Kindness Campaign

by Elyse Apel

The Kindness Campaign has been a key part of Lenawee County for the last five years, when it was first started to bring together groups of women who all aspire to encourage kindness in the community.

The goal of the nonprofit is to keep Biblical kindness at the forefront of the community’s mind — encouraging this through an annual gathering of local women.

Kayla Joy Crist is the founder of the Kindness Campaign, and continues to help organize events.

“I am a Lenawee County girl. I’ve been here my entire life,” she explains.

Kayla says she saw a need for kindness to be championed amongst a culture of “Us vs. Them” as well as the impact made in her own life through the kindness of others as she experienced grief. In 2020, she decided to share this impact with the community.

“My husband is in full-time ministry, and so I gathered a couple other wives that are in ministry and reached out to some other people that were in leadership in our area,” she says. “I just asked if they’d ever noticed a need for kindness to be prioritized, and then if they had a desire to be a part of the change.”

A couple coffee meetings later, the Kindness Campaign was born.

“This group of women came together, and even though we were not in the same circles, there was cohesion amongst us.”

Within seven weeks, the women put together their first event.

“We set up for 230 women, and we ended up with standing room only, even though it was mostly word of mouth” she says. “We took that as a green light, that there was a need and a desire, and we decided to host a similar event once a year.”

The events were meant to inspire Biblical kindness throughout the community and also collectively demonstrate radical generosity through anonymous giving.

“If you come to our event, the hope is that you are going to take some of these basic principles and then take that kindness back to your own circle of influence - your home, workplace, faith family.” Kayla says.

This year the Kindness Campaign officially became a nonprofit through a partnership with the Lenawee Community Foundation.

“Each year at our gathering women come knowing that they are going to have the opportunity to give to our unsuspecting recipient,” she explains. “It is zero pressure, but the women are enthusiastically and overwhelmingly generous! Then, every dollar is given away anonymously to an unsuspecting recipient in Lenawee County..”

While the event is currently only once a year, attendees hope it can happen semi-annually.

“We have regular attendees who are forever asking, ‘When’s the next one?’”

Kayla says to host more events, they need more large venues that are willing to host the events at no cost and also have parking for 400 or more.

“We give 100% away, and we are very proud of that. We are all volunteers with no overhead,” she says. “We raise the funds for our events, because whatever women give, we want to be able to look them in the eye and say that we are going to give 100% to a practical need.”

Since it first started, the Kindness Campaign has given away over $40,000 to women in need.

“We have a wonderful relationship with the tea, at Lenawee Community Foundation (LCF)! I am super grateful for what they do, especially because I’m not a business person. I am a homeschool mom and a pastor’s wife, with compassion for the poor in spirit,” Kayla explains. “The LCF made us a legitimate entity that can do things now that we couldn’t do before and so we are very grateful to them. They are a hardworking and fiercely-kind, female staff.”

Kayla says she is glad to have the opportunity to be involved in the Kindness Campaign and be there for people in need. The Kindness Campaign represents 100’s of women across Lenawee County, a dozen non-profits and more than 75 churches. “One of the mottos that we say is that we can’t prevent your storm, but we can hold an umbrella. And that is what we are committed to do!”

It is exciting to see the difference it is making! Kayla is joined by an amazing advisory board including Janel Garno, Debbie Corbin, Jen Stutzman, Jess Jeffrey, LeeAnn Isley, Roxanne Meeks, Sarah Verlinde and Shelly Henley. For more information visit Kindness Campaign of Facebook or @lenaweekindnesscampaign on Instagram.