The importance of kindness in the community

Devin Owen
MSMU Class of 2026

(9/2023) Kindness and doing good are both concepts that are often overlooked in our society today—concepts that people know are right but still stray from for whatever reason. Over my first year at the Mount, though, I learned that Emmitsburg is a small town that thrives off doing good and spreading kindness throughout the community. Quite frankly, it is an incredibly refreshing sight to see. Doing good and spreading kindness is even something I have seen quite frequently on campus at the Mount; many students and professors put a great deal of effort into being kind, and they emphasize the importance of doing good.

When I first started writing for the News-Journal, I had no clue what I was doing—it was one of those moments where I was thrown in the deep end and told to swim when I didn’t know how. Most people would think that something such as that is unfair or unethical, but in the long run it helped me learn more quickly; I adapted to different writing styles and situations. A memory that pops up while I think of my first few times writing for the Emmitsburg News-Journal is when I was asked to conduct an interview with Kadeem Brim for a feature article on the local farmers market in town. Not only was Brim welcoming, friendly, and honest, but he was also willing to overlook that I had never done an interview before and showed me kindness. This showing of kindness only emphasized Brim’s excitement to do good for his community. When we spoke about what changes were being made to the market this year, he had said that new specialties, such as activities for children and different breweries/wineries, were being added in a rotation each week to not only entice families to come out, but also give everyone something fun to look forward to. Brim had said that he made it his goal to have the market grow, thrive, and "have the life breathed back into it," not just for sake of the local businesses, but for the sake of everyone in the town because it’s something good to do as a part of and for the community.

Acknowledging the good that those around us do is not only important for the purpose of making them feel good about what they did, but also about showing appreciation for the actions that were carried out.

Another interview comes to mind when I speak of appreciating actions ad effort: the Blue Ridge Summit Library held a vintage book sale back on a dreary morning in March this year, and multiple members of the community came out to support it. The members of the Library Association spoke of how excited they were to put together this event and give the community something to do; something to look forward to. As a bookworm myself, the thought of any kind of book sale immediately piques my interest; it also warmed my heart to think that the library is trying to not only bring the community together for something fun, but also attempting to breathe new life into old books that seemed not to have gotten a lot of attention in recent years. I’ll admit I was also incredibly excited when I saw a first edition Winnie the Pooh songbook—Pooh is a big thing in my family, has been for generations, but my niece recently became obsessed with anything pooh bear related—and I wish I could’ve been the one to buy it, but maybe my excitement was similar to another’s over the same book. It makes me think of the connections we can make to those around us just by something simple like that. Although that might not have been the intention of holding the event, it was still a good outcome, a welcome surprise.

Reflecting back on my own experiences, I remember holding a bake sale every year for our local SPCA center—I am a huge dog lover—and held it in the gazebo in my mom’s neighborhood at the time. I absolutely loved planning, baking, and organizing the whole event but, getting to see everyone come out to support a cause that I loved so much was uplifting, heart-warming. The third year I did the sale, a local elementary school received the flyer that was posted on social media by the principal of my middle school; they had a class that volunteered to bake and donate goods for the bake sale that year. Not only did they save me a great deal of time in the kitchen the night prior, but they also reminded me that I wasn’t alone in this: people wanted to help just as much as I did. The best part of all of it, though, was getting to bring the money to the shelter each time; getting to see the way the face of the volunteers working lit up with joy and appreciation, not to mention that I got to go back to the kennels and play and bond with all of the dogs that they had at the time. That moment replays over in my head and reminds me why it’s so good to do good, to be kind and giving.

In a way, this article is a form of recognition itself, honoring those who I have noticed do good and spread kindness in the community. That being said, thank you to everyone who does good and spreads kindness, even when you yourself may be going through a difficult time. You never know just how wonderful the outcome can be when good is done, for others and yourself. Again, recognizing those who do good in the community is important for a plethora of reasons, but the best of them all is to remind others that doing good—for selfless reasons—is something that everyone should strive to do, and by recognizing those who already do good we are also spreading kindness.