ASH Alum Demonstrates The Importance of Being Well, Doing Well

We love hearing about our ASH alumni achievements once they have left our school and what they are doing to carve their own path in the world. We especially love hearing about them making a difference in their communities. ASH Alum Davy King shows us that it really “takes zero effort to give someone else a nice day”, in a recent LINDA magazine article that spotlights his efforts as a social “buddy” to 95-year-old Mvr. Schilperoot. As we reflect on what ‘being well, doing well’ means to each of us, this heart-warming article illustrates an easy way to help each other, as well as ourselves, by combating feelings of loneliness. 

Davy, who is a successful TV and film actor, decided to give back and help spread happiness through the Dutch “One Against Loneliness” program, which aims to support the 700,000 elderly people living in the NL who experience lonliness. His daily dose of happiness goes to 95 year old Mvr. Schilperoort, a former top athlete from The Hague, who now lives in a residence for the elderly. They speak every day, sometimes just for a minute and other times for hours, and talk about nothing and everything - which Davy says is vital in fostering the feeling of support for the other person. 

The arrival of COVID-19 this year has made connecting more difficult, and of course in times impossible, to meet together for coffee or take walks, but Davy never fails to pick up the phone to call “his girl”. In the full (Dutch) article from LINDA, Mvr. Schilperoort says “He gives me really sunny days, and I am very grateful to him for that.”

The happiness factor is a theoretically easy one to implement says Davy; when you take a moment to smile at a stranger, listen to the neighbor on the street who wants to chatter about the weather, or say good morning to the person next to you in line at the supermarket or on the tram. Taking that moment to appreciate and act on the small things is an easy way to start implementing the happiness factor in your own lives, as well as the lives of others. “I can’t change the world on my own, but I can help one person at a time” , says Davy; a simple and meaningful place for us all to start in building on what “being well, doing well” truly means.

#ASHexperience