Winter is the season of giving. Mission Kindness, a non-profit organization at Oakland University, takes this mission to heart.
The group is dedicated to helping others through monthly events such as making fleece blankets for animal shelters and giving out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to organizations that help the homeless, such as Grace Centers of Hope.
For this holiday season, Mission Kindness hosted a holiday card-making event on Dec. 5 for the residents of Pomeroy Living, a nursing home located in Rochester Hills.
Natalie Pritula, Mission Kindness’ secretary, explains where the idea for the event came from.
“We were going to do fleece blankets for the animal shelters, but it ended up being too expensive for our budget,” Pritula said. “So I came up with making holiday cards.”
The simple service project was sure to spread holiday cheer.
Savannah Broaden, Mission Kindness’ vice president, explains why handing out holiday cards to the elderly is important to them.
“Sometimes in the elderly homes, they really don’t get that much love and attention, and sometimes their children and grandchildren can’t come to see them,” Broaden said. “We wanted to make sure they felt the holly jolly spirit as well.”
Mission Kindness created approximately 35-holiday cards for Pomeroy Living, each going to a resident in the nursing home.
“I didn’t hear back from the board of directors,” said Broaden. “Hopefully, we will soon. But I know that it put a smile on their faces from the last time I spoke to them.”
While making the holiday cards was at the forefront of the event, at its heart, Mission Kindness events are great ways to meet new people and a simple way to take a breather from school work while helping others around the community.
“We played Christmas music, and it’s always fun to meet new people that come,” Pritula said. “So we’re always looking forward to seeing new people and welcoming them to the club. And it was a chill event to do before finals started.”
Broaden explains why Mission Kindness is important to them.
“It means giving back to people,” Broaden said. “Creating a community that helps and gives a great impact on the world, especially for us being young adults.”
Pritula began her involvement with Mission Kindness as a freshman. She enjoyed the club so much that she decided to take on a leadership role within the group.
“I’m in the Honors College, so freshman year, my teaching assistant for the HC 1000 class was on the board for it and she was telling us to come to her events,” Pritula said. “So I went, and it was really fun. All the people on the board are really nice. And then I think it was the next year they needed a social media person. I did that, and then I moved up to secretary this year.”
For those interested in joining Mission Kindness and staying up to date on their events, please visit their GrizzOrgs webpage. To receive timely updates on Mission Kindness events, join their Instagram page @kindnessou.
