THE GOOD SOUL PATROL We could all
use a little life-affirmation to get us through a
tough day. Mt. Lebanon Magazine is collect-
ing stories of everyday heroes who go out
of their way to show a little kindness. We will
publish them periodically.

hardwood floors in our new home
hoping to resolve the mess as quickly
as possible.

We were less than five minutes into
our conversation when this complete
stranger insisted that my husband
and I spend the night in their home
across the street. I politely refused
until I had a chance to talk it over with
my husband who shockingly said,
“That sounds amazing. Let’s do it!”
So later that night we went over to
get a tour of our living quarters and all the
treats that had been left out for us.

We truly felt as though we had landed
on a different planet where neighbors—de-
spite being complete strangers—took care of
neighbors. Mister Rogers would have been so proud.

Gail Francolini We were brand new to Lebo
last July and I was out weeding in front of our
Woodhaven Drive home when a neighbor
across the street walked over and said, “You
must be the new neighbors. Welcome! How
did your move go?”
I laughed and responded that it wasn’t
over. That it hadn’t really begun in fact. She
looked perplexed so I explained that despite
being told the movers would arrive from
Connecticut with everything we owned, they
were nowhere to be found and not answer-
ing their phones so we were sleeping on the
Catherine Jordaan, Mellon Middle School
As a middle school teacher, I see a lot of un-
kind acts among students, so I decided to
start incorporating kindness into my class-
room. In December, I challenged my stu-
dents to complete 12 acts of kindness. The
kids were to either film what they were do-
ing or explain in a video what they had done.

Some only did a few, some did all 12, and
some went beyond. As I would receive the
videos, we would watch them at the begin-
ning of class, and we would applaud each
person for their kindness after we watched
istock AB OV E & B E YO N D
their video. It was a very positive experience,
and something I plan on continuing in my
classroom. Some examples:
• Raked leaves for a neighbor
• Baked cookies and then spent four hours
at a bake sale to raise money for chemo-
therapy patients
• Donated 10 inches of hair to a company
that makes wigs for people suffering from
cancer • Asked to partner up with a new student
who looked nervous and alone for a gym
class activity
• Made friends with a person who looked
lonely at a party
If you have a random act of kindness story
to tell, send it to mjantz@mtlebanon.org, or
to Merle Jantz, 710 Washington Road, Pitts-
burgh, PA 15228.

A Mt. Lebanon Landmark…
est. 1930
ATRIA’S IS YOUR NEW BRUNCH HOT SPOT
LENTEN SPECIALS
PLAN YOUR SPECIAL OCCASION WITH US!
Visit on Saturday and Sunday for our made-from-
scratch brunch menu from 10am-2pm. Bananas
Foster French Toast, Omelets, and Crab Cake Flo-
rentine are just a few of the mouth-watering spe-
cialties. Don’t forget to add a mimosa or the best
Bloody Mary in Pittsburgh!
A special menu will be offered every day during
Lent featuring our famous crab cakes, crab stuffed
jumbo shrimp and half pound beer battered fish &
chips platter to name a few.

And don’t forget to make your Easter
reservations now.

Our beautiful banquet room can hold up to 40
guests and party packages start at $17.99 for lunch
and four-course dinners at $37.99. Celebrate baby
& wedding showers, rehearsal dinners, business
meetings, class reunions or a special birthday with
Atria’s. 110 Beverly Road, Mt Lebanon, PA 15216 • 412-343-2411 • atrias.com
54 Mt. Lebanon Magazine | MARCH 2020



Select Realty
SHIM FOOD DRIVE The Mt. Leba-
non PTA Council is partnering with
South Hills Interfaith Movement
(SHIM) to help fight hunger. SHIM
operates three South Hills food pan-
tries, which benefitted more than
2,000 people a month last year.

The pantries are located at SHIM's
headquarters, 5301 Park Avenue in
Bethel Park; the SHIM Family Cen-
ter, 41 Macek Drive in Whitehall;
and the Baldwin United Presbyte-
rian Church, 201 Knoedler Road.

From March 23 through 27, Mt.

Lebanon schools will collect high-
demand items for the pantries.

To eliminate excess sorting for
SHIM volunteers, the PTA is des-
ignating specific items to be col-
lected at each school. The items
and schools are listed in the
accompanying chart.

And of course, cash is always
welcome. Make checks payable
to SHIM.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Foster Canned protein – chicken, tuna, beans
Hoover Beverages (non-refrigerated milk,
juice, tea and coffee)
Howe Jefferson
Baking ingredients – flour, sugar,
brown sugar, oil,
Fine Home Specialist
412-874-3946 Karen@KarenFrank.com
KarenFrank.com Pasta sauce in cans or jars
Lincoln Diapers (sizes 3-6) and baby wipes
Markham Low sodium canned soups
Washington Lentils, dried beans, couscous, qui-
noa, barley
Lebanon Ad - Karen Frank.indd 1
1/17/19 4:16 PM
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Mellon Cereal and oatmeal
Jefferson Boxed rice mixes
HIGH SCHOOL
Deodorant Toothbrushes
Toothpaste Shampoo
THE BALLOON GOES UP Our
web readers will remember the Mt.

Lebanon BioBalloon project from
our February, 2020, online edition
(www.lebomag.com/building-a- bioballoon). Well, guess what? By
the time you read this, the balloon
will have launched, and we will
have updates!
Fourteen Mt. Lebanon High School Seniors recently
conducted a weather balloon experiment to deter-
mine the effects of cosmic rays and UV light on
gene expression.

Visit lebomag.com to get details
on the balloon's trip into the atmo-
sphere, plus some of the team's
preliminary findings.

LANDSCAPE &
GARDEN DESIGN
BY GWEN WISNIEWSKI, LLC
20+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
Creative & functional
landscapes for residential
& commercial properties
CONTACT GWEN
412-527-5464 WWW.GWENWISNIEWSKI.COM
GWDESIGNS@VERIZON.NET lebomag.com | 55