World Kindness Day - Celebrate by
Doing Random Acts of Kindness
Tomorrow is World Kindness Day and also marks the beginning of World Kindness Week. Kindness begets kindness so let's double down on Random Acts of Kindness (planned and unplanned). These acts also become GRATITUDE W.I.N.S..
There are three things I want you to remember this week.
1. You will NEVER know the ripple effect of a single Random Act of Kindness.
2. There is no such thing as a Random Act of Kindness being “too small”.
3. Random Acts of Kindnesses become GRATITUDE W.I.N.S.
To demonstrate how many Random Acts of Kindness can make a huge impact.
Thirteen years ago, while still teaching, my colleague Miriam Ochoa and I noticed that while most of our high school students excitedly chatted about their upcoming Thanksgiving feasts, there were always a few that appeared uncomfortable and didn't engage. The quiet ones shared that Thanksgiving dinner was an expense their family couldn’t endure.
And just like that FEED Six was formed. We would provide Thanksgiving meals so families could make memories. But how? By giving our community an opportunity to do small Random Acts of Kindness.
Even though we taught at a Title 1 school, we knew that when given the opportunity to do good, our students shined and always exceeded our expectations. With our guidance, our classes came up with a list of nonperishable food to be included in each Thanksgiving meal. Meanwhile, my colleague and I solicited friends, family, and others coworkers, to purchase a gift card so that each family could buy a turkey or ham.
Large posters lined our classrooms, one per period. Before students signed their names next to the item they committed to bring, I reminded them of Aristotle’s phrase, “ the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Each can of corn may appear as no big deal but when you combine it with the other items on the list - it transforms into a delicious Thanksgiving dinner for six, two parents and four children. Each day students brought in food, put it in the appropriate box, then crossed the item off the list.
The year after we started FEED Six, I received a note from the mother of a former student. Enclosed was a $20 bill. She told me to purchase whatever I needed for FEED Six. The year prior, her family experienced an unexpected hardship the week before Thanksgiving and was the recipient of a FEED Six meal. This year she wanted to pay it forward. Kindness begets kindness. Another mother cried when she received her meal, and said, “Christmas came in November.”
A few years after we started FEED Six, my acupuncturist and friend, Jane Kauffman, got her BNI Dadeland group involved. BNI Dadeland and BNI Miami have provided over 100 Thanksgiving meals to families in the school that was like my second home.
Little did we know that we were participating in World Kindness Week and that 10 years later, FEED Six would still be going strong.
My point in sharing this is to remind you that no random act of kindness is too small, and that we will never know the full impact or ripple effect of our random acts of kindness. One thing is certain, performing these random acts of kindness feels good and should be remembered as a GRATITUDE W.I.N.S. How will you participate in World Kindness Week?
