2018 Noah's Kindness Project

Please save the date and join us as we help spread kindness and honor Noah's legacy.

I've had lots of time to think about this year's project, already have some things lined up and it should be a lot of fun.   

Stay tuned...  more information to come.

Until next time,
Angie and Jarrett

A reminder of the little guy who help inspire us to share kindness....

Announcing the Celebration of “Noah’s Kindness Project” : Showing Love, Kindness, and Generosity

As many of you may know, our son, Noah James Haskovec, was born to us on June 13, 2015 following a week-long stay in the hospital.  We spent the next twelve days with him in the NICU at the hospital before he passed away on June 25.  Our blogdocuments his short but meaningful life with us here on earth. 

While Noah lived a short time, we truly believe and find consolation in that fact that his life was meaningful and impacted the lives of many others in positive ways.  Throughout our stay at the hospital, our many visits to see him at the NICU every day, and after his passing, we always felt the profound and genuine love, kindness, support, prayers, and caring offered and shown by so many people, including those who had been complete strangers to us and those living in states far away from us.  Noah’s Kindness Project is both an opportunity to remember and honor our son’s memory and to capture, recreate, and promote the kindness, generosity, and love people exhibited toward us during his life.

Noah’s life brought out the best in so many.  While we were at the hospital, friends and family regularly stopped in to visit us and offer their love and support and brought or sent many gifts and care packages in an effort to make sure we had everything we needed and to show they cared.  So many contacted us by every medium imaginable – telephone, email, texts, Facebook, cards and letters, and others – to share a supportive note and to let us know they were thinking about and praying for us that it took us quite a while to get back to everyone.  A few days before Noah was born, some friends organized a meal delivery schedule to ensure that we would not have to be concerned about planning meals for our other children.  The meal deliveries went on for fully six weeks.  More friends and family than we can count offered to watch our other kids and dog for us throughout this time.  Some friends jumped in to take one of our sons to and from baseball practice and games.  People prayed for us – some for the first time in a long time.  We continued to receive a steady stream of letters, cards, flowers/plants, gifts, and other expressions of love and support from friends and family over the next many weeks.  Some gifts were for our other children and were offered to keep them happy and busy during this difficult time.  Once Noah had passed, the kindness, generosity, love, and support continued to flow, including some extremely moving gifts from strangers who read about and followed our experiences on the blog.  People followed our story – Noah’s story – throughout on the blog.  People rejoiced with us during the happy times, prayed for us during the challenging times, and suffered with us when he passed.  We felt lifted up throughout and were extremely touched.  Just when we thought people couldn’t possibly do more or be more generous to us, people did more.  It has been an amazing feeling.  
Each year, on the first Saturday in October, we will celebrate and honor Noah's life and legacy by performing acts of kindness in his honor.  Noah was originally expected to arrive on October 3 and we choose this time of year to give back, and extend a hand of kindness in his memory.  We ask you to please join us in spreading kindness...

Please take some time out of your day to do something nice for someone, to help someone in need or in distress, to volunteer or support a cause important to you, to pray and reflect, or to just make someone’s day unexpectedly better. 

Below are some ideas of the many different ways you can participate in Noah’s Kindness Project. 

• ·         Visit someone in the hospital or a shut-in person
• ·         Call or each out to someone in need or crisis
• ·         Volunteer for a cause important to you. 
• ·         Donate to a different group that helps others
• ·         Donate blood
• ·         Send a care package to someone who doesn’t expect it
• ·         Open a door for someone/help someone carry something
• ·         Generously tip a service person
• ·         Thank  healthcare worker, service person, firefighter, emergency responder for their service
• ·         Pay for someone’s meal or drink
• ·         Clean up a park, the side of the road or neighborhood shared space
• ·         Send an anonymous gift and note to someone in need or struggling
• ·         Give someone a ride to their doctor’s appointment
• ·         Share your talent in a way to make someone’s day better
• ·         Volunteer at an animal shelter

The act of kindness is really up to you.   Our goal is to have as many people as possible participate.  Your act of kindness can be as simple as holding a door or as generous as giving of your time and money to help.  All we ask is that you do it in memory of our son.  We will provide Noah’s Kindness cards that you can print out and leave with your act of kindness.  Our goal is to get as many people involved as possible and to spread kindness across the world. 

To see how far-reaching Noah’s Kindness Project can reach, we ask, once your act(s) of kindness is done, that you report back and post something about your experience.  Please use the hashtag #noahskindnessproject on Twitter, Instagram and join our Facebook group “Noah’s Kindness Project”.  Take pictures, share Noah’s Kindness cards, and encourage everyone you know to participate.  The world needs more love and concern for others.  Noah and his story brought it out in so many.  We ask you to please join us and be a part of Noah’s Kindness Project.

2017 Noah's Kindness Project in review

Noah's Kindness Project 2017

Hard to believe we are almost 2 weeks post Noah's Kindness Project.  I feel guilty that I haven't gotten anything posted on here to recap the amazing day that it was.  In full disclosure life has been slightly chaotic and I just can't keep up.  In addition to Noah's Project, the kids were on fall break, we moved to our final place (we found a house!) and I have been worn down... scratch that we all have.

Here's Jarrett and Madelyn yesterday morning after they got up once and already had fallen back asleep, and it wasn't even 7 a.m.

I have so many blog posts to catch up on but first I want to recap the amazing and special day that Saturday, October 7, 2017 was for us.  What better way to do that than to flood this page with pictures.... they really do tell the best story.

Up bright and early and excited to begin the day... Michael was still getting dressed! :-)

We started the morning at Feed My Starving Children!

 Madelyn was very excited she got to wear a shirt too, thanks to Nana's amazing sewing skills to shrink it down to her size!

We were excited cousin Katherine and her mom Annette from Chicago came out for the weekend to join us!  It was SO much fun having them with us!

These boys are getting so big pretty soon, we'll have to call them young men!  They were all about the competition to see who could box the most food.

 Always so grateful for my friend Trudi and her family for their support!  They joined us to help us make meals too!

Madelyn wanted a hairnet and didn't seem to mind how silly we looked!

Say "Hi" Madelyn

Everyone getting trained on what we would be doing.  

Cousin Alex and Madelyn!

Even Julia and Ava were ready for the fun

We were trying to get Madelyn to turn around for the picture but she wasn't too interested

While everyone finished boxing the meals, Madelyn and I went to pick up the balloons and food for the hospital staff. Madelyn loved to play with them as we drove to the hospital

Thanks to our wonderful friend Stacey who joined me and helped SO much with transporting items, preparing food and entertaining us!

Our next stop was Banner Desert where we took gifts to the Antepartum unit and the NICU. 

We went up to the NICU to take some gifts for the families including handmade Angel Slumber bags for babies who leave us too soon, and tiny quilts for the babies to have their first blanket.  We also gave coolers filled with care items to the families to help them with those difficult days in the NICU, and our friends from Iowa, Jenna and Linda Roths brought preemie outfits for the babies!  We also brought meals for the hard working staff both day and night shift.

Aren't these beautiful?  These are gifts that families who suffer a loss like we did are able to bring their precious baby home in something beautiful and delicate, just like their babies.

Following that we had our annual balloon release where we wrote messages on the balloons and released them to Heaven for hopefully Noah to see!  This is one of my favorite parts of the day.

Our group before the big release!

Madelyn didn't let her balloon go at first and when she finally did we smiled, thinking she must have wanted her message to be the last one he saw.

After the release we went and made Kindness Stones.  This was so fun and people were so creative with what they came up with.  Here's Katherine making some to share!

So grateful for the family that spent the day with us. In addition to Annette and Kat coming from Chicago,  Nolan and Jarrett came from Seattle to spend the weekend, it was so nice to see them too!

 The Haskovec family all together!

After lunch and our kindness stones and letter project we went and returned grocery carts.  This is another fun activity the kids love and you should the way they race around the parking lot!

The crew who helped return a LOT of grocery carts!!!!

 Noah's Kindness Project is a day that is so healing and continues to remind us of just how blessed we are.  While Noah was only here for 12 days, his legacy is carried on through so many of you as you join us.  Words will never accurately convey just how much this means to us.  Jarrett and I can not say thank you enough for the ways you've shared love, support and kindness with us.  To know that Noah is remembered and honored through kindness is so important to us and we are deeply touched by your support.

We loved the shirts this year!  They are so comfy and soft! and cute I might add.


In addition to the acts of kindness listed above, so many people went out of their way to share kindness acts with us.  Here  are just some of the sampling that touched our hearts..

 Kindness Gift for a Stranger who waves hello!

 A message of love that touched my heart...

A fun surprise and such a cool gift... Honor rainbow bands to celebrate Noah and Miracle Baby KNOX! 

Look at these cuties with their bands!

Students at the Clear Lake school in Iowa showing their support!

And of course we wanted to join in as well.

Candy treats for those who work at a factory around the clock for when you need a little sugar pick me up!

One of my favorites, paying the parking meters for people so they don't get a ticket!  Such a fun idea!

And the generous act of kindness from Ron who organized a food drive at his work and at several of their different locations around the valley!  We were truly blown away by the amount of food they raised to help St. Mary's food bank.  A whole pallet of food was picked up by St. Mary's and went to help so many less fortunate. Thank you!

And even more acts of kindness!  My 93 year old Grandpa and Aunt Bridget brought treats for the people at the place where my grandpa is staying

And my mom and dad brought beautiful flowers and homemade treats to share with the residents.

Our friends from Campbell's Crew Care's put together homeless food bags to share with those we see on the streets! 

Tara and her beautiful kiddos took gifts to the Ronald McDonald house!

My best friend from 6th grade took food to a food bank collecting food for Puerto Rico

Lupe gathered food from many family and friends and brought it in to Jarrett's work to help collect food!

Josepha donated food to help area Tucson families as well!

Our friend Nancy took flowers to a memorial cemetery so that everyone's loved ones were remembered. 

Our friend Shelby gifted food to strangers she met and who it turns out had just been going through a difficult time of their own.  See the smiles on the faces her gift brought them!

Some of the gifts she shared.

And my Friend Debbie, who is an amazing cook, continues to bring meals for me at work throughout the month of October.  They are SOOOO tasty, I am SO lucky.  On the first day she brought me some amazing cookies from a recipe she made up.  She called the cookies.... Noah's Kindness Cookies.

http://www.deliciouslyinspired.com/2017/10/noahs-kindness-cookies/

I was (still am) so deeply touched and these have instantly become my favorite cookies, not only because of the name but because of how they taste.  So yummy! 

Oh the pictures could go on and on. So many wonderful acts of kindness which are so deeply touching.  We have found this year to be so healing yet again and are reminded that so many of you truly are the rainbow in our lives.

Thanks always, and until next time,

Jarrett and Angie