We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Linda Baratz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Linda below.

Hi Linda, thanks for joining us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

The kindness Angels created a carnival for the children of the Florence Fuller center. It was a spectacular event complete with a group of clowns, cookie, decorating, balloon making, arts and crafts, games, toys for everyone, and so much more. These are children that have very little and appreciate so much at the end of the carnival. One little boy came over to me and said, “This was the best day of my life.” What more could we want. Priceless.

Linda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Linda Baratz. I am the founder of the Kindness Angels.

MISSION STATEMENT

In partnership with Kindness Matters365, Kindness angels seek to spread kindness by providing hot meals and essential needs to the most vulnerable members of our community. In addition, special collections and events are held to further provide happiness to those who have many challenges. Together, We help create a better world, one act of kindness at a time.

The Kindness Angels are an amazing and compassionate group of volunteers who are dedicated to serving our our unhoused, hungry, and most vulnerable citizens, including people in recovery, foster children, those little ones who are without the privileges so many is us enjoy and so on. Our tests are easy to do, and so heartwarming. We cook hard and delicious meals, donate a plethora of essential items like non-perishable foods, sunscreen, bug spray, hats, and toiletries to name a few things. Create carnivals, bake hundreds of dozen of cookies to give to the kids at holiday time, provide gifts for foster children who are graduating from high school, distribute clothing, and so much more.

Before Kindness Matters365 I never volunteered. I was completely involved with my family and my fashion belt manufacturing business. My daughter Laura Reiss, started Kindness Matters approximately 17 years ago to teach kindness, compassion and giving back to children in a free afternoon program. It was wildly successful and Laura realized that this can’t be for thirty kids in one school, it had to be for all children everywhere. Today it is in about 300 schools and growing quickly. I was at her very first program and it was a Christmas party for the children from Florence Fuller. They were brought over to the school on a bus and as they got off the bus Laura told the Kindness Matters kids to each take the hand of one of their guests. Then they walked into the party. This was at the very beginning and there was no funding yet. Each child received a backpack of presents but they were very simple things. I was sitting with one adorable little boy and when he put his hand into the backpack and drew out a ruler he said, “oh my goodness, I always wanted a ruler. I am so excited to have a ruler. The next thing he got was a coloring book. He said, “ A coloring book, I can’t believe I got a coloring book. I was going to ask for a coloring book for Christmas.” I was hooked and my volunteering career started.

We have a group of over 400 Angels and what I am most proud of is the way that this magnificent group of people have come together to provide so much for the challenged people in our community. Each and every item we provide means so much. A can of soup may seem like a little thing. It might look like a can of soup, it may smell like a can of soup but to the recipient it means that someone really cares about them. To them it means love.

We invite and encourage everyone to become a Kindness Angel. What we do is so easy and yet so rewarding. Many people who have joined have been depressed or without a purpose. Feeling bored or lonely. They have found so much meaning and fulfillment in the important work that we do. I believe that when we help, we heal. I have seen it over and over again with my own to eyes.

In this often times difficult world, the one thing everyone has the ability to be is kind. Please join our Kindness Family and help us make our community and the world a more gentle and kinder place.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I started the Kindness Angels doing a monthly program for the underserved children at Florence Fuller. We created carnival, provided magic shows, had programs like the Forgotten Soldiers in which they wrote letters to our military after hearing their story. We gave them so many treats and experience in addition to teaching them kindness and compassion.

Here comes the pivot:

When Covid came we sadly could no longer go into the school. I decided to make some sandwiches for the unhoused people at St. Gregory’s Church.
When I arrived I meant Gena, the head of the program there and she told me that they really needed coffee and coffee pots for their guests when it was chilly out. I immediately put a post on Facebook and I couldn’t believe the response. I got lots of both. When I delivered them she said, “I am so thrilled that you were able to get them because one woman who is going from homelessness into her first apartment with her kids wants them.” I said, “What else does she need.” Gena said, “A whole kitchen.” I posted again and got an entire kitchen for her complete with dishes, silverware, accessories, pots and pans and so on. At that moment I realized the power of community and how much we could accomplish together. .

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I would absolutely choose my work as a Kindness Angel for our community. It is the most rewarding, heartwarming and fulfilling experience I have ever had.

Contact Info:

• Website: Kindness Matters 365