opted to use their extra day this leap year to spread kindness by taking part in ‘Leap of Kindness Day’ on Thursday, Feb. 29.
Originating in Saratoga County in 2016, the goal of this event was to use the extra day that happens every four years to go out into the community to make a positive impact. Businesses of all sizes as well as community organizations committed to taking part through fundraising, volunteering, or donating.
One organization that has been participating in Leap of Kindness Day for many years is Curtis Lumber, who has built up a partnership with Habitat For Humanity with their 2×4 donation drive. Customers who come to Curtis Lumber have the opportunity to pay $4 to donate a 2×4 which the business will donate to Habitat for Humanity to build a home in the community.
“The whole idea behind Leap of Kindness (Day) is to get in front of as many people as we possibly can in our community to do something kind for someone else,” said Assistant Manager of the Curtis Lumber Ballston Spa location, Jim Rubinson. “Last year was a major success. We were able to donate multiple units of lumber to the Capital District. We built more than eight homes for people in need including two homes in Saratoga Springs and five in Glens Falls. It’s a great cause and we’re excited to be a part of it.”
These donations, and the partnership overall, are something that Habitat for Humanity said they truly appreciate. Going beyond just Leap of Kindness Day, Curtis Lumber does the 2×4 the whole month of February as well as every February despite it being a leap year or not, as well as provides donations year round.
“They are a terrific partner. Throughout the year they are donating doors and cabinets and other building materials that either support the homes directly or provide us an income source by sales through our re-store,” said the Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity in Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties George Earle. “The other thing with Curtis Lumber is that they create awareness for us. They have so many customers coming through the store that become aware of us through
this leap of kindness and the 2×4 donations.”
As someone involved in the not-for-profit sector, Earle shared that this Leap of Kindness Day is a reminder of how many worthy causes there are to support in everyone’s local communities and how impactful even the smallest of donations can be.
“You’re getting an extra day on your calendar, why not do something good with it,” Earle said. “There are so many worthy charitable organizations out there, we just happen to be one of them and we are fortunate that we have such a good connection with Curtis Lumber, but everybody can find some organization that they believe in and do something to help them out.”
Participating in Leap of Kindness Day for the first time, Coffee Planet in Ballston Spa donated bagels and coffee to the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department — delivering the breakfast items to their headquarters in Ballston Spa.
When asked why she chose to make this donation to the sheriff’s department, the owner of Coffee Planet Kimberly Tribley shared that it was an easy choice.
“I settled on them because they are a huge support to Coffee Planet,” Tribely said. “They come in, they get coffee and bagels, and they are just normal guys and great human beings.” Along with this donation, for every breakfast sandwich and coffee that was purchased at Coffee Planet throughout Leap of Kindness Day, a dollar will be donated to the Ballston Area Community Center which is collecting donations because they need new sports equipment.
“This is something we plan to be involved in for years to come,” shared Tribely. “It’s great to show people our appreciation, especially as businesses because we don’t get to say thank you enough, so this is a great way for us to be able to thank people.”
Chief Deputy Patrick M. Maswich of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department shared that this was an unexpected surprise and that it makes him very happy and appreciative to be on the receiving end of a donation like this from a local small business.
“It feels great, we are very happy to know that a local business that we do a lot of work with is willing to make this donation to our staff to show their appreciation for the type of work that our members do,” Maswich said. “We are very happy and honored. It is an unexpected act of kindness, but those are some of the best ones.”
Maswhich shared that this breakfast donation would be distributed to their employees at stations throughout the county, including at the jail and to their dispatchers and communication center.
“We have a lot of people that work here, we’re 300 employees spread out around the county so, this is a really nice gesture that we really appreciate,” said Maswich. “It’s an unexpected thing, and those are unusually the best acts. It makes people appreciate each other a little bit more and appreciate the small businesses that do a lot for our community.”
With nearly 250 communities from all over the country and expanding out into other continents having organized Leap of Kindness Day events, President of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce Todd Shimkus shared that it is truly gratifying.
“This is what we hoped for when we first created this, that these acts were impactful and positive and that more and more people would get involved and that’s what we’re seeing,” said Shimkus. “It’s not just here in Saratoga County, I saw posts from Singapore and New Zealand, in the United Kingdom, and then all over all over the US and Canada — and that’s just what I saw quickly looking for that hashtag.”
Those who took part in Leap of Kindness Day are urged to share how they participated on social media through using the hashtag #LeapOfKindnessDay.
“We only get an extra day every four years and so you ought to find a really cool way to celebrate that,” Shimkus said. “This is perhaps the best possible way because in this world we could certainly use more kindness, and so to at least dedicate one day every four years to it makes a lot of sense to me.”