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Kindness in Action: ePIFanyNow Week of Kindness Returns to Mid-Michigan
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Something special is happening across Mid-Michigan.

For another year, neighbors, nonprofits, businesses, and volunteers are coming together with a simple goal: make life a little better for someone else. The ePIFanyNow Week of Kindness returns May 11-15, 2026, bringing with it a week of service projects, community partnerships, and everyday acts of generosity designed to create a ripple effect throughout the region.

At its core, the Week of Kindness is built on a belief that small actions can have a lasting impact. Whether it’s delivering meals, cleaning up a community space, assembling care packages, or helping a nonprofit tackle a project that’s been waiting for extra hands, every act matters.

For one week, that spirit of kindness takes center stage.
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*A Week Dedicated to Service*

Throughout the week, local nonprofits hosted volunteer opportunities that connected people directly to the work happening in their communities every day. Each project reflected a different need, but they all shared a common purpose: helping organizations expand their impact while giving volunteers an opportunity to make a meaningful difference.

This year’s featured nonprofit partners include:

CASA for Kids – Volunteers helped increase awareness of the organization’s fourth-floor library by bringing books, building bookcases, and updating conference room spaces.

Big Brothers Big Sisters – Teams spent time at Ranney Park behind Frandor, helping clean and improve a space used by the community.

Tri-County Office on Aging – Volunteers rode along on Meals on Wheels routes, helping deliver food and connection to older adults throughout the region.

Hospice of Lansing – Volunteers assisted with outdoor cleanup projects, helping maintain the welcoming environment that supports patients and families.

Positive Somebody – Working alongside the Lansing Commons Soccer Team, volunteers assembled and delivered mental health care packages for teachers in the Lansing School District.

These projects may look different on the surface, but together they tell a larger story about what happens when a community decides to show up for one another.
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*Sharing Stories of Impact*

One of the most powerful parts of the Week of Kindness is seeing the impact unfold in real time. With support from WSYM FOX 47, stories from volunteer projects throughout the week were shared across the community, highlighting the people, organizations, and moments that make Mid-Michigan stronger.

These stories remind us that kindness isn’t just a concept. It’s action. It’s the volunteer who gives up a morning to help a nonprofit complete an important project. It’s the organization that continues serving families, children, seniors, and neighbors every day. It’s the person who decides to help, even when nobody is watching.

When those stories are shared, they inspire others to do the same. That’s how kindness grows.
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The Grand Finale: Day of Kindness Community Celebration

The Week of Kindness culminated on May 15, 2026, with the annual Day of Kindness Community Celebration. This year’s event brought together volunteers, nonprofit leaders, community partners, and supporters to reflect on the impact created throughout the week and celebrate the people who continue to make Mid-Michigan a better place to live.

It’s an opportunity to meet local organizations, hear stories of service and resilience, and connect with others who believe positive change starts at the community level.

The celebration also included one of the event’s most meaningful traditions: the presentation of the Chris Rosati Hero Award.
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*Honoring a Life of Service*

The ePIFanyNow Board of Directors established the Chris Rosati Hero Award in 2018. The award honors individuals who embody the spirit of paying kindness forward and whose actions create a lasting ripple effect throughout their communities. Named after Chris Rosati of Durham, North Carolina, the award recognizes those who dedicate themselves to helping others and inspiring acts of kindness wherever they go.

This year’s recipient is a person whose impact has been felt across Mid-Michigan for decades.
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*Meet the 2026 Chris Rosati Hero Award Recipient: Irv Nichols*

For nearly seven decades, Irv Nichols has been a force for good in the Greater Lansing community. Since moving to East Lansing in 1957, Nichols has dedicated his life to public service, advocacy, and community leadership. His work has touched countless lives through healthcare, volunteerism, humanitarian efforts, and civic engagement.

During his time with the American Red Cross, he helped build a significant blood donor program by engaging Michigan State University students and thousands of regional auto workers. He also played a key role in the creation of Lansing’s hospice services. Through his leadership and relationships, he helped secure a major grant from the Dart Foundation that ultimately led to the construction of Stoneleigh Hospice Care.

As a member of Rotary, Nichols is especially proud of the club’s work supporting the Lost Boys of Sudan. Through those efforts, more than 300 Sudanese refugees were welcomed and assisted as they built new lives in the Lansing area.

His legacy reflects exactly what the Chris Rosati Hero Award represents: a commitment to serving others and creating opportunities for people to thrive.
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*The Ripple Continues*

The Week of Kindness is about more than a single week on the calendar. It’s a reminder that communities are built through relationships, service, and a willingness to care for one another. Every volunteer project completed. Every nonprofit supported. Every act of generosity shared.

Together, they create a ripple effect that extends far beyond one day or one event.

As Mid-Michigan gathered once again for the 2026 ePIFanyNow Week of Kindness, the invitation was simple: get involved, meet your neighbors, support local nonprofits, and discover what can happen when kindness leads the way.

Celebrating Tayhlor: A Fifth Grader Leading with Kindness at Walt Whitman
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Sometimes the most powerful stories aren’t about executives, athletes, or community leaders.

Sometimes they’re about a fifth grader.

At Walt Whitman, Tayhlor has become known for something that can’t be measured on a report card. It’s not a test score, an award, or a title. It’s the way she treats people. It’s the way she shows up for her classmates. It’s the way she quietly makes her school a better place every day.

In a world that often celebrates the loudest voices, Tayhlor reminds us that kindness can be one of the strongest forms of leadership.
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*Growing Into a Leader*

For the past several years, teachers, classmates, and mentors have had the opportunity to watch Tayhlor grow into the person she is becoming. What they’ve seen is remarkable.

Like many students, Tayhlor was eager to get involved from the moment she arrived at Walt Whitman. She wanted to participate. She wanted to contribute. She wanted to make a difference.

But sometimes leadership takes time. As a younger student, there were opportunities she simply wasn’t old enough to participate in yet. For some students, that might have been discouraging. For Tayhlor, it became motivation. She continued showing up. Continued learning. Continued growing.

Now, as a fifth grader, she’s become someone younger students can look up to and someone her peers can count on. Not because she seeks attention, but because she consistently chooses to help others.
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*Leading Through Kindness*

Ask anyone who knows Tayhlor what stands out most, and you’ll likely hear the same answer. Her kindness. It’s easy to talk about kindness. It’s much harder to practice it consistently.

Tayhlor does both. Whether helping a classmate work through a difficult assignment, offering encouragement to a friend, or simply making someone feel included, she understands something that many adults spend years trying to learn: small actions matter.

One of the most powerful examples of this came when Tayhlor noticed a fellow student struggling with a conflict. Instead of ignoring the situation or waiting for someone else to step in, she helped create a restoration circle—a space where students could come together, listen to one another, and work toward a solution.

That kind of initiative doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from empathy. It comes from understanding that people need support. And it comes from a genuine desire to help others succeed.

Tayhlor’s personal philosophy is simple: “Always be kind to others and treat people how you want to be treated.”

It’s a lesson most of us learned as children. Tayhlor is living it.
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*Building Community One Relationship at a Time*

Schools are more than classrooms. They’re communities.

Every day, students have opportunities to shape the culture around them. Some do it through leadership positions. Some do it through athletics. Some do it through academic achievement. Tayhlor does it through relationships.

Her teachers describe someone who actively contributes to creating a positive environment wherever she goes. She brings people together. She supports those around her. She helps create spaces where others feel valued and respected.

Those efforts create ripple effects. When one student chooses kindness, it encourages others to do the same. When one student helps solve problems peacefully, it sets an example. When one student believes everyone belongs, a stronger community begins to form.

That’s the kind of impact Tayhlor is already having.
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*Dreaming Big*

While Tayhlor is making a difference today, she’s also thinking about the future. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, her answer is clear: a doctor.

It’s a goal that reflects many of the qualities she already demonstrates every day. Doctors help people. They solve problems. They care for others during difficult moments.

Whether she fully realizes it or not, many of the characteristics that make someone successful in healthcare are already visible in the way Tayhlor approaches life. Her teachers have no doubt that whatever path she ultimately chooses, she’ll continue finding ways to make a positive impact.

As one educator shared, “The sky is not the limit for Taylor.” It’s hard to argue with that.
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*A Reminder for All of Us*

One of the best parts of telling stories is discovering that leadership doesn’t always look the way we expect it to. Sometimes it’s found in boardrooms. Sometimes it’s found on stages. And sometimes it’s found in elementary school hallways.

Tayhlor’s story reminds us that making a difference doesn’t require a job title, a large audience, or decades of experience.

It starts with simple choices. Choosing to help. Choosing to listen. Choosing to include others. Choosing kindness.

Those choices may seem small in the moment, but over time they shape schools, communities, and lives.
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*Celebrating the Difference She’s Making*

At UnoDeuce, we’ve had the privilege of telling stories about people making an impact across Michigan. Nonprofit leaders. Community advocates. Volunteers. Educators.

Tayhlor belongs on that list. Not because of what she might accomplish someday, but because of what she’s already accomplishing right now.

Her willingness to support her classmates, her commitment to building community, and her belief in treating others with kindness are making a difference every day at Walt Whitman.

And while her journey is just beginning, one thing is already clear: The future is bright. Not simply because of what Tayhlor hopes to become, but because of who she already is.

The world could use more people like Tayhlor. Fortunately, Walt Whitman already has one.

More Than a Resource Center: How Child and Family Charities Is Meeting Families Where They Are
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Every day, families across Greater Lansing face difficult decisions.

Do you pay the electric bill or buy groceries? Do you replace household essentials or put gas in the car? For many households, stretching a budget means making impossible choices.

That’s why the Family Growth and Resource Center at Child and Family Charities exists.

Serving more than 200 households every month, the center provides access to food, household essentials, personal care items, and other critical resources at no cost. But what makes the Resource Center special isn’t just what people receive. It’s how they receive it.

At Child and Family Charities, support starts with dignity.
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*A Place Built Around Community Needs*

The Family Growth and Resource Center has become a trusted resource for individuals and families navigating challenging circumstances. While many programs focus on immediate assistance, the Resource Center takes a broader approach by helping reduce financial pressure while connecting people to additional services that can create lasting stability.

For many visitors, the impact is immediate.

By providing access to basic necessities, families can redirect limited financial resources toward housing, transportation, childcare, healthcare, and other critical expenses. A small amount of support can create a significant ripple effect throughout a household.

The center’s mission is simple: help meet essential needs while creating pathways to additional support.
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*Restoring Choice Through Dignity*

One of the things that makes the Family Growth and Resource Center unique is its approach.

Rather than distributing pre-selected items, the center allows visitors to choose the products that best fit their household’s needs. Families can visit once each month and shop for the items that matter most to them.

That choice matters.

Every family is different. Every household has different priorities. By giving individuals the opportunity to select what they need, the Resource Center helps restore a sense of independence and control during times that can often feel overwhelming.

It’s a simple concept, but one that reflects the values at the core of Child and Family Charities: treating every person with respect and recognizing their ability to make decisions for themselves and their families.
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*Powered by Generosity*

The Resource Center operates through the generosity of donors, community partners, and supporters who believe everyone deserves access to basic necessities.

Because of those donations, visitors often find items they may not otherwise be able to afford. Whether it’s personal care products, household supplies, food, or specialty items, the variety available helps meet real needs while creating moments of relief and excitement for families walking through the doors.

The impact of those donations goes beyond the products themselves. Each contribution sends a message that someone in the community cares. Every shelf stocked, every item donated, and every volunteer hour invested helps strengthen the support network available to local families.
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*More Than Supplies*

The Family Growth and Resource Center is often the first step in a larger journey.

Many individuals who visit the center discover additional programs and services available through Child and Family Charities. While picking up essential items, they may learn about counseling services, housing support, youth programs, family services, or other community resources that can help address longer-term challenges.

Staff members provide information, brochures, and referrals that connect individuals to the support they need. Sometimes a person comes in looking for groceries and leaves with access to mental health services. Sometimes a conversation leads to housing assistance. Sometimes a simple visit opens the door to a broader support system.

That’s where the Resource Center becomes much more than a place to pick up necessities. It becomes a gateway to hope, healing, and stability.
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*Building Stronger Communities*

At its core, the Family Growth and Resource Center represents what happens when a community comes together to support one another. The center doesn’t just address immediate needs. It helps strengthen the fabric of the community by ensuring people have access to resources, connections, and opportunities to move forward.

This approach reflects Child and Family Charities’ longstanding commitment to creating environments where individuals and families can thrive. Rather than focusing solely on short-term solutions, the organization works to build systems of support that empower people and create lasting change.

The Resource Center serves as a reminder that community care isn’t complicated. Sometimes it looks like a shelf stocked with essentials. Sometimes it looks like a referral to counseling. Sometimes it looks like a conversation that lets someone know they’re not alone.
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*Hope in Action*

The impact of the Family Growth and Resource Center can be measured in the more than 200 households served each month. But its true impact is found in the stories behind those numbers.

It’s found in the parent who leaves with one less thing to worry about. It’s found in the individual who discovers a new resource that changes their future. It’s found in the families who feel supported, valued, and connected to a community that cares.

Every day, Child and Family Charities continues to demonstrate what hope in action looks like. And for hundreds of local families each month, that hope begins at the Family Growth and Resource Center.