HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – Taking a moment to look around to see how our neighbors are doing can do a whole lot of good. This week’s Hoover’s Hero already gives back through her work with the Junior League of Huntsville, but she’s also taken it a step further.
Jessa Hicks believes that if each one of us helps our own community, then we can make the world a nicer place.
“Today we are stocking the closet. We do this about every month,” Jessa said.
We were with her when she arrived at Rolling Hills Elementary with donations in tow to stock what she calls “The Kindness Closet.”
“We are stocking the closet so that the kids can come in and get snacks or hygiene items, take them home and have what they need, have their basics taken care of,” Jessa said.
Jessa says the idea of opening a pantry at this Title One school came through her work with the Junior League of Huntsville and the annual Christmas coat drive.
“As I was in the school, more and more I was noticing that there were a lot more needs unmet,” Jessa said.
She got to work with the principal and compiled a list of items that many students needed at both school and at home.
“So now it’s grown from coats to underwear, socks, shampoo, laundry detergent, bars of soap, toothpaste, everything that they can need,” Jessa said.
“You know, these kids go home, and they have siblings, and if they need more food at night, their siblings need food, too. I can’t tell you how many kids come in because they need a toothbrush, but their whole family needs a toothbrush and so we just give them a pack,” Jessa said.
Jessa says her inspiration to give back stems from her childhood, and just looking around and paying attention to your friends and neighbors.
“I grew up in a school where I had even more than my friends had, and it wasn’t a lot but I’ve always kind of looked around and noticed, you know, that we can always do more,” Jessa said.
It’s a lesson from this Hoover’s Hero that a little bit of kindness can go a long way.
“I don’t feel like a hero. I just feel like a mom who sees a need and meets the need. It makes me feel good to be called a hero, but I don’t feel like I’m doing anything that someone else can do for sure,” she says.
To help Jessa out with donations or to volunteer with stocking the closet, contact her on Facebook at The Kindness Closet – Huntsville.
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