Bills Passed
With Kindness Month, Students Look to Turn “Mess into a Masterpiece” By Katie Lannan, State House News Service February 8, 2016
Kindness tends to come in random acts, but could be on track for a more regi- mented schedule in Massachusetts. A bill to declare May as the state’s official month of kindness was passed by the Massa- chusetts House of Representatives on Jan. 27 and is now before the Senate Committee on Rules. “This isn’t just a feel-good thing,” said Rep. Ken Gordon, the bill’s sponsor. “It is that, but it’s more than that. There’s a purpose behind it.” Gordon, a Bedford Democrat, said he began seeking the kindness month designation after he was approached by a group of young constituents -- students at Burlington’s Francis Wyman Elementary School. Some of the students lost their homes in a three-alarm fire at the Lord Baron apartment complex in Burlington in 2013. After the fire, Gordon said, the community stepped up with an outpouring of charity that the bill now seeks to honor. “The governor shall annually issue a procla- mation setting aside the month of May as the official month of kindness, recommending its observance by the people as a period of special attention to the importance of being kind to each other with acts that will assist those in need in a way that provides a path to self-sufficiency,” the bill reads in its entirety. Asked how Massachusetts would benefit from an official month of kindness, Gordon said, “That’s a good question to ask the kids. They have such wonderful answers.”
In testimony supporting the bill, 12-year-old Flowerjoy Burley said that a recognition of kindness is important because “most people forget about kindness and what it means.” “Because true kindness to me lies within the act of giving without the expectation of some- thing in return,” she wrote. “Even if we say one kind word it can change someone’s entire day, and if everyone does something kind, we can change a mess into a masterpiece.” The students - mostly fourth, fifth and sixth graders - have been involved at every step of the process, Gordon said. They visited the State House last year when Gordon filed the bill and were in the House gallery to watch the voice vote approving it, in between the final approval of a North Reading land transfer and discussion of creating an office of health equity. Afterwards, the students walked over to the Senate and met with Sen. Ken Donnelly, an Arlington Democrat who also represents Bur- lington and is a co-sponsor of the bill. “It’s been so rewarding and such an enriching experience,” Gordon said. “These kids really felt marginalized in the beginning. They lost their home and they just didn’t feel they were a part of things and now they do. They real- ized that they can make a difference.” They lost their home and they just didn’t feel they were a part of things and now they do. They realized that they can make a difference.
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