Natick Cultural Council Funds Signs of Kindness

When Natick resident Anne Lafleur started selling Signs of Kindness last fall, she was not thinking about a global pandemic. Her goal was simply to help neighbors uplift and support each other with encouraging messages printed on yard signs. But gestures like that are now more important than ever.

Thanks to a grant from the Natick Cultural Council, Natick residents can now borrow Signs of Kindness for two weeks at a time.

There are 52 "traveling" signs in total, with 18 different messages to choose from, including You are loved, You've got this, What you do matters, and You are not alone.

Natick resident Barbara Walsh recently delivered four Signs of Kindness to Mary Ann Morse Healthcare Center, which has been especially hard hit by COVID-19. "They were devastated about losing residents to the disease," Walsh said. "Being a nurse and having difficult days, I knew right away that this was a perfect way to lift their weary hearts."

Ingrid Frank, a member of the Natick/Sherborn Sewing Support Group, borrowed signs to put on the lawns of several women who have been working especially hard to make and distribute masks, headbands and scrub caps to healthcare workers.

Local businesses have gotten involved, too, including BAHA Mexican Restaurant and the Frame Shop and Gallery. Stew Brandt, owner of H. Brandt Jewelers, has signs of encouragement both at home and in his North Main St storefront. "I was taught from a very young age, as the child of survivor parents, that no matter how inconvenient certain of life’s curve balls can be, it can always be much worse.," Brandt said.

To borrow signs of your own, just fill out the form at https://www.thegiftofhappiness.org/natick

Signs may also be purchased outright at https://www.thegiftofhappiness.org/yard-signs and shipped anywhere in the U.S.

So far they have been planted in 36 states. Lafleur's goal is to reach all 50 before this year's Presidential election. Still remaining: Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming.