Random Acts of Kindness Day

Celebrated on February 17th each and every year, Random Acts of Kindness Day is a day where everyone has the opportunity to do something nice for a complete stranger, a family member or a coworker. This can be something simple as paying for the person behind you as you wait in line or doing some other act of kindness for your fellow man or woman.

History:

This holiday originated in New Zealand as a day celebrated on September 1st, but has since become an international holiday. It is also a part of Random Acts of Kindness week—started by the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.

Several studies have shown that kindness is indeed contagious. When a person does an act of kindness for another person, it makes the person receiving it more likely to do an act of kindness for someone else. This can unfold exponentially – like a ripple on a pond, so don’t think your act of kindness doesn’t matter because it does.

Customs, Traditions And Celebrations:

The only real custom associated with Random Acts of Kindness Day is to do something good for someone else. This could be donating your used clothing, helping a friend find a job, pay someone’s parking meter for them, collect canned food for food banks and other charitable organizations, or just compliment a random person. Every little bit of kindness help to make the world a better place.

A huge list of ways to show kindness:

1. Leave money on a vending machine for someone

2. Bake cookies for the elderly

3. Serve at a homeless shelter

4. Do a 5k for a good cause

5. Help at a veterinarian office

6. Pick up litter on the beach

7. Let someone go in front of you in line

8. Give a stranger a compliment

9. Make dinner for a family in need

10. Insert coins into someone’s parking meter

11. Buy flowers to hand out on the street

12. Leave letters of encouragement on people’s cars

13. Buy a movie ticket for the person behind you

14. Pay for someone’s meal at a restaurant

15. Write letters to soldiers

16. Donate Christmas gifts to an orphanage

17. Participate in a fundraiser

18. Use your allowance to donate to a charity

19. Hold open the doors for people

20. Thank a teacher with a gift

21. Donate your old clothes to the Salvation Army

22. Help a senior with their groceries

23. Shovel a neighbor’s driveway when it snows

24. Walk a neighbor’s dog

25. Babysit for free

26. Plant a tree

27. Do a favor without asking for anything in return

28. Take someone new in your neighborhood on a tour of the city

29. Show the new kids around your school

30. Buy an ice cream cone for a child

31. Learn to say hello in a different language to different people

32. Prepare a meal for your family

33. Pay for a stranger’s library fees

34. Send Valentine’s Day cards to everyone in your class

35. Spend a day at a homeless shelter

36. Give drinks out to people on a hot day

37. Send a letter to a good friend instead of a text

38. Bring in donuts for your co-workers

39. Help a child or older person cross the street

40. Water a neighbor’s lawn/flowers

41. Snap a photo of a couple

42. Give someone a gift card that you don’t intend to use

43. Wash someone’s car

44. Read to kids at the library for storytime

45. Plan a surprise birthday party for someone

46. Perform a concert at a retirement home

47. Help do chores at a farm/harvest ranch

48. Save your pop tabs for a children’s hospital

49. Leave your waiter a generous tip

50. Start mentoring a younger child

51. Spend time with your grandparents

52. Make a family member breakfast in bed

53. Hold the elevator for someone

54. Pay for someone’s dry cleaning

55. Pack someone a lunch for the day

56. Write a kind or encouraging message on a napkin

57. Do a sibling’s chores without them asking

58. Offer to take a shopper’s cart to the line outside

59. Help someone who has a flat tire

60. Let someone else pick what to watch on TV

61. Send care packages to soldiers overseas

62. Rake the leaves for your neighbors

63. Mow the lawn for your neighbors

64. Take the day not to complain

65. Write a list of things that you adore about a friend]

66. Pay for someone’s morning coffee

67. Participate in Pack-A-Backpack for a child

68. Instead of posting negativity online, spread some encouragement

69. Share your favorite Bible verses or quote and post them to the company billboard

70. Give up your seat on the bus to another person

71. Pay for someone’s bus/cab fare

72. Offer someone your pen

73. Lend a friend a favorite book/movie

74. Recommend someone your favorite book/movie

75. Take your younger siblings out to play in the rain

76. Make hot chocolate for your family on a cold day

77. Take the time to appreciate the sunrise and sunset

78. Write someone an encouraging poem

79. Send Coloring Books to sick kids in the hospital

80. Celebrate your own best friend appreciation day

81. Help tutor a struggling student

82. Pay for another student’s lunch

83. Offer to give a friend a ride home

84. Take the time to listen to someone

85. Recycle things that you see on the road

86. Help sick animals find homes

87. Make someone a homemade blanket or scarf

88. Feed the birds in the park

89. Leave some change on a wishing fountain

90. Help out the janitors at school

91. Donate your hair after a haircut

92. Give your umbrella to a stranger

93. Volunteer to work some overtime at your job

94. Ride your bike or walk to work

95. Offer compliments to strangers and friends and family

96. Buy your waiter/waitress dessert

97. Wash a neighbor’s dog for free

98. Buy groceries for the person behind you

99. Reconnect with old friends

100. Hide money in random places for strangers to find

101. Be kind to yourself!