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Lawn signs bring love to the south suburbs

Flossmoor resident Kai Haynes has been spreading joy through lawn signs. (Provided photo)

The past six months have been unsettling for everyone, but amidst the stay-at-home efforts Kai Haynes has added hope, joy, peace, faith and love — through yard signs. 

When Gov. J.B. Pritzker put quarantine measures into place in March, Haynes noticed a lack of color and happiness in her Flossmoor Hills neighborhood. 

“I looked outside and felt a ‘blah’ and a heaviness of ‘this can get people depressed.’ God gave me the vision to add some color to brighten people’s day,” Haynes said.

Flossmoor resident Kai Haynes has been spreading joy through lawn signs. (Provided photo)

She and her husband, Kalind Haynes, decided to brighten their neighborhood by adding ribbons to the trees. They wrote letters to each person in their neighborhood explaining why they decorated the trees and what each color meant: orange means vitality, green means new beginnings, yellow stands for hope and happiness, and blue is for calmness. 

A few weeks later, she had a vision to expand her message to everyone who drove, walked or rode their bike in her neighborhood through lawn signs. 

She created simple signs with the words: Hope, Peace, Joy, Faith and Love.

She gave a meaning to each sign:

  • Hope — in the midst of uncertain times.
  • Peace — in knowing that we shall get through this together.
  • Joy — in the anticipation of what greatness is to come.
  • Faith — that everything will be alright.
  • Love — show each other love now more than ever.

“I started with 24 signs, thinking that would be enough for my block (one sign per house), and today I have distributed over 600 signs,” Haynes said. 

Kai Haynes has taken it upon herself to spread joy, love, peace and hope through simple lawn signs that she’s distributed throughout the South Suburbs. (Provided photo)

What started as a small project for Haynes’ neighborhood has turned into a south suburban campaign for hope, peace, joy, faith, and love.

To add a little flare to the signs Haynes’ neighbor, Donna Harris, has been putting pinwheels down whenever she sees the signs. 

Haynes has signs in Homewood, Flossmoor, Chicago Heights, Country Club Hills, Hazel Crest, Glenwood and Olympia Fields. She even has put signs on the north, east and southwest sides of Chicago.  

Haynes said people have sent her messages saying the signs “uplift their spirits. That they look forward to seeing them daily. They look to see where they have spread in the community. “ 

She even had a few people message her saying the signs are “the hope and encouragement they needed.”

Haynes said she still gets requests for signs and will deliver them to any house or business. She has not been selling the signs, but she will take donations. Haynes can be contacted at [email protected].

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