Honoring a memory with kindness
Students and staff at Neil Armstrong and Walt Disney elementary schools are carrying on Fireman Joe Manuse’s legacy of kindness and caring. The compassion he demonstrated continues with a new initiative called Acts of Kindness. Staff members at both schools have been working together to help students organize kindness baskets which will be hand delivered to local firefighters every month.
The baskets filled with small projects, treats, trinkets, messages and pictures, are created by the students at each school. The first basket was delivered to Gates Fire Station No. 2, where Fireman Joe volunteered his time. It featured kind messages for first responders from fifth-graders at Neil Armstrong. Lt. Stephen Sears and his crew accepted the first basket, overwhelmed with the compassion the Armstrong Stars shared with them.
“Joe touched so many lives, so many hearts," shared Sears. "By having the students in Gates Chili as part of our family, a support mechanism to help us get through day-by-day, it’s really touching. The handwritten notes especially hit home." Disney Dragons are also putting together kindness baskets, with plans to deliver to fire stations in the community throughout the school year.