Saratoga News

Louise Webb

SARATOGANS ARE BURSTING WITH KIND ACTS

Thank you to all those who helped me spread the word of Random Acts of Kindness Week Feb. 11-17, including friends, KLIV radio, Mercury News columnists Jim Trotter and Leigh Weimers, our City Council members, and the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce.

I saw Chris Robbins offering to watch a stranger's dog while a lady went into a coffee shop during Random Acts of Kindness Week. When I told Chris how nice it was for him to do that, he answered, "It's better to give than to receive. It makes a better world. That's what life is all about. I like living in the quaint, small town of Saratoga, where the atmosphere lends itself to helping others."

Sondra Goldberger found several bills at a restaurant and turned them in. She also celebrated the week by bringing breakfast to friends at the International Coffee Exchange.

Michael and Felicia Pollock met Lilia Ruban, a bright student, at Odessa State University in the Ukraine a few months before the Soviet Union broke up in l991. Ruban, who would graduate in three years, dreamed of having someone to sponsor her while she worked on a doctorate in educational psychology. Over the next three years, Michael wrote hundreds of letters and made almost as many phone calls on her behalf. There was lots of red tape, but thanks to Michael, Lilia is getting financial help while she works on a doctorate at the University of Connecticut.

Los Gatos resident Chris Davison read about Random Acts of Kindness Week and decided to take Valentine cards with money in the envelopes to the homeless people she often sees sitting in a downtown San Jose park.

Saratogans have been doing random acts of kindness continuously. Whenever John McInerny goes for neighborhood walks, he carries dog biscuits in his pockets to give to the dogs.

Victor Amezcua and his wife, Kathleen, owners of the International Coffee Exchange, often donate coffee for charity events. They provide coffee daily to the Butter Paddle shop, which raises money for Eastfield Ming Quong.

On several occasions, Bob and Charlotte Foster and Tim and Carolyn Du Clos have taken homemade chili to the homeless at the Guadelupe River. They did it again during Random Acts of Kindness Week.