It may have been a rainy day but the One Simple Wish team brought plenty of sunshine to Anchor House as they delivered what they promised – Love, Hope, and Joy.
One Simple Wish (OSW) launched their tour on May 22, bringing their first mobile Love Hope Joy Delivered truck to Anchor House, custom-built to grant wishes and deliver comforting, joyful items. It is fitting that One Simple Wish started this tour in May as it is National Foster Care Month, a time to recognize that we can each play a part in enhancing the lives of children and youth in foster care. Since 2008, OSW has granted 350,000 wishes to kids and youth impacted by foster care and crisis.
Anchor House has been partnering with One Simple Wish since they started, and many of our young people have been granted wishes through this amazing organization. OSW knows that Anchor House knows how to spread some love, hope and joy to others. Which is why WE were the first stop on their tour!
As Nikki Quinn, OSW’s Program Manager, and Jen Fineman, a One Simple Wish volunteer, pulled the van into Anchor House’s driveway, they were warmly greeted by our young people and staff. Once inside, Nikki explained to all what they were trying to accomplish with the tour, and, since Anchor House was the first stop, they wanted hear feedback about the activities and ideas of where they should visit on the tour. “We want this to feel like this is everyone’s van,” explained Nikki, adding, “and bring smiles and joy wherever we go.” One of our young adults had a great suggestion of stopping at the National Night Out events, held each August in communities throughout Mercer County and across the country.
Nikki told the group that they would be ‘pebbling,’ which is creating small but meaningful gifts to show someone they care (fun fact, pebbling is what penguins do to show affection when they are looking for their mate). What made it more meaningful is the pebbling acts would be for young people who had faced some of the same issues our youth and young adults had experienced like being in foster care or homelessness. Together, our staff and our young people participated in pebbling activities to spread smiles and joy including creating ‘love notes’ for kids in need of encouraging messages, painting rocks with inspirational sayings to be hidden during the tour for folks to discover or given to young people, and packing bags with trauma informed care items. Nikki noted that creating love notes is an activity that OSW has done for many years and that youth she has talked with have said how much they cherish the notes, carrying it with them for years after receiving them.
The next stop on the tour was later that evening at the Trenton Circus Squad, another one of Anchor House’s community partners. The tour will soon venture out across cities throughout the United States to spread smiles to kids. “As Nikki said, this is going to be an epic adventure and Anchor House was honored to be a part of – and the start – of the tour,” said Kim McNear, Anchor House Executive Director.
Danielle Gletow, the Founder and Executive Director of One Simple Wish, who refers to the tour as her heart on wheels, said “There is nothing I love more than showing up for people and helping them feel seen, heard, and loved. I believe, deeply, that joy is a critical component to life, and I am so excited to spread more of it, especially in these difficult times.”
To learn more about One Simple Wish, visit their website at https://www.onesimplewish.org/
Below are more photos from the event:
