Day 4248: Little Shop of Kindness NYC, Demura Sensei

 

 

"Pain": junk collage, photo, inks, digital.

  

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2GN2S

"Little Shop of Kindness" NYC

Ilze Thielmann, founder of The Little Shop of Kindness in New York, helps behind the front desk.

 Thousands of miles away from the violence that threatened her family, a 16-year-old girl sits in a wooden chair trying on a pair of colorful Converse sneakers, breaking into a smile when they turn out to be a perfect fit.  

Like most teenagers, Kamilu Lozano loves shopping. But as a migrant who fled with her family from Peru to New York City with almost nothing, simple pleasures like picking out a new pair of shoes have become a luxury.  

 

It’s only at the Little Shop of Kindness in the city’s Upper East Side neighborhood that migrants like Kamilu get a rare opportunity to choose their own clothes from racks. 

Toiletries are on display at the Little Shop of Kindness.

 “It feels like we’re being treated like human beings,” Kamilu tells CNN, lamenting how difficult it’s been adjusting to life in a new city where many people regard migrants as a burden. “We forgot what it was like to be treated normally again — like we’re just normal people.”

Erika Ramos tries on shoes.

The boutique, tucked quietly inside a red brick church building on First Avenue, is run by Team TLC NYC, a nonprofit group that has met migrants at Port Authority Bus Terminal since 2019 to provide them with basic necessities and legal assistance. 

 The group opened the free shop last March to help address the city’s growing migrant crisis and counter the hostility many say they face from some city officials and residents. 

Ramos and her daughter Kaira Sanguinetti, 15, look through jewelry.

The items they offer are new or lightly used, donated by volunteers and city residents.

“It’s just so easy to call these folks the problem as opposed to victims of global changes and crises that exist around the world,” director Thielmann.

 “These are families with children and young men in the worst moment of their lives. How can we turn our backs on other human beings?”

   

THE LITTLE SHOP OF KINDNESS IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS! WE ARE LOCATED AT 1745 FIRST AVENUE, AT 90TH STREET, INSIDE THE AVENUE CHURCH BUILDING, ON THE 3RD FLOOR.

Related article here, video's here, & here.

 

 

For today's Update I am going to repeat a passage from a blog that I am guessing was about 2016?

The large Anaheim stadium theater was filled to capacity with celebrities and we ordinaries.

I need to mention that my son-in-law, Superman, picked our seats, as high up as possible. It has bearing on this story. The film was filled with laughter & emotion, well received by the crowd.

Because of our questionable location,we were among the last the leave the theater. The huge crowd filed out through the long, twisting, dark maze of hallways. We were moving at a snails pace.
My son in law has the patience of a gnat and I am claustrophobic, so also no angel. We were making comments and giving each other looks. Really! We weren't moving!

Finally we could see light, literally at the end of the tunnel. As we approached the lobby we saw the people stopping and the  reason for the delay.
Demura Sensei stood outside the door, thanking each and every person for coming! I teased him the next day at class, that it was like a wedding. He said "I just wanted to thank them."

This tells you as much about the man as the movie.
 

(Official 5 min. trailer here)

 

 

 

 

  

 

A 3+ minute video, Night Shift, here

 

 

 

  

 

 

Just because ...

 

 

Saturday's Smiles ...