The reason Mission to Kindness all started!  The story behind Mission to Kindness involves the passing of an amazing woman, Debbie Evans.  During the 2013-14 school year I served the Dallas School District as a mental health associate teaching 30 minute lessons once a week to every Kindergarten through 3rd grade classroom.  It was during this year that my long time friend and colleague Debbie Evans passed away. Debbie was an inspiration to me professionally as well as personally.  I looked up to her and finally decided to pursue counseling as my new passion moving out of the classroom after 17 years of teaching 1st and 2nd grade.

One day during this school year I received word that Debbie had passed away.  This news came to me just a few minutes before I was supposed to teach a lesson to a group of 1st graders.  I tried to collect myself and get through the lesson but instead found myself crying often and struggling to keep it together. What happened next was the truly amazing part.  A 1st grade student came up to me and offered me a Kleenex to blow my nose.  Then another offered me some little daisies that she had picked during recess right before class.  Others offered their condolences in their own ways.  I was so impressed with the empathy these young students demonstrated.  It was then that I knew I had to do something to spread the Kindness they all gave me on that day. Thus, Mission to Kindness became a reality.  It was those Kindergarten through 3rd Grade students that made it all come to be.  I will be forever grateful to this group of students and my mentor Debbie Evans.