LODI, Calif. — Everyday Heroes are all around us and ABC10 wants to highlight the work they do. Every week our viewer nominates people and organizations making a difference in our community.
This week we want to introduce you to Jamie Vilinskas. She is the creator of Lodi Live, a publication she started in 2018 that only features the bright side of Lodi.
Lodi Live is available in both print and online. Vilinskas and her team write all kinds of positive stories. Like when neighbors help neighbors or businesses donate to frontline workers.
“I wanted to shift the focus off negative news to positive news,” said Vilinskas.
Lodi Live regularly comes up with new ways to promote kindness and the publication's newest campaign is the kindness signs. The kindness signs are meant to go alongside or in place of political lawn signs.
“We wanted to give people the opportunity to show their values and show that they believe in kindness,” Vilinskas said.
Lodi Live is an all-volunteer non-profit group. The kindness signs are also a donation-based fundraiser to support the publication printing cost and support struggling members in the community.
“We’ve done a lot of fundraising over the past few months to support local businesses and frontline workers,” Vilinskas said.
She said the signs are helping her community through the negativity of the pandemic. She also said that kindness can be contagious in the community.
“Even if you’re not in Lodi, just remember to be kind. This is a really hard time for people right now,” said Vilinskas.
You can see some of the good news that Lodi Live is publishing on its website.
Jamie Vilinskas is an Everyday Hero for spreading good news in her community.
If you want to nominate an Everyday Hero send an email to John Bartell jbartell@abc10.com and put Everyday Hero in the subject line.