Matt’s Kindness Ripples On is happy to announce the Kindness Award Winner for October 2024.

A huge shout out to Jesse’s Paddle (aka, The Jesse Klump Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program) for their very generous donation to sponsor this month’s award winner, Amanda Durante.

Amanda Durante (Bridgewater, MA), co-founder of The Wandering Heart Project, works tirelessly to provide foster children and children experiencing homelessness with quality clothing and essentials.

Amanda’s social worker friend, Samantha Nurmenniemi, called her to say she was collecting clothes for foster children to distribute to local DCF offices. Instead of offering clothing, Amanda immediately wanted to be involved. Having experienced difficult times in their childhoods, both friends understood the hardships many kids in the system face.

There are 1.6 million homeless children each year, and advocates believe that number is wildly undercounted. There are over 442,000 children in foster care. 

These kids are homeless or in foster care, through no fault of their own. They have been abused, neglected, or abandoned and are unable to continue living safely with their families, or the families can’t afford the cost of housing and food. The children often feel like they don’t matter. Some do not even own a toothbrush and have never worn a new pair of pajamas.

The average foster child moves 15 times before reaching adulthood. Many of them have limited clothing and essential items. When they move between homes, they often have to use trash bags as luggage.

After discussing and then researching foster care, Amanda and Samantha realized there was a need for readily accessible essentials and clothing for these children. They immediately sprang into action, and in minutes, the idea for “The Wandering Heart Project” was born. Two days later, they posted on Facebook to start gathering donations.

Initially, Amanda and Samantha thought they would start small, collecting clothing donations in corners of their homes. However, after just reaching out to family and friends and creating their first posts on social media, the outpouring of love and support from their community was overwhelming.

“It exploded within the first week,” Amanda said. “Hundreds of donations, over 1,000 followers, and people were messaging us like crazy and donating.”

Amanda with her daughter

The process of donation starts with sorting the clothes. Amanda said they only take high-quality, new or barely used clothing, and donate the rest to other organizations.

Then, Amanda and Samantha create five to seven outfits based on the wants and needs of the children they are donating to. The pair finds families in need through local public schools, local police, social workers, social service organizations and through the families themselves who reach out to them.

Each donation includes underwear, socks, toiletries and a suitcase or duffle bag, as well as winterwear in the winter and a swimsuit in the summer.

So far, The Wandering Heart Project has helped about 500 children, from newborns to young adults. They will continue to help as many kids as they can. We are so impressed with all that Amanda has accomplished and are happy to have her in our MKRO family.

While Amanda was the person nominated, we also want to give a shout-out to her friend, Samantha Nurmenniemi, for also being someone who makes kindness a way of life.

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More about Jesse’s Paddle/The Jesse Klump Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program. Their objective is to end the threat of suicide in Worcester County (MD) and beyond through a program of outreach and education. This is a mission that MKRO supports wholeheartedly and we are so grateful for all the work they do to support mental health and suicide prevention initiatives.

Thank you to everyone at Jesse’s Paddle for all you do and for your very generous donation to MKRO so we can recognize and reward people who dedicate themselves to making our world a better place.  (If you need help, please call 988.)