This past holiday season, we asked our Aerie fam to help us share kindness for the second year in a row – and once again, our fam came through! In honor of February being Kindness Month, we’re looking back on a few acts of #AerieREAL Kindness from 2021.
We asked you to nominate someone in your life – whether a friend, family member, coworker or even yourself – to receive an act of #AerieREAL Kindness. The Aerie fam sent in hundreds of nominations! Thanks to you telling us all about the amazing people in your life, we were able to share acts of kindness far and wide.
All told, we surprised 50 nominees with holiday cheer, including Aerie gift cards, shopping sprees, food deliveries, donations to their favorite charities & more.
A few nominees who received acts of #AerieREAL Kindness made our day by showing us what they did with their gifts and how much it meant to them. See a few of them below!
Callie, nominated by her mom, Jaime, went on an Aerie shopping spree! Callie’s mom wrote, “Starting middle school is tough on any teenage girl, but Callie has some added challenges that other girls don’t — she is a lower limb amputee and a 2x open heart surgery survivor…I would love to surprise her with an Aerie gift card that she can go on a shopping spree with–clothing is a huge way in which she shows her self confidence and her creativity. Aerie is one of her favorite brands, especially after she saw Bren Hucks (a fellow amputee!) as one of your ambassadors!”
C’airra was nominated by herself, telling us, “Like everyone else, I have been through a lot this past almost two years. I got rejected by multiple internship sites, my car broke down, and I lost my job. I was able to finally get a new car and was accepted to an internship site, but now I’m being evicted with my grandfather. I’ve been living with him since my grandma passed.” We sent her a $500 gift card towards a new laptop (plus some other goodies) to bring some cheer into her holiday season.
Christina, nominated by her friend Meagan, received a few cozy Aerie treats & went on an OFFLINE™ by Aerie shopping spree. Meagan told us, “[Christina] is a nurse and has been a first responder throughout this pandemic, and has also experienced a lot of personal family loss in the past year. In her spare time she loves to give back with community service such as beach clean ups. I know she is the rock for her family, and an angel for her patients, and I think she would love an Aerie gift card to treat herself to some comfy clothes for her to relax in after a long shift or a long day helping her family.”
Finally, Ashley nominated herself, telling us about the difficult year she and her family went through after losing her mother to cancer. “We did not have money to celebrate our birthdays following this year. We also do not have enough money for any Christmas decorations or gifts…Even though our finances are extremely tight, I want for my sisters and I to have a real Christmas this year. This will be the first time in 28 years where my mom won’t be here while we open our Christmas presents.” After gettin her gift card from Aerie, she sent this amazing pic of her Christmas tree and the presents she purchased for herself and her family.
We couldn’t have shared these acts of kindness if it weren’t for you, Aerie fam. Your kindness and generosity towards the people in your life is always inspiring! So of course we want to hear how you’re celebrating Kindness Month this year.