Seeing how much of a toll the coronavirus pandemic had taken on the community. Frankfort Mayor Judy Sheets decided it was time to come up with something that could take away some of the blues and have as many people as possible have fun.
Enter the ‘Be Kind Week’.
“The past three months has been really difficult for a lot of people,” said Sheets. “We’ve all had our ups and downs through everything. I wanted to do something special. I wanted the people of Frankfort to know that we care about them, we love them and we’re here for them. So, we just came up with a lot of different activities and hopefully everybody has enjoyed it.”
City employees continued to practice social distancing and follow CDC guidelines throughout the week which included the Frankfort Fire Department having fire engines out in the neighborhoods and distributing stickers to children, the Frankfort Police Department had officers out in the neighborhoods and hosted a community engagement opportunity at the police station, the Frankfort Parks Department promoted ‘Kindness Rocks’ and had stations set up in various city parks where children could paint a rock or exchange rocks with others and the Frankfort Street Department had a truck on display at TPA Park with employees out in neighborhoods distributing water bottles and freezer pops.
Sheets hosted a ‘Frankfort Kindness Day’ at Old Stoney Friday afternoon with all the departments making sure the kids had a cold, soothing spray to run through as well as getting frozen treats like ice cream and freezer pops.
“I think it’s been a great week,” said Community Development Director Annie Bacon. “We’ve had a lot of participation from the community, a lot of businesses have done special events in support of ‘Be Kind Week’ here in Frankfort. All of our departments have done an amazing job of having events, hosting and providing things for the community and getting people together.”
Bacon added they wanted an event where both kids and adults could be engaged.
“There’s not always a lot of options for entertainment for small children in town here,” said Bacon. “I think it benefits both kids and adults when they both can get out, have something to do, have a little fun and share kindness.”
Sheets said she was pleased with the week.
“It’s been a great week,” said Sheets. “We’ve had a lot of the kids and adults out participating in the different activities that we’ve had. We’ve had different things at the parks, we’ve had the fire department out, the police department, the street department. So many things going on. The kids are loving it, I think. I’m really pleased with the turnout.”
Bacon added she hopes departments in Old Stoney will be looking for more opportunities that help the kindness trend.