A group of Girl Guides in Nova Scotia is serving up cups of kindness to seniors for Mother’s Day.
The 4th Bedford Brownies delivered more than 70 homemade teacup planters to three retirement homes in the Halifax-area, a surprise gift for all the women — mothers or not — to let them know they are loved and appreciated in the midst of a pandemic that has left so many feeling lonely and isolated.
“You may not be our mother, but you are very special to us,” reads a note from the Brownies, delivered with the planters.
“We know that it is a hard time right now, and we want you to know that we are thinking of you. You are a wonderful person.”
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All of the teacups were donated by community members in Bedford. In keeping with pandemic restrictions, a small group dropped them off on Saturday at the Berkeley retirement home in Bedford, the Northwood Bedford campus and Saint Vincent’s Nursing Home in Halifax.
Tanya MacLennan-Scott, Girl Guides district commissioner, said the 4th Bedford Brownies have been focusing on “random acts of kindness” for the last year, and even created a “kindness wheel” that unit members could spin to choose which community service to provide next.
So far, they’ve picked up litter in the community, delivered Valentines to veterans, collected hats and mittens for the homeless, delivered paintings and kindness letters to seniors’ homes across Ontario and more.
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“They have nowhere to go and they don’t really have any family right now,” said eight-year-old Brownie Peyton Scott, when asked why it was important to show kindness to seniors, especially on Mother’s Day.
“It was really fun to do it cause like, you get your hands dirty.”
Kathy Rudge, lifestyle director for the Berkeley in Bedford, said the 68 residents in her home “really enjoy knowing the community is thinking of them,” especially during difficult times such as the pandemic — holidays in particular.
“I’d like to say thank you very much on behalf of all the residents of the Berkeley,” she said. “This program has been great and we do really appreciate all the community efforts we’ve received during the pandemic.
“This is the second Mother’s Day we’ve been in quarantine … it’s nice to know there are people in the community that are still instilling community spirit into the young people in our communities.”
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The 4th Bedford Brownies have been running programs online during the lockdown. First, they had space in a community school, and when community access to schools closed, they moved into a mall. When group gathering was banned altogether, they started meeting on Zoom.
“The girls have been very flexible, very resilient,” said unit guider Stephanie MacDonald. “Sometimes we did drop-offs if we wanted to do crafts, that’s sort of thing, so we could do it together. We made gingerbread houses together online, so it was still an effort together and we got to spend time together safely.”
She said part of the Brownies motto is to “take action” to make the world a better place, and while a small group actually crafted the teacup planters, all the Brownies gathered virtually to write the letters that accompany them.
MacDonald said registration for Girl Guides is coming up soon and there are many local units in Nova Scotia with spaces for all age groups.
Anyone interested in volunteering for the organization is asked to email the district commissioner.
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