The United Way of Hastings (UWH) will be participating in Acts of Kindness Week November 15-19, 2021. United Ways across Minnesota will be participating in the week to highlight the importance of kindness in their communities.

Since 2017, communities all over Minnesota participate in a week of doing simple acts of kindness and promoting their annual giving campaigns. Minnesota United Ways invite their communities to go beyond “Minnesota nice” and invite everyone volunteers, donors, community members, children – to intentionally exemplify kindness with the goal of helping to unify the community and to kick start ongoing acts of kindness. This can be done by a simple hello with a smile, letting someone go ahead of you in line at the grocery store to more involved acts of kindness such as gathering friends to rake someone’s lawn, visiting older adults or those that are ill. Everyone can participate in some form of a sincere act of kindness.

New this year, a local community member will be demonstrating what kindness means to her. Gerri Lundby accepted the invitation to be the “Kindness Champion” during kindness week and will be providing a tip via video for each day of the week. “Gerri exemplifies the importance of kindness and hands out Kindness Matters business cards all over the community,” said Mari E. Mellick, CAE, UWH Executive Director. “Gerri’s been a longtime community member and supporter of United Way of Hastings and she will be great at “championing” kindness during the week.” To access the kindness videos, visit www.unitedwayofhastings. org or https://www. facebook.com/UnitedWay-Hastings.

Also in Hastings, community members and businesses will be donating cash, food items and packing food for UWH’s Food4Kids initiative which provides weekend food bags to hungry students. UWH reports a surge in the need for student weekend food bags and is requesting the following donations: Ziploc gallon bags Juice Boxes, Hot Chocolate Packets, Yoo-hoo Chocolate Milk Individual Serving Cereal Boxes, Individual Serving Oatmeal Packets Soup, Ramen Noodles Cans of Ravioli, Spaghettios, Chili Cans of Tuna, Cans of Meat Individual Mac & Cheese Cups/Easy Mac Cheese Individual Cups of Peanut Butter Cash is also needed to help us restock specific items The UWH has been the Heart of Hastings for nearly 60 years working as an independent United Way serving Hastings and the surrounding rural communities within Independent School District #200. Its mission is to build partnerships to improve the lives of people in the Hastings area. Initiatives and partner agencies funded by the UWH support Education, Health, and Financial Empowerment, with an emphasis on Youth. Donations are accepted year-round. Every dollar raised in the community stays in the community. For more information about the UWH, visit www.unitedwayofhastings. org.