MIAMI SHORES, FLA. (WSVN) - Eleven-year-old Ana is a fifth grader at the Cushman School in Miami and learning remotely from home.
“I have time to do something important and kind to people,” Ana said.
So Ana stared to think, how could she help her neighbors? The first person she thought of was Bill, her next door neighbor and had an idea.
The idea was three colored sheets of paper. Three different signals for Bill and other more mature and wise neighbors to hang on their door or in their window. Green if they’re OK, yellow if they need something or red for an emergency.
Bill said, “I was going, what the heck? It didn’t make sense that I came out and put it up, and I realized, easy for them to see.”
“Every single time I walk I can see if they have green or red or yellow.”
Everyday Ana goes to class and then does her rounds in her family’s Miami Shores neighborhood, which includes a stop at Bill’s and two other homes on the block.
“She’s doing something and doing something to help other people,” Bill said.
That act of generosity and caring caught the attention of her teachers and earned Ana the Cushman Key of Kindness.
Arvi Balseiro of the Cushman School said, “Ana felt with her heart, she was paying attention to what others need beyond herself, so whether you are home and this time isolated as we are, or you can be out and about in the community there’s absolutely something you can do to help someone have a warmer heart.”
A simple idea.
“Thrilled that they knew someone was there for them,” Ana said.
“I appreciate knowing that it’s there,” Bill said.
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