Bolingbrook Celebrates Kindness Day on May 16, 2020

Bolingbrook, IL – Pioneer Elementary School Kindness Day was first introduced by Bolingbrook’s Mayor Roger Claar on May 18, 2018 in recognition for 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.

This year we continue to honor and celebrate Pioneer Elementary School Kindness Day with a mostly virtual community celebration on Saturday, May 16, 2020.

To kick off the celebrations Bolingbrook Village Trustee Michael Carpanzano, a Kindness Day parnter, will host a zoom chat at 9am where he will be joined by Kindness Day Co-Founders, Marissa and Samantha Yelenosky. The 2020 Kindness Ambassadors from area schools will also be presented along with special guest Carmen Killingsworth, who is retiring this year from Pioneer Elementary School and is being recognized for her kindness. Jeffrey Fisher, Director of the Fountaindale Public Library’s Studio 300, Clare Scheller from Children’s Miracle Network/ Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital and Jessica Miller from Make-A-Wish Illinois will also be joining this chat. During this presentation, our Kindness Day partners VGAN Chocolates(vganchocolates.com), J.C. Restoration(jcrestoration.com), IPIC Bolingbrook(ipic.com) and the Escape Hour Room(escapehourroom.com) will be recognizing with a special gift our Kindness Ambassadors and our Valley View School District 365 area school educators that are retiring this year and that were known for their kindness.

“We had an unexpected emergency stay at Lurie Children’s Hospital during this quarantine and it meant a lot to us that our doctors, nurses, family, friends, school community and our youth cared so much for our daughter,” said Marissa Yelenosky. “We are not the only family that is the recipient of kindness. This year on our Pioneer Elementary School Kindness Day social media pages we are featuring three amazing families that will share the impact that kindness has had on their lives and will hopefully inspire our youth and community to continue to be kind to each other.”

Many local and non-local businesses have come together to support Kindness Day 2020. These are the different acts of Kindness that they will be sharing with the community on Saturday, May 16, 2020 and that we encourage our community to support.

• The Bolingbrook Fountaindale Public Library has dedicated an entire day to virtual Kindness Day activities including a Young Author Workshop hosted by renowned author Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz (jackiecamacho.com). The free zoom webinar will start at 1p and the link and a list of other fun and inspiring Kindness activities for all ages can be found at fountaindale.org/kindness.
• Share words of kindness or thank others for being kind to you. Submit your video to the Fountaindale Public Library at fountaindale.org/kindness or go to our Pioneer Elementary School Kindness Day Facebook page and post a picture with our Kindness poster. For those that post on our Facebook page, you’ll have the opportunity to win a 5pak of VGAN Chocolates.
• On Kindness Day, Home Run Inn Pizza Bolingbrook (homeruninnpizza.com ) located at 1280 W Boughton Rd, will be donating 20% of all proceeds from carry out and online orders directly to Pioneer Elementary School. Make sure to mention Pioneer Elementary School when placing your order. For online orders add “fundraising” to cart.
• Taco Dale Bolingbrook (tacodale.com), located at 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.
• Maplebrook Chiropractic, located at 365 E Bailey Rd, Naperville, will have a Kindness Day massage special you can purchase on their site-https://maplebrookchiropractic.com/kindness-day.
• Prince Arcades at the Bolingbrook Promenade will have a $10 all day play special you can purchase on their site-princearcades.com.
• Visit the Bolingbrook Bank & Trust (bankbolingbrook.com ) drive thru at 198 S. Bolingbrook Drive, between 9am-1pm and get a coupon for a free ice cream cone at Andy’s Frozen Custard. *while supplies last.
• Look for Kindness messages on various digital boards in Bolingbrook including: Chicago Billboards, (chicagobillboards.com); at Tim Wallace Landscaping & Supplies (timwallacelandscapesupply.com), 1481 W Boughton Rd; Ashbury’s at Boughton Ridge, (boughtonridgegolf.com), 335 E. Boughton Rd and St. Francis of Assisi Church, (stfrancisbb.org) at 1501 W Boughton Rd.
• Thank you to the Village of Bolingbrook, Barnes & Noble Bolingbrook, The Promenade Bolingbrook and Dog Dayze for also being Kindness Day partners.

Happy Kindness Day!

Kindness Day Video Links:

1. Lurie Children’s Patient Spreads Kindness Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ULyLvFpwM
2. Happy Kindness Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibsZjrEULJ0
3. Why We Joined Kindness Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FidzZ5PAnHM
4. The Ramirez Family-Cerebral Palsy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DBxxHJE1eE
5. The Bergacker Family- Heart Conditions/Waiting for Heart Transplant; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtMVGkDHESU
6. The Dunmore Family- Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmVYIS2Y8PU
7. Home Run Inn Pizza- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcNwfrU89DI
8. Prince Arcades- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cawkda6v6t8
9. Bolingbrook Bank & Trust- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcIw7b0tju4
10. Maplebrook Chiropractic- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnOOJpHPpos
11. Taco Dale Bolingbrook - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9e_JmRePtU

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