GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The has been an outpouring of support from a West Side neighborhood after a sad message from a person named Allie was found Monday written on a piece of wood attached to a playground’s climbing wall.

The message signed by Allie said, “To be honest, I’m sad. Nobody ever wants to hang out with me and I have lost the only person (who) listens. I cry every day. I’m just sad.”

A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.

The note was found by families and kids who use John Ball Park’s playground. Since it was first posted on social media, more than 100 comments of love and support for Allie were left.

A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart, a nearby school, left a note and a box full of chalk Tuesday in the park. Shannon Wednt asked people to “go leave Allie a kind note.”

Since then dozens of positive messages of support, chalk-drawn hearts and balloons have filled the sidewalk surrounding the jungle gym where Allie left her note. Many of the drawings were left by Sacred Heart students.

A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.

“Allie has a void in her heart, and this is one little way that we can reach out and maybe help fill it,” said Headmaster Sean Maltbie. “None of our kids are immune from having their own anxieties, their own fears, their own worries about the things in the world that aren’t going right for them or their family.”

While Maltbie could not confirm if Allie is a student at his school, he told News 8 that Allie represents all of us because at some point in time we have all or will all experience sadness and suffering.

  • A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
    A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
  • A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
    A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
  • A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
    A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
  • A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
    A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
  • A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
    A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
  • A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.
    A parent and staffer from Sacred Heart left a note and a box full of chalk at John Ball Park’s playground after a sad message was left by a person named Allie.

“We like to try to think that we can actually remove suffering from our lives, the reality is that we need to learn how to suffer well because we’re going to suffer,” he said. “It’s just a question of how and when and what’s our response to that.”

The feelings of loneliness and isolation are not exclusively felt by children; the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health crisis earlier this month.