A young mother of four children, Heidi Schlumpf of Listowel, Ontario was diagnosed with Triple Negative Metastatic breast cancer (TNMBC) in April 2021. To celebrate her 34th birthday later that year, Heidi used her social media influence to encourage people to perform a random act of kindness, and #putakinddeedinyourfeed.
“Heidi was diagnosed with stage 4 in May of 2021, and she was given the prognosis of 12-18 months,” shared Heather, Heidi’s close friend of 15 years, “She became very passionate about raising awareness about her specific type of cancer because it’s an uncommon one and not a lot of people have heard about it. She really sprang into action. She believed we can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond. Heidi really lived by that mantra.”
When Heidi found out that she had to go to treatment on the day before her birthday, she chose not to let it keep her down. She asked that her friends and family share kind deeds online to cheer when she was feeling rough after treatment.
On September 8th, 2021, the new hashtag #putakinddeedinyourfeed went viral, and heart-warming acts of kindness poured in from her community. And then from beyond her community. Hundreds of these posts have been preserved on Heidi’s Instagram account @hevd.
Heidi passed on August 10th, 2022. To carry on her legacy, her community is preparing once again to put a kind deed in their feeds on September 8th, which would have been her 35th birthday. And while spreading awareness and kindness were part of Heidi’s motivation for starting the hashtag, Heather says her kids were also a big part of it.
“The real reason, I believe, is that she wanted something for her kids to hang on to that she started,” said Heather, “All the posts that we’re being tagged in, we can save. Right now, they don’t really understand the reach it has. When they’re older they can look through them all and see how far and wide their mom’s legacy has gone. The power that one person can have to do good, and the trickle effect of kindness is something they can hang on to and carry on in her memory.”
How people can participate:
- Commit a “random act of kindness” on Heidi’s birthday (September 8th, 2022)
- Share it on social media with the hashtag #putakinddeedinyourfeed
- Tag @putakinddeedinyourfeed on Instagram posts/stories so we can preserve them all for the family
- Donate to Heidi’s Hope Fundraiser, to benefit TNMBC research at London Health Sciences Foundation (already more than $100,000 raised!)
