ACTS OF KINDNESS

This time of year, many people make plans and think about what they can buy for their loved ones – but how many of us think about doing something for the sake of being kind?  I challenge you all to think about doing something for someone else this year – a neighbour, the homeless, the hungry, an animal shelter, the environment, our planet or even for ourselves.  Imagine the gratification in committing random acts of kindness, not just at this time of the year but as often as you can.  Some random acts of kindness don’t even cost money – they just require creative thinking.

 

Different ways to commit acts of kindness:

• Ask the person behind you in the lunch line if you can buy their lunch
• Ask an elderly neighbour  if they need a ride anywhere
• Call your local animal shelter and ask them if they have a ‘donation wish list’ – if they do, buy something from their wish list or give them money
• Clean out your closet and donate any unwanted clothing to a homeless shelter/women’s shelter
• Get a group of friends together and pick up bottles/cans/garbage from your local park and recycle them
• Hold the door open for people
• Say “please” and “thank you”
• Coordinate a neighbourhood toy drive and deliver it to a hospital or fire-station
• Help someone to cross the street
• Give or buy a blanket for someone who is homeless
• Adopt an animal from a local shelter and give it the unconditional love it will give you
• Have a yard/garage sale and donate the money to the charity of your choice
• Collect stuffed animals from friends and family and deliver a children’s hospital
• Ask friends and family to buy socks/shoes and distribute them to the homeless

There are so many things that we can do to support those who are less fortunate than us – all you need is a little time, creativity and the desire to spread love, compassion and joy into the world.  You don’t have to limit your acts of kindness to people – there are so many not-for-profit agencies that require donations to help animals and our environment, such as;

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (P.E.T.A.) www.peta.org , WWF (World Wid Fund for Nature or World Wildlife Fund) www.wwf.ca, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) www.cpaws.org , Greenpeace www.greenpeace.org or lookup up the address of your local environmental or animal group and make a donation to them.

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!