eNewsletter
What comes to mind when you think about kindness? Maybe it’s doing a favor for an elderly neighbor, or paying for the stranger behind you in line at the coffee shop. There are many quotes about kindness that might resonate with you, but for Random Acts of Kindness Day, Greek storyteller Aesop puts it best: “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
Random Acts of Kindness Day is celebrated on February 17 and asks everyone to do some small act of kindness in their day to day life. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation encourages participants to “make kindness the norm” in your workplace, your school and your wider community.
If you’re not sure where to start with your act of kindness, check out this list of 50 ideas, or some of the ones highlighted below:
- Pay It Forward
The next time you’re standing in line at the coffee shop, or maybe waiting at the deli counter or sitting in the drive-thru, consider paying for someone else’s order behind you. It’s a simple gesture, but it can inspire a chain reaction of strangers continuing to pay it forward.
- Donate Your Time
Volunteering your time and helping others is a great way to spread kindness and help others directly. Volunteer New York is a great place to start to find out how you can get involved volunteering in your local community.
- Compliment Someone
Whether you take out your phone and text a few friends that you love them, or tell a stranger at the grocery store that you like their shirt, a small compliment goes a long way in brightening up someone’s day! You can also consider leaving an anonymous note for someone to find, like a sticky note on a bathroom mirror telling someone they look great today.
If you want to learn more about the transformative power of kindness, or start a conversation about kindness with a young reader in your life, check out some of these books from your local branch!
Alison Robles is a part-time page at the Crestwood Library. She is an avid reader with a passion for YA lit, history and science fiction. A Yonkers native, she graduated from Iona University in 2020 with a dual-degree in Marketing and Public Relations.