Kindness Wins: Susan Thompson-Gaines and CubeSmart Partner Up Again

They say the sequel isn’t as good as the original. But when it comes to works of kindness and charity, that’s never true. You may remember a story we posted last year about Susan Thompson-Gaines. She made national news headlines with her work as a “Kindness Activist.” Each year, her Kindness Yard Sale raises money to support acts of kindness around her community and beyond.

Susan depends on charitable donations of toys, clothes, appliances, and other items to sell or give away during her annual sale, so she can use the money earned to fund acts of kindness all year long.

When Susan ran out of space for her yard sale items, CubeSmart jumped in to help with the donation of a storage unit. And the results were inspiring.

A Little Storage Goes a Long Way

In 2021, Susan was doing the best she could with the space she had. When Stephanie Richman, Susan’s friend, and fellow Kindness Activist, contacted CubeSmart, Susan was using every spare inch of her own home and basement to store donated items for her Kindness Yard Sale. This year, the game has changed. With the donation of a CubeSmart storage unit in 2021, Susan was able to execute some truly incredible acts of kindness.

“Due in large part to CubeSmart’s support, we were able to raise twice as much money this year, because we had twice as much sell,” said Stephanie. Not only did the sale generate twice as much for charity, but the free space in Susan’s basement was used for an incredible humanitarian cause — to shelter and house Afghan and Ukrainian families displaced by poverty and war.

“My partner and I may not have a lot in relation to what many American families have in terms of wealth, but we have a solid roof over our heads, food to eat, and even some additional room,” said Susan. “It only seemed logical to welcome people into our home who fled from devastation and war in their countries.”

“So, when I heard that refugees (first from Afghanistan and later from Ukraine) who recently arrived needed a place to stay, we raised our hands. It was an honor to welcome them to the USA and help them get their footing in our country.” 

In addition to hosting refugee families, Susan was able to extend even more hospitality to those in need. With the additional funding earned, she and her friends were able to feed families in need, pay for hotel rooms so parents could stay near their hospitalized children, purchase athletic equipment for children to participate in sports, throw parties in local memory care facilities for residents, and so much more.

The Santa Project, a Kindness Activist annual event, just opened for a third year.  Money raised at the Kindness Yard Sale will be used to grant gifts to nearly 200 children who wrote letters to Santa from Susan’s home. 

This project has become so major that Woman’s Day Magazine even picked up for their December holiday issue.

Genuine Care in Action

A cornerstone pillar of CubeSmart’s brand and business practices is genuine care. That means a greeting and a smile when customers walk into our stores, getting to know them, understanding their needs, and helping them out when they need a resolution to a problem. Working with Susan framed the practice of genuine care in an unexpected and rewarding new way.

Dawn Walters-Smith was the CubeSmart Senior District Manager in Arlington where Susan lives and had heard stories of Susan’s work before. It wasn’t until she met Susan and witnessed her work firsthand that she understood the magnitude of paying it forward.

“Our short conversation one afternoon at the Arlington store showed just how tirelessly she works to organize and keep her kindness movement rolling,” said Dawn. “Seeing the items being donated for yard sales and hearing about the donations for the Little Yellow Pantry took my breath away and inspired me to show a little more kindness in my own community.”

And it didn’t stop with just being awe-inspired, Dawn became a kindness activist in her own small way. “From purchasing just a few extra’s in my shopping for donations at my local elementary school to paying it forward in the line at Dunkin’, the feeling of being part of a larger experience for someone was indescribable,” Dawn said.

“Seeing the company that I am so proud to be a part of support such an organization makes me CubeSmart Proud!”

Paying it Forward in 2023

CubeSmart will be partnering with Susan and her fellow Kindness Activists again in 2023 to continue with the donation of a storage unit.

It’s amazing what a little genuine care and a little more storage space can do to improve hundreds of lives.

For more information about recent projects and kindness activism, visit Susan’s blog.