Summer Of Kindness: N.J. Mother, Daughter Spend Break Doing Good Deeds
WESTFIELD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – A New Jersey woman and her daughter believe summer break is the time to act.
They're calling it a Summer of Kindness.
Lyra Liptack is just days away from turning four years old.
"My birthday is on July 31st," she told CBS2's Valerie Castro.
"I know that it's hard to tell a kid to be kind, but to model it is probably the best lesson you can teach them," said her mother, Sara Liptak.
The high school science teacher said with the 70 days of summer vacation, they're hoping to perform an act of kindness each day. Some are small, like gathering trash at the beach, bringing treats to the dentist or donating pet food to the Jersey Shore Animal Center. Others have become much bigger projects.
They collected toiletries and stuffed them into more than 80 purses that were donated to a women's shelter. Their latest endeavor involves collecting baby clothes for a local nonprofit called Furniture Assist.
"I asked them what's the one item they need, and they said infant clothing up to 12 months," Sara Liptack said.
"I think it's wonderful to see a local mom in town kind of rounding everybody up to help give back to the community," said Annie Okas, who donated some clothes.
The Liptack family also has a Little Free Library in front of their home, where anyone can borrow a book or leave one to share with others. Its presence on social media has been a way to spread the word about their efforts.
Some of their ideas have come from the book "When Action Follows the Heart."
"Guess what? We have a big giant book with all the acts of kindness," Lyra Liptack said. "There's so many."
The Liptacks hope their spirit of spreading joy inspires others, too.
