Armed with spray paint, post-election lawn signs, and another of his many great ideas, Branford resident and non-profit Community Volunteers United founder Ken Engelman has developed a grass roots campaign designed remind us all of the value of civility and respect for one another.

Since January, Engelman has been strategically placing his hand-made “Please Be Kind!” red and white lawn signs around Branford, and beyond.

The advertising and marketing professional said the first glimmer of how he might be able to repurpose post-election lawn signs for the greater good struck back in 2020, during the last presidential election.

“I volunteer at the town’s polling places, and at one of my breaks outside the high school, I just saw so many signs, and I wondered what happened to them after the election. I thought it would be great to repurpose them. But at the time, I did nothing with it,” said Engelman.

But the idea stuck with him. Following the 2023 municipal elections, Engelman said his concept came to life due to converging with his recognition of a growing change in our societal tenor.

“After the elections in November, that’s when the idea was reignited for me. I said, ‘You know what, there’s so much anger in this world, and negativity, and people being full of angst. I want to turn these signs into positive messages.’”

Engelman reached out with a request for Branford’s used political lawn signs.

“Ray Ingraham was the first person to respond, and that’s where it started. Ray was awesome,” said Engelman.

Ingraham donated a wealth of Republican elective lawn signs done in red. Engelman stuck with the color.

“Red pops. There’s no political, religious, or any other reason behind it. It’s just a good color,” said Engelman. “So I took tape and covered the political message, and I spray- painted ‘Please Be Kind!’”

Next, with permission from property owners, Engelman started placing a few signs around Branford, in strategic locations.

“After my third or fourth sign, people started asking if they could get one,” he said.

Engelman said a balance of just the right number of signs (about 15 to 20) at these roadside locations is what has helped to catch the attention of passerby, and, hopefully, is helping to spread the word.

“The commonality is that more people agree we need kindness, we need more community. That’s something that everybody seems to be excited about and happy to talk about. That’s part of my goal - to change the narrative from angst and fight and fear to one of, ‘We’re in this together,” he said. “Nobody knows what another person is going through, let alone what you see in media. Who is speaking about the other side, the opposite of that stuff? I’m hoping to inspire more people looking for the good and talking about being friendly with another person.”

He said the spirit of the idea can be defined as “community kindness.”

“It’s really about community kindness. When this type of angst is normalized, to me, that’s the opposite of a healthy community.”

The concept of community kindness is also a tenet of Community Volunteers United. At its website, communityvolunteersunited.org, the non-profit describes its mission as one which “...empowers individual volunteers and provides them with the tools, resources, and support to help them succeed in their local communities.”

In the month since Engelman has launched the lawn sign, news of the signs has been picked up by area media, helping to further the momentum of the project. Now, Engelman is hoping the idea will be picked up and put on display across the state.

“I think every town in Connecticut should have just 15 signs in each town, at strategic locations. And that would inspire enough conversations, and people taking photos of the signs and uploading it to social media, to where the buzz will continue. That’s one of my goals.”

The results are already becoming evident, including those who have taken to making and displaying their own signs. Engelman has also connected with interested individuals from East Haven, North Branford, and Wallingford. In the coming weeks, he’s joining a sign-making effort being planned in North Haven. He also has fielded a request to help a West Haven resident create a number of signs from materials the resident has gathered.

A common definition of kindness is doing things for others without expecting anything in return, said Engelman.

“Kindness, to me, means respecting others and being friendly and helpful to others, simply because you can.”