Spreading Kindness to All

Random Acts of Kindness Day is celebrated every February 17. It first originated in 1995 in Denver, Colorado and has since become internationally celebrated. The idea behind this celebration is to make the world a little brighter and better through little and simple kind gestures, words and actions. With all the seemingly crazy things that happen throughout the world we could all use a little kindness.

History of RAK

The foundation was born in the 1990’s in the Bay Area. It was during a summer of violence when a reporter noted that people should stop reporting on, “random acts of violence” and start, “practicing random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation (RAK) was born and soon thereafter was purchased by a private foundation and relocated to Colorado. The event spread to New Zealand nine years later, in 2004, and the observance of the holiday became more and more widespread. Random Acts of Kindness Day may not have been around for a very long time, but kindness has existed throughout human history. There are great examples of prominent figures in history who have made an impact through their selfless acts of kindness. Various studies have also proved that kindness is undoubtedly an inherent part of nature, with feelings of care developing in humans while they’re still babies.

What counts as an act of kindness

• They can be informal & simple like sharing a smile, opening a door for someone or greeting a stranger in public. The best thing about simple acts of kindness is the fact they can be the most rewarding.
• You can be more organized by partnering with friends, family or even coworkers. Getting together with others to spread kindness can help to spread your kindness to more people.
• The acts can benefit one person, a large group, neighbors or the whole community.

A few ideas for spreading kindness

• Pay it Backward: buy coffee for the person behind you in line. Something as small as buying a stranger a cup of coffee can be all they need to change their day for the better.
• Surprise a neighbor with freshly baked cookies or treats! Here in the south, we often pride ourselves on our southern hospitality. There is nothing more southern than showing up to your neighbor’s front door with homemade goodies!
• Take muffins or cookies to your local librarians.
• Send a thank you card or note to the officers at your local police, EMS or fire station. Our first responders do a lot to ensure our community’s safety so taking time out to give them a thank you card can be a great gesture that makes their day.
• Send a positive text message to five different people right now. You’ll never know just how much of an impact receiving a positive text can have on a person.
• Leave a gas gift card at a gas pump. With gas prices seeming to increase every day we all could use a little help.
• Compliment the first three people you talk to today. Giving a compliment is an easy & free way to spread kindness and give a little happiness to someone.
• Smile at five strangers. They say a smile is worth a thousand words. So, we challenge you to share five thousand words this week.

You can also find more ideas for showing kindness here.

 

We believe that kindness should be the norm. If everyone displays just a little bit of kindness then the whole world would be a much better place.