We hope that Ada’s life can continue to inspire acts of kindness. We encourage you to share stories of when you receive, witness or carry out yourself; whether you choose a day of the month, say the 2nd to reflect Ada’s birthday, or a day of the week, or just randoms acts as you witness them, feel inspired or see a need.
If you would like, please post these acts of kindness and compassion towards another or acts of courage to be the best a person one can be and these can serve as inspiration to others. You can post, anonymously or signed, by typing in the box of “Leave a Reply”.
From the Tributes and Stories of Ada that have been lovingly submitted by her family and friends, we have come to define these terms as follows (though encourage you to define as fits you!):
Kindness: To give an unexpected gift of a smile, a wave, a hug, a note of appreciation or love, or a treasure that is just-so-suited to the receiver. Recognize and engage with someone who is feeling alone or left-out.
Compassion: To be with, to listen to and to share-in another’s sorrow, without judgement or unwanted advice.
Courage: To stretch beyond your comfort-zone to explore ideas and adventures that will make you a better person.
Live Like Ada 
OK, to get this ball rolling, we’ll offer an act our act of kindness. Yesterday, we visited a friend who’s husband died about a month ago. We brought two books we’ve found helpful for our grieving and a casserole. It was wonderful to see her and to share our stories of grief.
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I didn’t know Ada. I am an artist that knows a friend of hers. I felt very strongly about working on an art piece that her friend posted. After finishing my art piece my friend informed me that Ada was an artist as well. I think my art piece should go to her family in loving memory of her. That’s my act of kindness. I need her family’s address to send the piece to them! Sincerely, Ally Stern
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Hi Ally. Our address is Jane Sorensen and David Marchant, 191 Goose Pond Road, Fairfax, VT 05454. So very sweet of you to offer this.
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I think about Ada every single day. She is now in everything I do. I think of her for patience when it’s needed and when I need to take a step back in a situation. I’ve started hanging out with my family more. I have also been saving lots of animals due to Adas love for animals I know she would want me to do that. I’m trying my best to live like Ada but she will forever the one that did it best.
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Cleaned up a friend’s garden while she was at the hospital with her son.
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Held my mom’s arm so she could walk without falling.
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To the people who built the Caron in our Memorial Garden for Ada, I just want you to know that it is very beautiful, and the flower garden is bursting with life. We didn’t know Ada, but feel connected to her after she passed away. I went out to mow the lawn and the garden after the rain finally stopped this week and discovered this amazing tribute. She was so blessed to have so many people love her! #livelikeada
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And a huge thank you to Sandi and Earle for not only tolerating but embracing all that has happened in your front yard and then all you’ve done to support the soccer tournament. You are angels!!
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I’ve been inspired by Ada’s ability to notice those who are being left out and her determination to help everyone feel included. For the past week I focused on trying to do the same and am amazed by the opportunities that have risen. I had meaningful conversations with someone who I had never connected with at work for the past two years, an employee at Dunkin Donuts, a stranger in a parking lot, a stranger at the store, and an acquaintance at a community meeting. These interactions encouraged me to be more open and approachable and reminded me that when we look we can find remarkable connections with almost anyone. #livelikeada
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I am writing this for my parents, who most likely wouldn’t do it themselves. They are so very good about visiting friends, especially those that are housebound or are in a nursing home facility. Sometimes they think about not doing it, but yesterday they visited two long time friends, one who is 101 and another who is widowed and has some major health issues. Both of the women expressed how very grateful they were for the visit and how much they loved it over and over again. It made them realize how much it is worth the effort and time to do this for others. I honor them for their kindness.
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This post from @projecthappiness reminds me of Ada as everyone has said how good she was at seeing the light in others. I remind myself everyday to do the same. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm0vBOKFPNk/?taken-by=projecthappiness_org
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While stacking wood, an acquaintance, walking by on the road, stopped and offered to help, staying for an hour, chatting, including sharing a family story of grief that was very supportive and appreciated.
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When I wrote an article this past Summer on the memory garden for Ada. I was so inspired by her and what I learned. Through that, I learned a lot about myself as a person. I want to continue living my life like Ada ⠙⠊⠙⠲
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Ada will be missed. I felt meet Ada when we had biology class. When we would get group projects I would ask to work with Ada. She helped me out a lot in class. The day after she passed class was so quite, Ada present definitely impacted our class. Ada was one of the fastest people I became friends with. Ada was a amazing artist and person. She is always on my mind. Ada always filled me in on work I missed and made she I was caught up. She never gave up. Ada taught be go for it and don’t be afraid. Ada is beautiful inside and out and the best person on this planet was taken to soon. Ada life lives on with her friends and me. I think about her every day and I think about everything she taught me. If I had to pick any better friends or a good friend Ada would be that person. She stood out in all sorts of ways and not just by her life but by what she said. I will always remember you and your life. Love you Ada with all my heart, you were and still are a good friend ❤️.
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Inspired by Ada’s spirit of compassion:
I’d like to recognize an individual named Alma, who I only met about a month ago. Alma has long been caring full-time for her mother, who is dependent in all activities of daily living. When Alma learned that her long-time neighbor Josue has stage iv lung cancer and no local family to support him, she immediately started caring for him too. Alma would visit Josue at least three times daily to provide home-made meals and ensure he took his scheduled medications. She interviewed and hired a county-funded daytime caregiver for Josue when he couldn’t do so himself. She made it possible for Josue to remain in his home until he recognized he needed more help, at which point she helped him relocate to a community home where he receives 24/7 caregiving support. Incredible.
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Ada will always be in my heart and I think about her everyday. She inspires me to bring good to the world. I love you Ada.💜
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I started helping a lady as her caregiver in the summer of 2015. Last year she informed me that she would no longer be able to pay me as she was running out of money. I have continued taking care of her just as before and not worrying about being paid for it. Just last Saturday, I was visiting her storage unit to retrieve some boxes for her. Another lady was also in a storage unit fretting over what to do with a lot of clothing items that she had to get rid of. I got her hooked up with a Clothes Closet for the needy which our Church is associated with. I also offered to help her in any way I could to transport the clothes to where they needed to go.
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I started helping a lady as her caregiver in the summer of 2015. Last year she informed me that she would no longer be able to pay me as she was running out of money. I have continued taking care of her just as before and not worrying about being paid for it. Just last Saturday, I was visiting her storage unit to retrieve some boxes for her. Another lady was also in a storage unit fretting over what to do with a lot of clothing items that she had to get rid of. I got her hooked up with a Clothes Closet for the needy which our Church is associated with. I also offered to help her in any way I could to transport the clothes to where they needed to go.
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Ada’s kindness to everyone, no matter who they were, inspires me to do the same. She was so many people’s rock, someone everybody would go to for advice. Her ways in doing that are greatly missed. So, as my act of kindness I am going to #livelikeada and carry on her beautiful soul💜
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Today, October Second. A day where we remember you Ada. Remember your kind spirit and your kind life. It’s also a day where we start to live our lives like you. You lead by example, you were and always will be the example of life that I will ⠋⠕⠇⠇⠪⠲
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I host a weekly radio show called the mixdown. Here is a link to last nights special broadcast.
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Will try copy/paste the link here. https://www.facebook.com/100009602239329/videos/2072326879764033/
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For Ada’s birthday I wanted to commit to a long term act of kindness. I started to volunteer for Letters Against Depression to write letters of hope and support for people around the world who are struggling with anxiety and depression. It’s been difficult to find time and energy to give back to the community, but I felt that this would be a great way to share kindness and compassion on a regular basis.
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Painted kindness rocks to leave around town as encouragement to those who see them.
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I was stopped today on the street and asked to help support a rookie baseball league in their fundraising goals. In celebration of Ada’s beautiful life, I have been moved to donate. I will be on the lookout for other acts, both big and small, that can help benefit the community.
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I was stopped on the street today and asked to support a rookie baseball team in their fundraising goals. In celebration of Ada’s beautiful live, I have been moved to donate. Though I didn’t get the chance to know Ada, she will inspire me to be on the lookout for opportunities, both big and small, that can help my community.
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I am continually amazed by the kindness of strangers and the strength of our community.
Last winter, I wrote a posting on Front Porch Forum to request help digging out after a large snow storm. I’m disabled and can’t do it.
Less than an hour after the FPF issue was sent out, I received TEN offers from folks wanting to help!
I am so grateful and happy to live in an amazing community like this. Thank you!
Emailed to Jane by Cara S. from Winooski
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In honor of Ada and her giving spirit, we were at a restaurant and a group of special needs young people and their care givers came into have dinner. As we have a special place in our hearts for those with developmental challenges, we helped to pay for part of their dinners. We hope it was a small way to say we care.
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I was on the bus the other day and I witnessed a younger kid almost hassling an older gentleman. And you could see that the older man was clearly agitated and almost verge of tears. Until the sweetest stranger came and told the younger gentleman to leave him alone and that he was “bullying” basically the older gentleman. And the sweet old man looked up at the his hero and said thank you so much. It brought me to tears I wish I had the courage like that man
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As it is a new year, I came up with a New Year’s resolution for myself. As 2018 drew to an end, I had time to sit back and reflect on my year. I learned a lot about myself last year. This year, in 2019 and in honor of Ada, my New Year’s resolution for this year is, I want to work on improving myself, continuing to do small acts of kindness for other people , take on new challenges, and be more compassionate towards others.
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My grandfather was sick in the hospital. My father …needed to see his father. So my mom, dad and I were all out to dinner the same afternoon and I said “Why don’t we go and see him in the hospital?” So the three of us went and we saw him. I was trying to be brave the whole time because it is hard for me. I tried not to cry when I was visiting him in the hospital. He told me that he was starting to feel a little bit better but would have to go to therapy to start walking again. I think kindness and courage are two great qualities to have in life.
submitted by “Grace” via email
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As it is a new year, I came up with a New Year’s resolution for myself. As 2018 drew to an end, I had time to sit back and reflect on my year. I learned a lot about myself last year. This year, in 2019 and in honor of Ada, my New Year’s resolution for this year is, I want to work on improving myself, continuing to do small acts of kindness for other people , take on new challenges, and be more compassionate towards others.
Submitted by Alex Wolfe who is doing an amazing job of honoring Ada’s memory! Thank you Alek! Forever grateful! Love, Ada’s parents
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My grandfather was sick in the hospital. My father messed up and needed to see his father. So my moms, dad and I were all out to dinner the same afternoon and I said “Wby don’t we go and see him in the hospital?” So the three of us went and we saw him. I was trying to be brave the whole time because it is hard for me. I tried not to cry when I was visiting him in the hospital. He told me that he was starting to feel a little bit better but would have to go to therapy to start walking again. I think kindness and courage are two great qualities to have in life.
Submitted by “Grace” via email to Alek Wolfe
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In this new year, I’ve been trying to honor Ada’s spirit of kindness by making an effort each day to do something that is thoughtful and nice for someone else. One day recently, towards the end of a long drive I stopped for gas and coffee. As I was pouring my coffee I reflected that I had been so focused on the car trip that I hadn’t thought at all about being kind or helping other people. I went up to pay for my coffee and the cashier told me that another customer had paid for it already. That small act of kindness reminded me of how nice it feels when someone is thoughtful towards you and made me appreciate all over again how special Ada was in her ability to make everyone around her feel cared about. I am inspired by her every day.
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Yesterday I was at the ATM and someone came over to help me with it because of me not being able to see. We struck up a conversation and became great friends. Randomly, I got a text last night on my phone from her saying that she hoped I had an amazing day and night. I returned the favor this morning and told her that I wished her the same for today.
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I was on the radio earlier today, and during the broadcast my cohost mentioned that they wanted some guacamole, but they were broke and didn’t have money. I jokingly said that I could make some. I then asked them if they were serious, and they said yes. I texted my friend to see if she could help out and buy stuff for making the guacamole. She happily agreed. As an act of kindness, I will be making the guacamole from scratch and giving it to my friend and my radio cohosts. I have never done this before, so I figured that it was time to have a new experience to expand my life and help out others. #LiveLikeADa
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Ada was a remarkable young women and way beyond her years in wisdom, strength, knowledge and kindness. I think of her everyday and want to live like Ada. I heard Alek Wolfe broadcast on facebook recently and reminded me to share random acts of kindness. I was leaving a school musical last week and a lady needed jumper cables to start her car. Others seemed to be walking right by her and I stopped to help and with the help of my wonderful fiancé we were able to quickly get her car started and she was immensely grateful. This is something Ada would do and I wanted to pass along my act of kindness. Love, peace and light
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Ada always went out of her way to be kind to others by helping them out while at the same time never inconveniencing or wanting to disappoint others. When a broadcast is already planned, it’s hard to change things around. Last night, at the hockey rink at the Collins Perley complex, a small act of kindness happened. I got there and got all set up for a broadcast. And found out that there wasn’t gonna be anybody there to help me with the broadcast because they were going to be very busy running the PA and clock for the game. Well, ironically George Commo the broadcaster for the lake monsters who also works for NSN sports.net was there to broadcast the game in the top of the box. He was about to leave to go back up after talking with me, so after finding out that there was nobody to help me with the broadcast, and knowing the reason why, I knew what I had to do. I didn’t wanna make the job harder for the people downstairs in the press box. But at the same time, I didn’t want to disappoint the listeners. Knowing this and thinking to myself, what would Ada do? I asked George if I could join him, and he said yes, so that I could provide color commentary to help him out during the broadcast. And what makes this even cooler, is this was after the broadcast was already planned, he did not have anybody planned to be on air with him. NSN only brought one headset for the camera. So the producer went down to get another headset from the production truck so that I could call the game with George last night.exxx
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As you all might know, I started a radio segment in honor of Ada called Small acts of kindness. However, with radio segments when there isn’t much participation, I as the radio host have to take it off air if nothing is going on with it. This was the case for a few weeks with this segment. However I did not feel comfortable doing this due to Ada’s love for everyone and life, but it was also her willingness to never give up on things. Knowing and understanding this, I did some carefull thinking and decision making and decided to change the Name of Small acts of Kindness to Ada’s Acts of Kindness. With this change came hope and a newer meaning to the segment. Also, I have expanded this segment to not only share acts of kindness but to now feature a part where listeners can tell how they are living Like Ada. Whether it be, Improving themselves each and everyday, spreading acts of kindness, taking on new experiences to expand their life, and or, making carefull decisions. This segment has been a huge part of who I am and what my radio broadcasts have been about.
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Posted from Aaron Wells during the Mixdown broadcast. “My girlfriend wasn’t feeling all that great but she was hungry so I took her out to get subway only. In return, she payed for my sandwich.”
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Ada always went out of her way to make sure everyone around her was happy before treating herself.
Here at NVU-Lyndon there is a student named Raymond who is a perfect example of this. When I was going through hard times last year, he always cheered me up by asking “Hey bud, how are you!” and “Have an amazing one!” It really made my day!
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My friend had a friend that wasn’t feeling well yesterday. She went out of her way to bring her tea. In return, her friend’s dad bought her a box of the same tea.
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Ada’s Garden has a Facebook page that I’m a part of. When there is somwthing new added, I get notifications. The latest post was about a donation that was made to the garden. There was a garden set that was being sold for 400 dollars. However, when the person selling it was told that it was wanted for Ada’s garden, she donated and offered to deliver it for free to the garden. #LiveLikeAda
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Yesterday somebody came in to record a radio commercial. While we were texting and before she came, she offered to buy me Dunkin and said, “my Treat.” I was not expecting it.
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Goal ball is a very fun sport for the blind. It consists of 3 people on each team. A right wing, Left wing, and a Center. Last night I was playing with a few other blind people. When the other team would pass the ball and it was near me I would get and then, not try to score a goal but I would pass it to my other team mates. This was something that just came natural to me to do. However, when I think of last nights story, I think of Ada and her kindness that she would show to her other team mates and other players on the soccer field.
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We were contacted by one of Ada’s former teachers at BFA-St. Albans. We are so honored that Ada’s amazing soul continues to be celebrated.
“Dear Jane and David,
Along with a few other people, I am working on initiating a “comfort closet” at BFA. If you are not familiar with what it is, here is a link to an article regarding a comfort closet at a school in Tennessee. https://www.inspiremore.com/teachers-create-comfort-closet/
So far, we have secured a private location at school, are almost ready to begin soliciting donations (from our staff, initially), and are working on the specific protocols for the program (it will be run primarily through the guidance and nurse’s offices).
Since I was fortunate enough to have been Ada’s Accelerated Geometry teacher and was able to see, first-hand, her kindness and compassion toward her peers, I thought it would be perfect for us to use the title of “Ada’s Closet” instead of comfort closet. We would very much like to honor her caring nature at a time when kindness is truly needed in this world.
We sincerely hope you will consider our proposal and agree to allow us to use the title of “Ada’s Closet”.
Thank you and I will be looking forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Karla Kane”
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Ada always helped out anyone she could, no matter what it was. If you were struggling with something, she was right there to make it easier. Today, my friend is starting a radio show and is very nervous about it. I have some things that I needed to get done during her broadcast,. However, I made a dessition to put this matter first before whatever it was that I was going to do in that time of her broadcast, so that I could be there as a support to help out if she needs it. Also, she is going to be taking Ada’s segment and is making it a part of her broadcast as well.
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Today is a day of remembrance and celebration. For my act of kindness today, I would like to give a quote: “It is nice to feel important, but it is more important to be nice.” I feel like this is a quote that Ada understood and lived by every day. She did not want to be recognized for the things she did, because she knew that recognition is not important, but the deed itself was most important to Ada.
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I helped my friend with his lunch tray when he had a broken arm
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Just do it. These three words can really change your life if you take action. If you know in your heart that it is right then go with it. You never know what the outcome will be. And if it’s not a great outcome, at least you tried.
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I helped my grandma and hung out with her after she had surgery
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My friend was doing a job shadow the other day at a radio station and was allowed to do a weather report on air and I was tuning in. Something she never knew until after the broadcast was I recorded her forcast and sent it to her. She was really greatefull for the recording.
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Alek help me with a magazine I am making for
school
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