Mike Wolanin | The Republic Volunteers Ruchika Chander, left, Shelia Strickland write notes to inspire students that receive assistance from the School Supply Assistance Program during the United Way Day of Caring at the United Way building in Columbus, Ind., Friday, May 16, 2025.
“You are amazing just the way you are.” “Kindness is your greatest superpower.” “Be proud of how far you’ve come.”
These are just a few inspirational messages Cummins Global Finance Team employees wrote on little slips of paper while participating in United Way of Bartholomew County’s annual Day of Caring. Soon, these messages will be given to hundreds of kids in the community in the hopes of brightening their day.
The volunteers working on the notes were among dozens who fanned out across the community to participate in various “Day of Caring” activities, from doing landscaping and cleanup work at various community agencies to preparing outdoor walls for an artistic mural downtown.
According to United Way Program Coordinator and member of the Bartholomew County School Supply Assistance Program Committee Nichristian Guesman, the notes will be placed in the backpacks of students from kindergarten to sixth grade in addition to school supplies as part of the Bartholomew County School Supply Assistance Program. The backpacks will then be distributed to over 2,100 kids across Bartholomew County before school starts in late July, Guesman said.
“It’s for any children that attend BCSC, Flat Rock/Haw Creek, any private or parochial schools or homeschools, for any Bartholomew County student in need,” Guesman said.
Nearly a dozen employees with the Cummins Global Finance Team spent Friday afternoon at the United Way of Bartholomew County building creating and decorating the notes. A list of over 15 inspirational phrases and prompts were given to each employee to write, in addition to whatever else they wanted to include.
“I think it’s amazing that they wanted to inspire kiddos,” Guesman said. “I let them know it’s going to be a big deal for those kiddos to just get that simple little note in that backpack, that it’ll make their day and let them know that that’s definitely going to be inspirational for these kids.”
Employee Andy Marino bordered the phrases with decorative lines to make them a little more interesting, but he said it’s really the message that matters. While he has been involved with packing the backpacks before, he said it is interesting to see the program from a different side, and he hopes these notes gets the kids’ school years off to a positive start.
Fellow employee Shelia Strickland included a flower onto one of her notes with what she said was her favorite phrase: “you matter, you are loved, you belong.” Femi Akolade said he doodled the sun on his notes, which he said signifies that the kids are brighter than the sun and they should keep going. Both Strickland and Akodale said they thought making the notes was a great opportunity to encourage kids in the community.
“I mean, what a better way to reach out and touch people you don’t know then to give them positive words of encouragement, and kids these days really need it so it’s an awesome opportunity,” Strickland said.
