San Diego Toddler Spawns A Kindness Movement

Speaker 1: 00:00 In April of 2016 San Diego, Leah and Rob Davis experienced a blessed event. Leah gave birth to their second child. A boy called Blake. Blake was growing up just like other little boys until July of 2017 when he suddenly stopped breathing. That led to a three month stay at Rady children's hospital. It was during that time, family and friends would ask the Davis' if there was anything they could do a question they struggled to answer. A social worker said, give them something to do, and so the four Blake movement was born. The goal is simple, do something nice for someone else and do it in Blake's name, like lost his battle with a rare heart and lung condition on January 2nd of last year, but the movement goes on. Joining us to talk more about the four Blake movement are Blake's parents, Leah and Rob Davis. Welcome to you both. Speaker 1: 00:51 Thank you so much. Thank you for having us on the, for Blake webpage. You talk about wondering what you could tell people when they asked what they could do to help. Then you said something clicked, which led to the for Blake movement, what exactly clicked? Well at that time we had no idea what Blake's fate was going to be and we felt incredibly helpless and all of our friends and family also felt helpless. There was nothing that really anybody can do and you know, we were desperate and wanted to raise the positive energy that was surrounding Blake. And so it all just kind of came together for us that we wanted to ask our friends and family if they would just go out and do something kind for someone they know for a stranger and do it in honor of our son, that it would potentially help elevate the positive energy that was surrounding him. Speaker 1: 01:48 And our friends and family responded and it was really incredible. A friend actually started a Facebook page just called for Blake and people started to post their, their stories there. And each day when we were in the CV ICU at radius, you know, we would start to see these stories coming in of what people were doing and we would just hold his hand. And even though he was intubated at the time, um, and on life support, we would just read the stories to him and tell him what an incredible impact he was making in the world and how much he was loved. And to be clear, you know, this, this movement is not about money. You don't ask for money. No, no, not at all. Right. Yeah. The only thing that we're asking for is, is just, you know, it, it, for us anyway, what it, what it does give us is it allows the legacy of our son to live on. Speaker 1: 02:43 Right. How aware was Blake of the movement that bears his name while he was still alive? Oh, that's a great question. You know, um, you know, I [inaudible] two years old. There's no way he fully understood what was going on, but as he was, uh, released from Rady children's hospital after the first stay of three months, it really became part of our lives. So we started to find other ways that we could do good or that we could give back. And we held a toy drive in his name, actually after one year of, um, the date that he stopped breathing in the, uh, in the park nearby and tried to turn something tragic into something really positive and ended up, um, gathering near 200 toys for the CV ICU. And we started to do things in his honor, really celebrating his life while he was alive, whether it was, you know, baking toys or, or taking things to the firehouse or, um, just trying to help people at the grocery store. And so he was a part of it all along while he was alive. Speaker 2: 03:50 Yeah. And I mean, as far as his actual understanding as a two year old, I'm sure it wasn't, um, that aware as far as what was going on. But we as parents, you know, we, we raise our children and we teach them that, you know, we donate things and we do things for others. And, uh, even as a two year old, when we, when we gathered, you know, all of our people together and all these toys that we were going to donate, you know, sure. There's excitement. He's two and there's a bunch of toys, but you wonder if there was a level of understanding because he never really got attached to him. He understood that they weren't for him. He understood that they were going someplace else. And I don't, I don't ever recall him being attached to it. So I, I like to think that he did have an understanding that we were doing something greater. Speaker 1: 04:35 Yeah. And, and can, can you tell us about, you know, one or two acts of kindness that were really unique or really stuck out to you in some way? Speaker 2: 04:45 Yeah, there's a, there's a couple I know that, uh, I know, you know, Leah and I were just talking and one of the ones that she likes so much and, and secretly we are going to replicate here in San Diego, um, is a friend of ours that lives up in Portland. Uh, you know, they have these little libraries in neighborhoods, you know, where you can give a book, take a book, that type of thing. You'll see them in neighborhoods and whatnot. And, uh, she went through and she bought a whole bunch of books and you know, put some of the, the kindness cards, the blades. Yeah, the put them inside the back cover of the book and then went around all around Portland and, and kind of donated these books. And that one, that one was pretty cool. And uh, um, I think the another one that always stands out to us, um, is, you know, there was a woman, um, that lived here locally in San Diego County. Someone did something nice for her, for Blake. And then fast forward we're in when we were transferred to Houston, um, this woman, unbeknownst to us, obviously follows, follows the page, now lives in Houston, showed up at the hospital to give us things, you know, toys for Blake and, and food for us. Cause because we were, our whole lives were uprooted and we're now in a, a foreign land where we were no one, no one. Speaker 1: 06:01 Right. It was actually really amazing. It was a complete stranger. We still don't know who helped her in Cardiff and San Diego, but ultimately she was so affected personally by the story that when we were at Texas children's hospital, uh, Blake was undergoing a lung transplant evaluation there and she found us complete strangers and she offered us a place to stay her car, a place to shower. And it was just, it always moves me to tears. I just, I can't believe that's a complete stranger that was affected by the story would go out of their way to make us feel like home when we were in a strange place. It's amazing how big the outpouring of kindness can be. And Rob, you mentioned the kindness cards. I'm curious to know what they said. Speaker 2: 06:44 So, so ultimately, I mean, you know, when, when this whole thing started, you're doing something nice for someone and obviously it starts with those that are close to us. And so you feel a little bit more passionately about the topic and it's, it's, it's a little bit hard to express, you know, to tell the story of a, of a boy who passed away. Um, and so you can get a little bit choked up or maybe you don't have the time, but you still want to participate in the movement. Um, and a friend of the family's made just kind of a little quick story about what she was doing and why she was, why she was doing this kind need and what it meant and what it stood for to her. Um, and so we took that and kind of refined it a little bit. So it's almost like on a business type card. Um, and it basically just says, you know, who Blake was a little bit about him and the kindness movement of, of the four Blake, uh, movement. And so that way it's, it's something that you, you can go through and you can do the good deed. And if you're Blake's father like me, it's really hard story to tell a complete stranger without getting worked up. And, uh, it's kind of just, here you go, this is, this is why I'm doing this. Please spread it, spread it on and pay it forward. For Blake, Speaker 1: 08:05 people do verbally tell the story and about this legacy of Blake and these little kindness cards that were created were a way to do it without having to say anything at all. But for somebody to understand why they were touched by a good deed. And so we know that they are trickling throughout San Diego and across the nation actually. And on the new Ford blake.org website, there's also a place to download these kindness cards. And we have even seen in recent deeds that have been posted that people are doing that and sharing those also. That's pretty cool. I mean, well I so appreciate you guys coming in and sharing, um, Blake's powerful movement that, that lives on. How can people participate? What's the website? Thank you. Yeah, it's for blake.org um, and on there there's this really cool feature. It's a good deeds tracker, essentially a map that can track the movement globally and you can see how it's spread locally to across the States and now into multiple countries. Speaker 1: 09:08 And so we really ask that people be willing to do something kind and share the story through the website to actually pin it on the map. You can also see all of the good deeds. There's a page that almost serves like a library, and you can just scroll through hundreds of good deeds and it's really uplifting and inspiring that so many lives have been touched by our little boy. I've been speaking with Leah and Rob Davis, parents of Blake Davis, the founders of the four Blake movement. Thank you both so much for joining us. Thank for so much. Thank you.