KINDNESS: A reader called us recently with a message about the importance of treating each other with kindness.

She was recently on the receiving end of an act of kindness herself. On the Monday after Easter — and after the start of the pandemic — she started receiving anonymous gifts in the mail.

She nearly cried when she got the first gift: cash and Walmart gift cards. A note with the gift was just signed by “a friend.”

As a retiree who lives on Social Security, the money helped her to buy groceries.

Since that time, she received a couple more similar gifts.

On the day we talked to her, our reader, excited to share the love, baked an apple pie that day for a friend. Apple pie is his favorite, she said.

She talked about how “just the little things” like that can brighten somebody’s day, and not just during the pandemic.

Our reader’s gift-giver remains a secret, but we imagine there are many people who would have enjoyed sending her a gift. She is a longtime volunteer in the community who has helped many over the years.

She is pleased to see other kindnesses in the community — such as parades at nursing homes — during the pandemic.

“People are doing good things.”

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TOILET PAPER TALLY: Were you prepared when stores ran out of toilet paper? Based on IRI panel data, along with the US Census, the average U.S. household (2.6 people) uses 409 equivalized regular rolls per year.

Using our own calculations, staying at home 24-7 would result in 40% increase vs. average daily usage. Therefore, to last approximately 2 weeks, a 2-person household would need 9 double rolls, or 5 mega rolls.

A 4-person household would need 17 double rolls, or 9 mega rolls to last approximately 2 weeks.