There is a challenge on the wall of South Forsyth High School that is hard to miss. It’s a banner that is 6 feet long and 10 feet wide, hanging in the busiest place in the school.
The sign asks everyone to be the “I” in K-I-N-D.
Grady Arant is a student at the school.
“Passing this sign, you see it doesn’t have to be anything big but there is always something we can do to help,” he said. “We think it is the first step to a big chain reaction.”
“I think it really catches people’s eye,” student Savannah Whyman said. “I think it is a great reminder to treat people the way you want to be treated.”
Jackie Moore and her Forsyth family are behind the banner and a bigger campaign of kindness.
Her daughter Jordyn is a student at South Forsyth High School and has autism. “Be kind to everyone” is a message the Moore family has worked to share around the world, and is a message that has changed Jordyn’s life.
“About a thousand students pass the banner every day,” Jackie Moore, a parent said. “We want this to spark ideas of how kindness should be part of every school, every business, everyone, every day.”
The family basement is the world headquarters for their movement of kindness.
The idea came from a worry Jordyn's mom Jackie and her dad had about what would happen when she graduated from high school and no longer had the structure and support that school brings.
“She really struggled doing simple tasks," Jackie said. “We wanted to do something that would train her for the future.”
Jackie said when they found out Jordyn had autism it was scary. They didn’t know what the future would hold.
They printed t-shirts that read, “Be Kind to Everyone.”
Jordyn has learned to roll the shirts and help package them. She sorts stickers and signs her name to a card for every order. There have been tens of thousands of orders already.
“We have sent our shirts to every state in the country and beyond,” Jackie said. “It’s been so much bigger than we could have ever dreamed.”
The banner is the next level for a message that always needs a megaphone.
“I call it a combination of a flat Stanley and a chain letter,” Moore said.
Schools or businesses request a banner through their Facebook page.
They give the banner as a gift, with instructions on the back to share the message for a week, then pass on the banner to someone else to enjoy.
The Moore family said the response has been overwhelming.
“On our Facebook page, we’ve had 1500 requests to get one of the 15 banners,” Jackie said.
They have sent banners around Georgia, California, Colorado and even a Walmart in Missouri where all the employees are going to wear Jordyn’s t-shirts on World Kindness Day.
“To see a girl who has significant struggles spark hope, kindness and compassion all over the world is an amazing thing," Jackie said.
“I think it is so cool that one family in Forsyth, Georgia is reaching all over the country,” Arant explained.
Vance Robinson is one of the students who is proud to support Jordyn and her message in the halls of South Forsyth High School.
“Even if we are different, we need to be nice to people, treat other people with respect,” he said. “It’s not a hard thing to do and it is an important message to push.”
Jackie Moore agrees.
“We need more people putting themselves as the “I” in kind," she said. "Kindness can be so easy to do, but it can be so easily forgotten in our world.”
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