Good News: Live storytelling aims to be inspiration of kindness

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - For a little west Texas jack rabbit, Jeremiah is on a mission.

The main character of a local author’s book – he is also now an ambassador for kindness among children and coming alongside supporting children that have been bullied.

“That’s really my goal is to really allow kids to hear the story and think about what they can do to be kinder to their classmates and make a difference in the world,” said Diane Broady Wilson, the local author.

It’s Jeremiah’s unselfish act of kindness in the book that she hopes compels children to follow suit.

“If kids can understand that there’s other choices they can make, that they can choose to be kind, it’s a really cool thing to be kind,” Wilson said.

Its not just the words on the pages of the book, but also the pictures that are meant to exude kindness.

“Just the thought of, or the lesson of reaching out to the people in need is what really pulls at me, pulls at my heart strings,” said Manfredd Maier, the story illustrator.

A special live storytelling of the book will be performed by youth from the Amarillo Little Theater.

The event is 11:00 a.m. on Saturday at Barnes and Noble and the youth are excited at the opportunity to be an inspiration of kindness.

“Me personally I’ve always enjoyed helping out with the community and I’ve always felt that kindness is the number one thing that we can do to help the world and this is the way that I can do that,” said Hanson Irving, an ALT youth actor.

They shared what they hope the performance will bring.

“I hope this book inspires you to just be kinder and maybe check what’s going on, say ‘hey do you need a hug or something’ because that’s all it really takes,” said Sabrina Ali, an ALT youth actor.

The storytelling event has also partnered with the Be A friend Project.

“So the Be A Friend project is a writing initiative where we write to kids all over the U.S. Each kid gets around 800 to 2,000 letters of pure support from people and students their age from around the U.S. It’s pretty much just an organization helping to stand up for the kids who are getting bullied. Kids can relate to them and write some nice letters,” said Brad Lancaster, a “Be a Friend Project” ambassador.

The letters may sound simple, but to the recipients like a girl named Charlotte, the gesture can be life changing.

“She said it really boosted her confidence and she was really afraid to go to school at first but with those letters of encouragement, she brings one in her backpack everyday that she takes to school,” said Lancaster.

Wilson said she is looking forward to the event.

“They can come here on Saturday at 11:00 and we are doing a story telling event. After the storytelling, every kid will be able to write a letter or do some artwork for the next child that’s been selected,” Wilson said.

Addressing the issue of bullying and involving the younger generation to make progress in the future, now that’s some good news.

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