Story Submitted by Suzanne S. Austin-Hill

Call: Acts of Kindness

During the pandemic, my husband and I (both aged and compromised) have been the recipients of a variety of planned and random acts of kindness from friends, neighbors, and family (near and far). One of which I shared in the May 2020 edition of Positively Powerstories. However, what has been missing from our “new normal” are the opportunities to safely donate food items, clothing, and especially schools supplies to local social service agencies (now closed due to COVID-19) as we’ve done faithfully over the last decade. All of this changed today!

Several weeks ago, the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO; https://echofl.org), with locations in Brandon and Riverview, announced its annual Back to School Outreach. Their clarion call included lists highlighting the specific food items and school supplies needed. In anticipation of serving the surrounding communities and in light COVID-19, ECHO closed its facilities for a week-long deep cleaning. They re-opened today, July 27, 2020.

Masked and standing on a social distancing marker painted on the sidewalk, we were blessed to be among the first at the Riverview location to donate many of the items they needed along with a bag full of clothing. Although the conditions of our act of kindness are different in every way imaginable, the absolute joy found in helping those in need is still a thriving and necessary part of our pre-pandemic selves.
© July 2020 Suzanne S. Austin-Hill

Story Submitted by Richdean Hills-Ackbar

When you asked for kindness stories, my nonprofit, Caregivers Helping Hand does a community baby shower for moms-to-be who are on public assistance in Hillsborough County. It’s been 11 years now since our first one. I started the Community Baby Shower to honor the people that blessed me with two baby showers when I was a single mother in need. I decided to pay it forward by founding this special event, showing the same kindness to them that I, myself, received. Caregivers Helping Hand provides free services to low income children and teens, women, and seniors, and once a year, this very special event pampers our moms-to-be. But this year, on October 10th, our spoiling of 200 moms-to-be with baskets of goodies is going to be a little different. We’ll be following pandemic safety measures and having a drive-through Community Baby Shower because we feel it’s safer for expectant moms and our volunteers. HUMANA is donating 250 mask for volunteers and our moms-to-be. We have gloves, mask, soap and water to protect ourselves and others. Soon-to-be moms can register to take part at momstobe2020.eventbrite.com.

If anyone is interested in showing kindness to these moms-to-be, we always accepts gently used and new items for newborn babies, and boys and girls. Items needed include newborn diapers, baby bags, pacifiers, socks, blankets, hats, t-shirts, headbands, rattles, bottles, teething toys, strollers, mobiles, baby wipes, lotion, shampoo, powder, crib sheets, baby swings, baby monitors, and bottle warmers.

Story Submitted by Kamila Khasanova

It is not often that a single phone call results in a job offer the day before graduation. Yet, that is exactly how Kamila Khasanova MBA ’20 landed her position as an account executive at Playbook Public Relations. And it is all thanks to her mentor, Cindy Kane ’76.

Kane is a longtime USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy (WLP) organization member who recently made a generous gift to both WLP and USF Athletics. Cindy and Kamila began their mentor-mentee relationship through WLP in November 2019. Every month they meet to discuss topics such as career paths, personal growth, and employment. Just before graduation, Cindy recommended Kamila to call Playbook Public Relations’ founder and USF donor, Sally Dee MBA ’11.

“Everybody would think that getting a job was an act of kindness that Cindy did for me by putting me in contact with Sally, however, Cindy showed her sincere interest and engagement in my professional and personal life from the first day we met. I have had multiple mentors prior to Cindy but I could not truly understand the meaning of mentorship before I started working with Cindy. She is a born leader who gives her heart in everything she does,” said Kamila. “The biggest act of kindness that I received from Cindy was dedicating her time to have deep and valuable conversations with me that helped me to secure a job I have today”.

Thank you,
Kamila

Story Submitted by Brooke Elkins

My name is Brooke Elkins. I’m a former educator of Hillsborough County schools in Florida. Even though I have left the classroom I still feel very connected to education and teachers. I have many friends who are educators and I have listened to their concerns as they are heading into the 2020 school year, in the middle of a pandemic. I can’t imagine starting the school year under these stressful conditions and in my book they are heroes for doing so. I started thinking to myself where could I be of help? What could I do to make a difference for them?

And so then I remembered a post on my neighborhood Facebook page, back in May, where our community members adopted High School seniors and showered them with small little items just to show them that someone cared and I thought to myself, why couldn’t we do this for teachers? So I created a page called Adopt a Hillsborough Teacher. This is a page on Facebook where you can see teachers across the county linking their classroom wish list items primarily through Amazon and a community member can adopt a teacher and take an item or two off of her list. If you know a teacher, you know how much teachers actually pour into their classrooms every single year. Money that comes from their own pockets… All the little items that make their classroom go from “standard, to ,special and all the items the kids need to succeed. What makes this year’s teacher supply list different is now they are having to rethink how all of their classroom supplies will need to be used in order to cut down on possible contamination. And many teachers are finding themselves having to purchase items like headsets, for example, so each child has their own personal set to use at the computer, touchless soap dispensers, and containers where each child can store there own individual work, amongst many other things. On top of that is the concern for disinfectant items that are already hard to come by due to the shortage in our local stores. The district has provided but many teachers have concern there may not be enough to last the year.

To date we have over 5,000 members in less than 4 days of the page being created. But we are hoping as this gains community attention, more people will join the page to support the teachers that are already on there and who are joining daily. It doesn’t take much to make a teacher smile. If we are asking our teachers to return back to the classroom in the middle of a pandemic then the very least we can do for them is support them with something they need in order to better serve our students and to keep them safe. Please join our group by clicking here: Adopt a Hillsborough Teacher on Facebook.

Story by Cindy Kane and Kamila Khasanova

Mentoring – Women supporting our next generation. Supporting young women to grow and lead takes a team. A University of South Florida (USF) team.

It is not often that a single phone call results in a job offer the day before graduation. Yet, that is exactly how Kamila Khasanova USF MBA ’20 landed her position as an account executive at Playbook Public Relations. And it is all thanks to her mentor, Cindy Kane and a connection with Sally Dee, both USF Alumni.

Cindy and Kamila began their mentor-mentee relationship through the USF Women in Leadership and Philanthropy (WLP) in November 2019. Every month they meet to discuss topics such as career paths, personal growth, and employment. Just before graduation, Cindy recommended Kamila to call Playbook Public Relations’ founder, Sally Dee.

Kamila: “Everybody would think that getting a job was an act of kindness that Cindy did for me by putting me in contact with Sally, however, Cindy showed her sincere interest and engagement in my professional and personal life from the first day we met. I have had multiple mentors prior to Cindy but I could not truly understand the meaning of mentorship before I started working with Cindy. She is a born leader who gives her heart in everything she does,” said Kamila. “The biggest act of kindness that I received from Cindy was dedicating her time to have deep and valuable conversations with me that helped me to secure a career I have today”.

Cindy: “Thanks to WLP for connecting me and Kamila. The timing, our personalities and drive to work together was perfect. I reached out to Sally, to see if Kamila’s skills were a fit for her business. Sally and I both have a passion for USF and helping young women succeed. My hope is we stay connected for years to come and Kamila is able to mentor a young woman in the future. We are a team and will continue to help each other. I encourage everyone to step up and find an opportunity to connect with a young person to be a mentor.”

Story Submitted by Max Kelly

Before the pandemic: I performed daily. I was in three active improv troupes, and an assortment of other scattered projects. My roommates would joke with me that they should rent out my room during the day; it was vacant all the time! Then, it all stopped. At first, it felt like a much needed break. But, before long, I felt myself missing the creativity I was able to express so frequently. Nothing has been QUITE the same, but I stumbled into other things that allowed me to stay active. Of my three improv troupes, two were comedy based (Quadruple Stuffed Oreos, and Murphy Bed Surprise) and the other was a form that focused on re-telling/honoring stories that were shared by the audience (Playback UCF.)

As for the comedy troupes, here was my replacement: Dungeons and Dragons. What a nerd, right? Well, Monsieur Le Jock, I’ll have you know that sitting down in front of a zoom call with your close friends, alcoholic beverage in hand, and making them laugh with funny voices and role playing is actually a STUPID amount of fun. It’s just like improv: You play a character, they get put in all sorts of different contexts, and you end up telling a pretty cool story (and you’re doing it with your friends.) Every member of the group is into theatre/improv as well, and we’ve created some really memorable moments with just our minds and some laughs. It’s as creative as anything else you can do.

As for the storytelling troupe, Playback UCF, we actually never went away. We transitioned into zoom performances. It took experimenting and a decent amount of work, but we ended up performing several shows that packed the same emotional punch that our in-person shows do. It was rewarding to create something that was polished and legitimate under the circumstances the world is under. We still rehearse, twice a week, and have shared our format with other groups.

Now lastly, I am very proud to say that I am playing a role in one of the first live-shows in Central Florida since the outbreak. The director and producer boldly took on the project: a live, outdoor, drive-in theatre production of Euripides “The Bacchae.” He worked to find and rent an outdoor location where actors will remain 6 feet apart, and audience members will watch from the safety of their vehicles. We began table-work through zoom, and have recently transitioned into socially-distant blocking rehearsals.

From all of this, I learned that people will be able to pursue their passions despite all circumstances. The product may look different than what we’re used to, but it’s art all the same. And! There is a widespread anticipation for a return to normalcy. When people typically go to a comedy show, they buy their ticket because they want to laugh. When they sit down, they are ready and willing to laugh and enjoy themselves. Right now, that readiness and willingness is as powerful as ever. I’m excited to experience it.

Story Submitted by Alexis Labrada

When quarantine began my job closed along with school so I went back home to New Jersey. When I got back I realized I couldn’t see anyone, not even close friends because my dad has asthma which makes him more susceptible to the virus. While I had my sister with me I did not know what to pass the time. At first it was easier to keep busy with my online classes since I had to finish the semester off, but I was not as motivated as I was at school. Once classes ended I really did not know what to do. I was doing pretty well with keeping active as fitness is what I enjoy most. I was doing at home workouts and posting them on my social media to help others get active during quarantine. I also wrote personalized at home workouts for my clients to do since my job was a personal trainer. However, keeping active was not enough to get me through the days. I decided to start taking on challenges. I wanted to be able to hold a handstand for a long period of time, which is so random, but I practiced every day until my wrists hurt. This was something that was fun for me to do daily, but again wasn’t enough. I then decided to get better at speaking in Spanish since my family speaks it so I started to use Duolingo. However, yet again it was not enough so I decided to take on the biggest challenge of them all, renovating my dad’s house. This has been keeping me busy for the last 3 months and I can’t wait to see the end results.

Story Submitted by Kassidy Pierce

I am a graduate of the now infamous class of 2020. After 5 years at UCF, I’m finally graduating with two degrees: a B.S. in Entertainment Management and a B.A. in Theatre Studies. In March, we began our week-long Spring Break and by the end of that week classes had moved online for two weeks, and then the remainder of the semester. While it wasn’t the ending to my college campus experience I had anticipated, we found a way to make the best of it. Instead of an official graduation ceremony, my family organized our own. I “walked” around our pool in my cap and gown and to make it more fun, my family dressed up with me. My mom in her old grad school robe, my dad in a wizard robe and hat, my sister in her wet suit, and my brother in gigantic funky glasses. The real loss I was mourning was the five shows I was producing through UCF’s developmental theatre organization Project Spotlight. This was my third and last semester as Project Spotlight’s Artistic Director after being with the organization for 3 years. Officially, the school was closed and the shows were cancelled. Unofficially, we knew it couldn’t end there. My Leadership team and I immediately started brainstorming ways to celebrate the hard work of the casts, crews, and playwrights in this new time of social distancing and quarantine. Since every part of our shows are done by students, we decided to wait until the stress of the semester and finals was over. We reached out to the directors and casts to see if they were interested in remounting their shows for an online platform. Amazingly, almost every single person was able to “come back” to work on these shows. We organized a three night festival on our facebook page we called OAF 2.0: The Show Must Go Online. Our festival was viewed by almost 2,000 people across all three nights. Getting to work with everyone again, even under the changed and less than ideal circumstances was truly a gift. I was reminded, as I have been again and again throughout my life, of the power of storytelling. I am so grateful to have been a part of this organization and it was a moving end to my time with it. I am not walking out of college into the world I expected, the entertainment industry and theatre may feel the ramifications of this for years to come but I have found that through it all the art survives. The artists will always create. We find new platforms or build them. For now, I take an online acting class, I organize online readings of new plays, I work, I read, I dream, and I plan. The future may look dark but there is always a light, and so we keep moving forward.

Story Submitted by Anthony Mottarella

My name is Anthony Mottarella and I am an undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida. I was planning on staying in Orlando for the summer of 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled all face-to-face courses at UCF. I instead came back to my hometown of Melbourne Florida, and lived with my mom and 11 year old brother, John. It was extremely nice to spend time with them because I am a very family oriented person and love both of them immensely. Even though I was staying in the same house as them, I sometimes felt that I did not see them enough due to my rigorous work schedule. Right when I came back to my hometown, I asked my former boss if I could have my job back, as a server at SquidLips Over water Grill in Melbourne. My boss immediately texted me back that he would love to have me come back and work full time as a cocktail server. My best friend Sam also works at SquidLips so it was extremely nice to work with him and see him on a daily basis. There were a lot of positive aspects about moving back but there was always the fear of getting COVID-19 because I am face to face with a large number of customers. Also, SquidLips is the second largest restaurant in Melbourne so the odds of COVID-19 spreading through the restaurant is likely. Being an essential worker during the pandemic has shown me lots of things. It has reassured me that I have an amazing family who have the funds to provide me an education and a roof over my head. It has also shown me that the majority of workers at squid lips serve as their main source of income, and by closing down the restaurant, they would not have money for rent and monthly payments. Many employees have also complained that they have not received their unemployment even though they applied in march. The media portrays a lot of fear from the elderly population but I have seen the stress that the pandemic has placed onto our blue collar workers. Luckily, every worker at SquidLips has been financially and emotionally helping each other out, and are moving through this pandemic as a work family.

Story Submitted by Nathalia Candelario

In January 2020, I made the brave decision of pursuing a career with the United States Air Force. I left for basic military training early in January when the civilian world was still very much “normal”. As you may know, while at training we cannot keep or use any cell phones. The only way of communication in regards to what it is like beyond the gates of the base was writing to our loved ones or our instructor telling us important information. Towards the end of January, I had received a letter from my friends and family explaining this concern of a new virus that came up in China, today known as COVID-19, and that it has been spreading fast in China. At the time, training did not change because it had not hit the U.S. quite yet. However, later in February, we were told that they had quarantined a good amount of people from cruise ships on our base. Because the virus still was not big, we were able to graduate as normal and see our families and walk around the city, but we were the last graduating class able to have a ceremony, see our families, and walk off base. After our class, the other classes were not so lucky due to the tremendous spike in cases here. During my job training, I had experienced many limitations, such as having to walk with friends with maintaining social distance, wearing masks at all time, quarantining incoming classes from basic training, having to eat pre-made meals instead of the dining facility, unable to complete fitness tests, not being able to leave base and expediting my graduating date 2 weeks early. All in all, training for all branches have taken a huge turn compared to when I went through earlier in the year and will probably continue to adapt to current situations.