An act of kindness surprises Dixieland student

The Great Kindness Challenge at Dixieland Elementary School kicked off with a Kindness Assembly and a special guest speaker.

Two days after Christmas, a man riding his dirt bike in the snow above Shaver Lake pulled over into a turnout to enjoy the view. When he looked on the ground there was a wallet. Upon opening it, he found a gift card, $13 and a Dixieland student ID card. That began a great act of kindness by Reedley’s fire chief, Jerry Isaak.

Isaak contacted Kimberly Bitter, principal of Dixieland and then traveled an hour up from Reedley to Madera, to give back the wallet to its rightful owner.

Isaak surprised Julian Cortez, a fifth grader during the school’s Great Kindness Challenge Assembly. Isaak reviewed with the student body the 50-item checklist of kindness and challenged them to complete as many acts of kindness as possible.

He then told the student body about finding a wallet in the snow and his desire to return it to its owner. Julian Perez-Cruz was amazed when the Fire Chief asked if there was a Julian Perez-Cruz in the audience. When the chief gave him his wallet, Julian said he didn’t know when or where he had lost it, but was happy get the gift card back. The gift card had been a Christmas gift.

Continuing his act of kindness, Isaak put in a $20 bill in the wallet. Isaak said he felt bad that Julian didn’t get to use the gift card and hoped that the $20 would help him buy something extra nice when combined with it.

The Great Kindness Challenge is a worldwide challenge in 91 countries and runs from Jan. 28–Feb. 1 that encourages everyone to perform acts of kindness at their home, school, and in the community.