Rising Stars, Fiona Kincaid and Maisy Miller

SMITHFIELD TEENS LEARN THE POWER OF SMALL ACTS OF KINDNESS

By Randy Capps

If you drop a rock into a pond, it creates waves all the way across to the other side. The same is true for acts of kindness, even if the reach of the ripples can be tougher to track at times.

A pair of rising seniors at Smithfield-Selma High School, Fiona Kincaid and Maisy Miller, have been learning that lesson. From mission trips to Jamaica, student exchanges to Denmark and hurricane relief trips to Texas and Wilmington, the pair have been spreading help and hope all over the world — and here at home.

For that, the best friends are sharing the Rising Star award.

They met at McGee's Crossroads Middle School, then transferred to Smithfield-Selma together to join the International Baccalaureate program.

“Whenever we realized that we only had each other (at the new school), that really grew our bond,” Miller said.

“We got a lot tighter going into high school,” Kincaid added. “We started hanging out together outside of school and doing things like mission trips together.”

Kincaid attends Greater Heights United Methodist in Clayton where she volunteers her time with Brown Bag Ministry, which is committed to fighting hunger in central North Carolina.

Her giving spirit started early, as she gathered playground equipment at her tenth birthday party and donated it to West Smithfield Elementary.

“We didn't have the things that other schools had,” she said. “I noticed that my my classmates would come to school, and they wouldn't have enough food for lunch. Or they might not have lunch money, or books to read at home — things that I took for granted. I think growing up around people who had less than me made me realize how good I had it. And if I have it that good, I need to do something with it. I need to go out and make a difference.”

As she got older, she kept giving back. Kincaid and her soccer team participated in Light the Night, a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraiser in Durham during which they raised nearly $8,000.

Later that fall, after being named Young Miss SSS, she collected and passed out more than 900 books at West Smithfield.

Since then, she's joined the National Honor Society, the wrestling team, soccer team, the junior varsity volleyball team and numerous other clubs and organizations.

Miller has a similar backstory, with a giving spirit that was nurtured by her home church, Plymouth Church in Garner.

She coordinated a National Honor Society visit to a rest home, where she led the group in making Valentine's Day crafts. She helped organize a book drive for Harbor House and found time to cheer and wrestle while being a member of a number of school clubs and organizations.

And they both work at Chick-fil-A, too.“Growing up in church, I feel like that's where a lot of it came from,” Miller said. “I've always had a servant's heart and I've always wanted to help others. Going on mission trips and seeing how it impacts them. Just how talking to them for five minutes can brighten their whole year. It's just very heartwarming and heart-filling to see how what I'm doing affects others.”

Both Kincaid and Miller point to their mission work as a lasting influence on their lives.

“I feel like it's really important that at a young age you start experiencing other cultures,” Kincaid said. “It makes you a lot more open minded and accepting towards others, which is really important when you get older when you go out and have jobs and meet new people.

“Going into Jamaica, you realize that, even though you might not have the best things compared to other people at school, or you might feel down about

yourself, there's people who have it a lot worse than you. So, you need to be thankful for what you do have.”

As part of a World Changers trip to Texas, Miller recalls a time when just a few kind words to a woman who had severe damage to her home made an impact.

“She just fell into my arms, crying,” she said. “And I didn't know how to help her. She was saying that just seeing us there gave her hope.”

The same was true in Jamaica, when a small gesture ended up meaning more than the friends could imagine.

Fiona had a pair of work gloves, and a young man took one to use on the soccer field.

“He thought he was a soccer goalie,” Miller said. “One the last day, she gave him the other glove. And just to see the way it affected him, it was really neat.”

Working in Jamaica was memorable for Kincaid as well.

“There was a group of teenage boys around,” she said. “They were a little older than us, but I remember having conversations with them. We'd have our iPhones and we'd listen to music and it's crazy to see how one song they didn't know could have such an impact on them.”

For their senior project, the pair hope to organize a dental clinic in Smithfield or Selma area. And of course, there's the small matter of college on the horizon.

“We've definitely thought and talked about trying to go to the same school,” Kincaid said. “If we can find a school we both really like.”

Wherever they go, it seems likely that they will continue making waves.

“You never know how one little act of kindness, just helping someone or having a conversation with someone, can make a big difference,” Miller said.