A Manitoban trucking company is making intentional moves to spread a bit of kindness.

Tim Plett, owner of Plett Trucking in Landmark, says it felt important to reach across the Red River and show appreciation for staff at Menzies Medical Centre in Morden.

"In my mind, we did very little,” says Plett. “We brought them some cookies and some dainties and some flowers, just a token of our appreciation for what they're doing. We heard about them on the radio, and we thought they needed some uplifting because they're working in a difficult area. And there's too much anger, and they're in the middle of it. We're not so much in the middle of that where we are, but they are, and they need that encouragement from us as well."

Clinic executive director Karen Chezick was touched by this outpouring of support, which included cookies and 12-15 varieties of meat buns and two bouquets of flowers.

"Honoured, surprised, appreciative, encouraged, lifted, joyous,” she says, trying to describe her thoughts and feelings. “It's really hard to put into words what these sorts of things mean to everybody here."

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Chezick says it came at a really great time.

"I guess everybody, when I say everybody, I don't mean just all of us at Menzies Medical, everybody is tired, and it's been a long haul,” Chezick says. “I think these acts of kindness and generosity just go so far, and it's really nice to be reminded genuine caring is still very prevalent in our communities, and we were just really touched, and words really can't say how much it meant to us."

Plett says there's a lot of anger in the world right now and he wishes more people would carry on with showing kindness to others.

"There are a lot of people working extremely hard behind the scenes that aren't recognized, that are working in extremely tough conditions,” he says. “People need to know there are still good people out there. And when people are going above and beyond, like (at) the Menzies Medical Center, they need to know there's still people that care. Not just from Winkler or Morden or that area, but even out here in Landmark, outside close to Winnipeg, there are people that care. That is what it is, which is just to encourage people. These days we're facing right now, this will end at some point. And we have to move on and an act of kindness is step one."

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Written by Robyn Wiebe