The world feels more chaotic and divided than ever. The corruption and cruelty inflicted by the current administration just keeps getting worse. It doesn’t help that the news and internet serve up click-bait headlines that exacerbate our fear and anger. Spiking insurance premiums, nuclear testing, vaccine shortages? The message is “we’re all going to die.”
There’s no denying it’s bad out there, but step away from your TV or computer, venture out into your community, and you’ll see there’s hope. By focusing on the positive, we find that the scales of human nature tip toward compassion, not hate, and that goodness can prevail when we make the effort.
Like Mr. Rogers suggested, look for the helpers. And there are so many of them.
From the seven million people who turned out for the No Kings March in October to the
Frog Brigade in Portland dancing outside the federal immigration building in their cartoonish costumes, to the suburban moms in Chicago risking arrest to protect their less privileged neighbors, these peaceful protesters are showing up to stop the violence of ICE agents and to fight fascism. It’s an encouraging show of solidarity and determination to make things better, to make things right.
There’s the SNAP cuts, federal layoffs, and withheld wages that have prompted caring citizens to donate to food banks in record numbers. Some are even setting up food pantries right in their own front yards. And not just stocking food but also household items, like toilet paper and personal hygiene products.
World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit run by humanitarian Chef José Andrés, continues to show up in a crisis, erecting makeshift restaurants to cook fresh food in places like war-ravaged Gaza, in Jamaica in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, and now, in Washington DC because America’s government shut down has elevated our country to disaster status.
All across the country, unsung heroes are pitching in. Volunteers have been delivering hot meals to unpaid TSA workers at O’Hare and JFK airports. There’s a pie shop in Florida offering free chicken pot pies to furloughed federal workers. And a woman in Texas is giving away loaves of her homemade bread to help the hungry.
Closer to home, for the past week HyVee grocery stores have been providing free meals to kids and adults pay only three dollars.
There’s a national movement called Welcome Blanket where individuals sew or knit quilts for immigrants and a group at an Iowa church that sews flannel diapers to give away. And with cold weather upon us, there are winter coat drives happening everywhere.
The list of these acts of kindness is surprisingly, refreshingly long.
I ask myself every single day—and hopefully you do too, What can I do to help? Where and how can I be most useful? How can I use my time, money, and/or talent?
I talked with a friend over breakfast about this and she insisted that I am already being helpful.
“You made a documentary film that puts a spotlight on kindness and that is driving others to be part of that momentum. You’re showing how creating community can address the problems we are facing individually and as a whole. And,” she added, “your film is being used to raise money for causes. You are already doing so much more than you realize.”
I had to grab my napkin to keep my tears from falling on my pancakes, because what she was saying was true. My film, called “Pieowa: A Piece of America,” has been showing in theaters, churches, and community centers for the past five months, and after every screening I hear people say that seeing my film made them feel better, that it shed a positive light on our shared humanity, and it reminded them about what’s good about our country. In short, it renewed their hope.
Pieowa, as the name would suggest, is about pie, about the ways people use it to make the world a better place, be it giving away free pies at Thanksgiving, teaching high school kids about baking and business skills, or promoting a message of diversity and inclusion. It’s also about how sitting down and talking over a slice of pie can help heal our divides. At least it’s a start.
I may not be in disaster zones serving meals like Chef José Andrés, but I will be showing my feel-good film in Cedar Falls, Iowa tonight and in Fairfield, Iowa on Friday. On Sunday, there will be two showings in Macomb at the Western Illinois Museum. Pie will be served at each screening. I hope you will join me for a slice of kindness.
Beth Howard is an author and filmmaker living in Donnellson, Iowa. To learn more about her film, go to TheWorldNeedsMorePie.com.
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of TSPR or its license holder, Western Illinois University.
Diverse viewpoints are welcomed and encouraged.