Arts on the Avenue owner recognized for numerous charitable acts
Courtesy of CHROME Federal Credit Union
Dana Engle Miller, second from left in the middle row, is surrounded by her family as she accepts a Random Acts of Kindness Award from CHROME Federal Credit Union President and CEO Robert Flanyak, left.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Dana Engle Miller, right, and her sister, Paula Hartzog, in Art on the Avenue, a walk-in craft studio she launched last year to provide a creative space for kids. The venue hosts a variety of activities, including a weekly Cookies and Canvas event, where children can snack and paint.
A Washington woman’s simple acts of kindness have gone a long way in making a lasting impact in the community.
Dana Engle Miller’s mission is to spread kindness daily in big and small ways.
Affectionately known as “DeDe the Lunch Lady” when she worked at the Washington Park Elementary School cafeteria, Miller was recently recognized for her good deeds, including paying off students’ delinquent lunch balances at school districts in Washington County.
She’s picked up the tab for families at restaurants, provided groceries, microwaves and mini-refrigerators for people in need, sponsored youth sports teams, and donated gift baskets and monetary gifts to numerous charities and organizations.
Miller, owner of Arts on the Avenue in Washington and Belle Vernon, was one of three recipients of the Random Acts of Kindness Award from CHROME Federal Credit Union in February as part of the credit union’s annual Random Acts of Kindness Week.
She donated the $1,000 prize money she received to the American Red Cross and the Washington Salvation Army, both nonprofit organizations whose work she supports.
Miller doesn’t expect anything in return and doesn’t seek attention for her acts of kindness.
“I was humbled. It was humbling and a little bit embarrassing. The things I do are not so I can run and tell everybody. That’s the opposite of why I do what I do,” said Engle-Miller. “We try to give back to our community. It’s just something that makes me feel good.”
Miller is determined to help pay off pupils’ outstanding meal debts.
According to information from the Education Data Initiative, about 75% of surveyed U.S. schools had unpaid student meal debt, and 43% of school districts polled said they had seen an increase in the number of students who couldn’t afford meals.
“I know what it means to a child not to be able to pay for lunch. I know the stigma that goes with that,” said Miller. “A lot of the time, it’s parents who are working 40 hours a week, and they still can’t get anywhere. They fall through the cracks. If it’s a struggle (to afford lunch) at school, it’s probably a struggle at home, too.”
Robert Flanyak, President and CEO of CHROME FCU, said Miller “embodies selflessness, perseverance and kindness, and we are honored to play a small part in recognizing her remarkable efforts in our shared community.”
“The beautiful thing about the winners from CHROME’s Random of Acts of Kindness contest is that each of them don’t do it for the notoriety. They do it because they care without expectation of thanks. And that is why we do this contest. We want to inspire others with the kindness that goes on every day around them.”
Miller launched Art on the Avenue in 2022, a walk-in family crafting studio that provides an affordable space for parents and grandparents to take their children to express their creativity through art.
It is filled with colorful sand art tables, rows and rows of ceramics, areas for slime making and pre-drawn artwork for painting.
“This is a wonderful venue for kids. It’s kind of ‘arts and crafts at camp meets grandma’s house.’ Art is therapeutic for kids. It’s an escape,” said Miller.
She credits her philosophy of kindness to her parents. Her father was a coal miner, and her mother worked as a cook at Washington Park Elementary School. The couple also owned a ceramic shop.
“My parents were always very giving, and we were raised that way. My father would literally give you the shirt off his back and figure out what to do next,” said Miller. “I don’t look at it as a handout. I look at it as a hand up. We were born and raised around here, and we’re 100% invested in the community.”
Miller said there is always a way to be kind to somebody, and there is always somebody who could use a little bit of kindness.
Kindness, she believes, is compassion in action.
She recalled helping an older man figure out how to pay at the register in Sam’s Club recently.
“I saw him struggling, and I said, ‘Hey, you OK over there?’ So I helped him at the register. And when you do that, you help them calm down. They know they’re not alone in this big world,” said Miller. “I try to say something kind to at least one person a day. Even something like, ‘Wow, that’s a nice shirt,’ or ‘You have a nice smile,’ might be enough sometimes to get someone through the day.”