Kindness rolls on Torquay doorsteps

BRIGID Sandell was relieved on Saturday morning when she opened the door of her Torquay home to find a brown paper bag with an innocuous roll of toilet paper inside.

Ms Sandell was running low on supplies after having been to her local supermarket, only to be confronted with empty shelves amid coronavirus panic buying.

It was when she looked across the road and saw a neighbour had received the same parcel that she knew this was no regular act of kindness.

“Initially I thought it was my boss as we’d been speaking about it the day before, but then I looked across the road and saw my neighbours had the same thing on their doorstep and I was like ‘Wow, what a beautiful community and what a kind gesture’.

“It brought about some hope, given everybody’s fear and hysteria.”

Overwhelmed with gratitude, Ms Sandell shared a photo of her gift to the Surf Coast Community Noticeboard in the hope of igniting some positive discussion about the pandemic.

But her post – which ticked more than 700 likes – quickly revealed who was behind the anonymous gesture.

Rebecca Stengewis said her two children, Jack, 14, and Abbey, 11, went to Torquay’s Aldi supermarket and bought a large toilet paper packet for home before realising others might need it more.

“Abbey had given some rolls to Mary next door who’s an older lady. She got such a buzz from passing on that goodwill that she said ‘I think I want to deliver one to everyone in the street’.

“It was really sweet.”

Abbey, who attends school at Bellbrae Primary School, said she wanted to put a smile on people’s faces during this “crazy time”.

“I just wanted to be kind and show support to the people in our community that can’t get to the supermarkets early enough,” she said.

Ms Stengewis said she was proud of her children and their ability to show kindness in the wake of a crisis.

“For me it’s about producing children that make a difference in the world – it’s not the academic stuff I worry about. It’s about raising really good people who contribute to society in a positive way.”