Copyright © 2025 by Marcelle Trinkaus
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced.
Chapter One: The Man with the Red Scarf
Sophie pressed her nose against the school bus window, watching the world rush by in a blur of color and sound. It was Monday again, cold and gray, with just a whisper of winter in the air. As the bus stopped at the corner of Elm and Fifth, Sophie saw him again—the man with the red scarf.
He sat on the same bench every morning, wrapped in an old brown coat with patches on the elbows. His boots were too big, and he always had a paper cup beside him, even though no one ever seemed to stop.
"Why does that man sit there all the time?" Sophie asked aloud.
Liam, her little brother, was sitting beside her with his backpack on his lap. "Maybe he's waiting for someone?" he guessed.
Sophie wasn’t so sure. Every day for the last two weeks, she'd seen him. Same bench. Same scarf. Same faraway look in his eyes. She had a feeling he wasn’t waiting for anyone.
That night at dinner, Sophie brought it up.
"Mom, there's a man on the bench at Elm and Fifth. He looks cold."
Her mom paused, spoon halfway to her mouth. "That’s probably Mr. Ray. He’s homeless. He used to live in an apartment nearby, but it burned down last year. The shelters are full lately."
Sophie felt her stomach twist. “But… doesn’t anyone help him?”
Her dad sighed. “People try. But it’s hard. There are more people needing help than there are places for them to go.”
Sophie looked at Liam. He was frowning too. She had never really thought about people not having a home. A warm bed. A table full of spaghetti and garlic bread like they had now.
That night, under her warm blankets, Sophie thought about Mr. Ray and his red scarf. She thought about the way he always looked down when people passed him.
And that’s when she had the idea.
“What if we helped?”
Chapter Two: The Kindness Club
Sophie could hardly sit still during school the next day. She scribbled ideas in the margin of her notebook instead of copying down her math problems.
Blankets. Sandwiches. Hot chocolate. Gloves. Notes?
At lunch, she pulled Liam aside and whispered her plan. His eyes got wide.
“You want to help Mr. Ray? Like… bring him stuff?”
“Yeah,” Sophie said. “But not just us. What if we ask the class? Or maybe the whole school?”
Liam blinked. “You think other kids will care?”
Sophie wasn’t sure. Some kids barely noticed Mr. Ray. Others made jokes. But she had to try.
That afternoon, Sophie asked her teacher, Miss Tran, if she could talk to the class. Miss Tran smiled and nodded.
When Sophie stood at the front of the room, her hands were shaking a little.
“Um, hi. I wanted to tell you about a man I see on my way to school. He’s homeless. His name is Mr. Ray, and he sits on a bench on Elm and Fifth. It’s getting really cold, and I thought maybe… maybe we could do something to help.”
The room was quiet. Then a hand shot up. It was Jamal.
“What can we do? We’re just kids.”
Sophie took a deep breath. “We could make care kits. You know, like a bag with socks and snacks and maybe a note. My mom said we have extra gloves at home.”
“I’ve got a bunch of little shampoo bottles from when we travel,” said Olivia. “We could use those!”
“Hot chocolate packs,” added Ethan. “My dad buys them in huge boxes.”
Miss Tran clapped her hands together. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a mission! Let’s call it the Kindness Club.”
Liam grinned at Sophie. “You started a club.”
Sophie’s heart soared.
Chapter Three: Operation Warmth
That weekend, Sophie and Liam’s living room turned into a care-kit factory. Their parents helped too, buying socks and mini first-aid kits from the dollar store. Miss Tran had sent a letter home, and kids from all grades were bringing in things: granola bars, scarves, tissues, hand warmers, even cheerful notes with crayon hearts and smiley faces.
Each bag had a label:
YOU MATTER. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. – From the Kindness Club
On Sunday afternoon, Sophie stood by the window holding a cloth bag stuffed with one of the kits.
“Ready?” her dad asked.
She nodded. Her heart was thudding.
They drove to the bench on Elm and Fifth. Mr. Ray was there, as always. His scarf was pulled up to his nose. When he saw Sophie step out of the car, he blinked in surprise.
“Hi, Mr. Ray,” she said softly. “I’m Sophie. We made this for you.”
She handed him the bag. He looked down, then up at her again.
“You made this?”
Sophie nodded.
His eyes filled with tears. “No one’s called me by my name in months.”
She didn’t know what to say, so she just smiled. “There’s more, too. We made lots. You can share with your friends if you want.”
He held the bag to his chest. “Thank you, little one. You reminded me that there’s still good in the world.”
As they walked back to the car, Sophie felt warmer than she ever had, even though the wind was sharp and cold.
Chapter Four: News Travels Fast
On Monday morning, something strange happened. As Sophie walked into school, the principal, Mr. Gardner, was waiting by the front doors.
“You’re the one who started the Kindness Club?” he asked with a big smile.
Sophie nodded, a little nervous.
“I got a call from a reporter,” he said. “The local paper wants to do a story on what you and your classmates are doing.”
Sophie’s eyes went wide. “Really?”
“Really. They’ll be here Friday morning to talk to you and Miss Tran’s class.”
By lunch, everyone was buzzing about it. Olivia was already planning what to wear, and Ethan was practicing what he’d say if he got interviewed.
But Sophie wasn’t thinking about cameras or newspapers. She was thinking about Mr. Ray. She hoped he was okay. She hoped he stayed warm last night.
That afternoon, they made more care kits. Other classes wanted to join too. Fourth graders made cards. Second graders collected winter hats. Even the kindergarteners got involved, drawing pictures with stick figures holding hands under rainbows.
The Kindness Club had started with one small idea.
Now it was filling the whole school.
Chapter Five: The Interview
On Friday, the classroom felt like a movie set. The reporter, Ms. Garcia, brought a camera crew and a notebook. She knelt down to Sophie’s height.
“Why did you start this project?”
Sophie glanced at her classmates. “Because I saw someone who needed help. And I didn’t want to just walk by.”
Ms. Garcia smiled warmly. “And what do you hope people learn from this?”
“That kids can help too,” Liam piped up from beside her. “We might be small, but our hearts are big.”
The reporter laughed and scribbled something down. After the interview, she took pictures of the care kits, the kids holding up their signs, and the giant poster they’d made that said:
KINDNESS IS CONTAGIOUS. PASS IT ON.
The story ran in the newspaper that weekend, and by Monday, the school had received dozens of letters. Some were from people who wanted to donate supplies. One was from a man who had once been homeless himself.
Another was from Mr. Ray.
It was written in shaky handwriting on lined paper:
"Dear Kindness Club,
I’ve lived in the shadows for a long time. People don’t usually see me.
But you did. You saw me. And that changed everything.
Thank you for reminding me I matter.
—Ray"
Chapter Six: A New Beginning
A few weeks later, something incredible happened.
Mr. Ray wasn’t at the bench anymore.
At first, Sophie worried. But her mom showed her a post from the shelter’s Facebook page. It had a photo of Mr. Ray—clean-shaven, wearing a warm jacket—and standing in front of a small building with a sign that said “Transitional Housing – Room 3.”
The caption read:
Thanks to the growing community support, Ray has a roof over his head and a fresh start. Special thanks to the young hearts at Riverstone Elementary’s Kindness Club.
Sophie printed the photo and taped it to the Kindness Club wall in the hallway. Above it, she wrote in bold letters:
“One kind act can change someone’s world.”
The Kindness Club didn’t stop with Mr. Ray. That winter, they made over 100 care kits. In the spring, they organized a clothing drive. In the summer, they held a lemonade stand fundraiser for the shelter.
And through it all, Sophie remembered the first time she saw the man with the red scarf. And how a question turned into an idea.
And how that idea turned into a wave of warmth that kept growing… one small hand at a time.
The End
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