We kicked off our Bee Kind Campaign with Halle’s 21st Birthday on June 2nd this year. We,
with the help of so many of you, delivered over 2100 toys, books, and crafts to Tampa Bay area children’s hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, and infusion clinics. It was such a beautiful day to celebrate our girl and her spirit of love, joy, and kindess. We are choosing to continue to carry on Halle Grace’s spirit of kindness with others by asking you to “JoinHallesFlock”.
What does that mean, you may I ask? Well, it all began with a “Flangingo." "Flangingo" was Halle’s first big word after Momma and Dada. That was her sweet variation of the balancing, pink-feathered friend that she first saw at Lowry Park Zoo when she was just three-years-old. Halle’s favorite color was pink and she fell in love with those sweet birds. When Halle was young, she wore foot orthotics and was often wobbly on her feet. Getting her to do her physical therapy could be a challenge to say the least. But once she saw those “Flangingos” stand on one leg at the zoo, Halle was excited to work on her own balancing act as she channeled her inner Flamingo and practiced her stability. In fact, we even got yearly passes to the zoo, just to see those majestic birds. Halle would balance on one foot and dance in front of their sanctuary and bring smiles to all the on-lookers faces. She had a way of bringing joy to even some of the most simple of days. We often joked that the Flamingo was Halle’s spirit animal and even as she grew and her speech matured, we all continued to affectionately call her birds Flangingos.
It is with that sweet memory in mind that we are asking others to challenge themselves to find a balance in their own life. One that, despite living through pandemic these past two years, we can still put a smile on our face and work to bring joy to others as we share random acts of kindness.
Each of our Board Members will kick off the #JoinHallesFlock by doing a random act of kindness, take a picture with their flamingo doing their kind deed, post that picture with the #JoinHallesFlock, and then pass on their "Flangingo" to others. Together we can share kindness and bring joy to so many others. That Act of Kindness can be something as simple as giving someone a hug who needs it most to recording a silly dance for a friend during her chemo.
You can print a picture of #JoinHallesFlock to hold up doing your act of Kindness or look for one of these little pink friends around Tampa in the coming weeks. One of your youth board members, Ashley, gave us the idea to spread kindess through a fun scavenger hunt. We will be hiding a few of Halle's Flangigos around the Tampa area and will post clues where to find them. If you find one - take a picture and share it with us! Then spread that kindess with others. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram as we will be posting clues in the coming few weeks!