Maybe it’s this time of year. Maybe it’s because CubeSmart’s mission is all about serving others with Genuine Care. But when CubeSmart heard about the work of “Kindness Activist” Susan Thompson-Gaines, we connected to help her make space for a good cause.

A Kindness Activist is Born

Susan, an Arlington, Virginia resident, and founder of Kindness Activist, started her mission in 2016 with simple goal in mind, to spread kindness. In the last 5 years her mission has evolved in ways she couldn’t have imagined. But each year she continues a tradition that started it all, her annual Kindness Yard Sale. Neighbors donate gently used goods and shoppers pay whatever they can (or not at all), and all money raised goes to support people in need or spread joy through random acts of kindness.

This year alone the yard sale earned over $12,000, all of which will go toward small, but meaningful acts that positively impact people in her community. In a recent CBS News feature Susan talked about the positive impact her fund has had on her community and on her. “It’s made me, overall, a happier person,” she gushed during the feature.

She’s used funds to throw parties for seniors with dementia, buy flowers for graves of fallen Veterans, and make donut runs to local hospitals as a treat for nurses working long hours. Just this month, she bought a local teenager a dream dress and accessories for her homecoming dance.

A Mission With Space to Grow

Due to lack of storage, Susan has typically only been able to collect donations a month before her Kindness Yard Sale. After national news coverage broke, she was especially short on space as donations kept rolling in.

On the Kindness Activist blog, she writes,

“I wanted to have a storage unit for quite some time but never felt I could justify using donations for the expense.”

But her friend and fellow Kindness Activist, Stephanie, took a chance that turned into a game changer.

She reached out to CubeSmart and shared Susan’s story with Director of Internal Communications and Engagement, Karen Noonan, and District Manager Mike Jones, and the rest is history!

At CubeSmart, we’re proud to partner with Susan and Kindness Activist to provide the storage space she needs at no cost, so she can continue to spread kindness and joy. Her work and the positive impact she’s had in her community is invaluable and at CubeSmart we’re overjoyed to be a small part of that.

In Her Own Words – An Interview with Susan

We recently spoke with Susan about her vision for Kindness Activist and how she feels about CubeSmart. Here’s what she had to say.

How would you describe Kindness Activist? Is it an organization or a movement?

Oh, I love that you asked if this is a movement. A movement is the dream. But like any movement, it takes organization and grassroots effort to get it going. I started Kindness Activist in 2016 from a simple idea – start actively seeking out kindness, then write about it and share it.  It could be kindness I did, received, witnessed, or heard about from someone. When kindness that is talked about openly it creates what I call “kindness ripples”. 

So, it started as a blog, just sharing stories, but then the annual Kindness Yard Sale was born to raise money to be able to spread more kindness. And now it has grown even more! In addition to the CBS News spot, the Washington Post did a story about it, and People Magazine interviewed and included me in their recent Kindness Issue.

Can you share a few of your favorite examples of the kindnesses you’ve delivered?

Some of the things I do are little, others are grand, but all are fun! The kindness I share isn’t always “need – based.” You don’t have to be “down and out” to benefit from kindness — in fact we could all use more kindness in our lives. Some small examples of things I’ve done are popping into the waiting room of a children’s therapy office to buy Starbucks coffee for stressed out parents. I’ve paid for strangers’ Christmas trees, groceries, and prescriptions, and bought lottery tickets and handed them out to people.

One of my favorite acts is keeping a free food pantry outside of our home. It functions like a Little Free Library, but instead of books, it has food inside for anyone who needs it.

It’s truly my belief that kindness doesn’t have to be random. Intentional acts of kindness are great because they give you time to think, plan, and execute. 

Our teammate culture is all about serving people through Genuine Care. Is there anything specific you’d like to share about your experience with CubeSmart?

CubeSmart has been amazing! I’ve wanted a storage unit for a couple of years to hold donated items for my annual Kindness Yard Sale. Through word of mouth, the Kindness Yard Sale has spread, so more and more people are sending in donations. It’s fantastic but also overwhelming because I just have a single-family home and we were trying to not only live in it, but also collect and store donations for the sale in it.

But CubeSmart stepped in and saved the day! Now, I have the perfect storage unit, in a beautiful new facility, to store Kindness Yard Sale items in year-round. Plus, we have use of a CubeSmart truck to collect large donation items instead of trying to squeeze them into our old Toyota Prius.

If someone is interested helping Kindness Activist, how can they get involved?

Follow Kindness Activist on Facebook to keep up with all our adventures. If you live in the Washington DC metro area and would like to donate items for the 2022 Kindness Yard Sale, you can email me at kindnessactivist@gmail.com.