Random Acts of Kindness Week - February 15-21

February 17^th is Random Acts of Kindness Day and the week of February 15-21 is Random Acts of Kindness Week in the U.S. New Zealand also celebrates Random Acts of Kindness Day, but on September 1. Also, there is a World Kindness Day on November 13^th and a World Kindness Week on November 8-14.

Random Acts of Kindness Day is an unofficial holiday celebrated by many towns and organizations in the United States. Basically the point to this day and week is to perform several random acts of kindness. This is the perfect day for schools and organizations to work on projects and events that promote doing kind acts for their community.

Random Acts of Kindness Foundation

There is a foundation that focuses on kindness. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation was established in 1995 as a 501c3 nonprofit organization. They are privately held and funded, and therefore do not accept donations or provide financial assistance. The Foundation's mission is to inspire people to practice kindness and to spread it to others. They provide materials on their website to help people spread kindness. Their website features activity ideas, lesson plans, project plans, publicity guides, info for workplaces and much more. Take a look at their website at: www.actsofkindness.org/.

World Kindness Day

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is the U.S. delegate to the World Kindness Movement. The World Kindness Movement includes many nations and focuses on promoting kindness within their countries and creates a global web of kindness and compassion. World Kindness Day, which is held on November 13^th, began due to a series of conferences in 1996-1997 in Japan by the group World Kindness Movement. The conference joined groups interested in promoting kindness worldwide.

How you can participate in Random Acts of Kindness Week

Every week should be filled with kindness, but this week is a perfect opportunity for everyone to do something extra special. Opportunities for kindness occur many times throughout the day. It can be as simple as opening the door for someone or making the extra effort by going out of the way to show someone in need kindness. Here are a few simple ideas on how you can participate in Random Acts of Kindness Week.

Help a neighbor. There has been a lot of bad weather in the last few weeks, so help your neighbors out. Take a few extra minutes and help shovel snow or clean their car. Help your neighbor carry their groceries or other heavy items.

Donate items to your local pantry or animal shelter. When you go to the supermarket this week, pick up an extra item or two. Find your local Red Cross, Church or other organization that has a food pantry and donate those items. Also animal shelters always need pet food, so pick up a can or bag and donate to your closest shelter.

Bake cookies or cupcake and bring them to someone who is homebound or to a local nursing home.

Do you take a bus or train? Give up your seat to someone standing.

Visit someone you haven't seen in a long time. Grandparents, parents, old friends will be happy to see you.

Make an extra effort to smile at everyone. Smiling is contagious! And make a special effort to hold the door for the person behind you.

Volunteer at a local hospital, nursing home, school, food kitchen or shelter. They really need the help and it feels great.

Send a card or flowers just 'because'.

Make a meal or even order and pay for a pizza for someone who just had a baby or is injured.

The list can go on and on. Please leave a comment below and give us your idea for a random act of kindness or share what you and your family have done to celebrate.

Generosity Game

For a fun idea, take a look at the Generosity Game website. They suggest your perform a random act of kindness anonymously and leave behind a little card which challenges the recipient to go out and do their own act. The website provides details and downloadable cards to print out.

Let's make every week a Random Act of Kindness Week!

Sources:

ActsofKindness.org
Wikipedia.org
Generosity.org