Photo of Ella Boyers used by permission from Ella's mother Jennifer Connelly.

Meet this week’s Kidsburgh Kind Kid: Ella Boyers

When we asked readers to tell us about random acts of kindness done by their kids, the Kidsburgh Kind Kid nominations began rolling in.

We’ve already let you know about preschooler Ariel Heywood, who made sure a new classmate at her school wasn’t alone at lunchtime. Today we’re sharing the story of 7-year-old Ella Boyers, a student from Pine-Richland School District.

Recently, Ella noticed litter in her neighborhood in the suburbs north of Pittsburgh. Although no one had asked her to step in, and the litter wasn’t something she had dropped, Ella decided to pitch in and help.

She knew she could play a part in keeping her neighborhood clean by gathering those pieces of litter and bringing them all to a trash can. It’s a small choice, but one that ripples out if all of us take the same step.

Ella’s mother, Jennifer Connelly, saw our call for Kidsburgh Kind Kid nominations and reached out.

“Ella was caught picking up litter in our neighborhood to keep it beautiful and clean,” she wrote to us. “Her act of kindness in caring about the beautification of our community by picking up litter is definitely appreciated and noteworthy!”

We agree. We’ve sent Ella a #bethekindkid t-shirt, kindly donated by the awesome folks at Pittsburgh’s JAM Clubs.

And we invite you to tell us about a child who has done an act of kindness that made you smile — whether it was something big, or a small but meaningful gesture. Parents and other caring adults can use this online form to tell us about a child who has made an effort to spread kindness in our community. You’re welcome to nominate kids of any age, up through age 17.

We look forward to writing about as many of these submissions as possible and celebrating the good work of our Kidsburgh Kind Kids by sending your child a #bethekindkid t-shirt.