Emily Day 1

My name’s Emily, I’m 14 and I live in Maryland. I chose to do Project Nice because it honestly seemed like a great idea. How many times to you lose faith in humanity when someone sticks gum at the bottom of a table at a restaurant, or when someone borrows a pen from you and just walks off with it? Imagine how much better the world would be with more people doing nice things for one another.



Day 1: Shoveled my neighbor’s walkway.

In Maryland, we are very ill-equipped for snow. If it snows six inches, the whole county all but shuts down. So, when it snowed twenty to thirty inches (The worst blizzard ever recorded in Maryland to date.), like it did yesterday, everyone was stocking up on food, buying shovels, and generally preparing for an Ice Age.

Arguably, the worst part of a snow storm is having to shovel your driveway afterwards. Shoveling a driveway, porch and walkway blanketed with twenty inches of ice and snow is no mean feat, and practically impossible for the elderly couple who live across from me. Especially considering that the husband has a serious staph infection and had to go to the hospital last week.

Event: My dad, two other neighbors, and myself shoveled their two car driveway, walkway, and porch.

Reactions: The woman who lived there opened the window and thanked us profusely, telling us how much she appreciated us taking the time to help them out.

Would I do it again? Definitely. If we hadn’t, I have no idea how the couple would’ve been able to get out of their house.

Cost: It was free!

Effort: A lot. I can’t remember the last time I was this tired.

Time: An hour and a half, but it was worth every minute.