In December 2015 I had an idea:
WRITE ABOUT ACTS OF KINDNESS.
Kindness witnessed. Kindness received. And kindness given.
I called the project KINDNESS ACTIVIST.
It doesn’t seem so revolutionary, does it? Talking about kindness.
But the thing is, in America, it kind of is…
Many of us were raised with the ideas that:
1. Kind acts need to be “random” (hence that
acronym “RAOK”)
2. Talking
about kind things that you did is bragging and “negates” that kindness, because
it is presumed that you only did it to brag about it afterward.
I set about to flip those notions. I set about to spread kindness a new way, the KINDNESS ACTIVIST way!
The term “activist” is defined like this: noun, an especially active, vigorous advocate of a cause, especially a political cause.
Yes! I am a vigorous advocate of KINDNESS! I hunt for it. I appreciate it. And, whenever I can, I SPREAD IT! I also recognize others who talk about kindness by presenting them with official Kindness Activist buttons.
However, some acts of kindness do require money. And that is why, in the summer of 2019, I started to fundraise for Kindness Activist. The main source of funds has come from Kindness Yard Sales. I have hosted 2 official Kindness Yard Sales and one Summer Pop-Up Kindness Sale. Those events, and generous donations that have come in between them, have raised much more money than I ever dreamed they could. And each and every penny raised is used to spread kindness.
Money has been used to buy supplies for teachers’ classrooms. Money has been used to treat nurses at the height of the pandemic. Money has been used to gift a pregnant mother a fetal heartrate monitor so that her husband (who was not allowed into her appointments due to Covid) could hear their baby’s heart. Money was used to treat 116 kids who wrote letters to the North Pole gifts from Santa and to fill a huge life-size calendar for 3 different countdowns to events. Money has been used to buy groceries for neighbors in need and help pay rent when it was due and the people couldn’t pay it. Money was used to buy clean new socks for homeless people. Money has been used to launch the Little Yellow Free Pantry outside our home, which helps supply neighbors and passersby food and drinks. And on and on and on…
I am very careful in choosing the kind acts. The money used to pay for them is not my money – it is Kindness Activist money, and has been donated by many, many people with different beliefs and values. The one thing all donors have in common is a belief in KINDNESS.
I write about each act of kindness in my blog and detail how much was spent so that it is transparent where the dollars go. You can see my blog at: https://kindnessactivist.blogspot.com/
It has over 71,000 hits (views), meaning people are reading about the kindness and hopefully being inspired to go out and spread more themselves! I firmly believe that hearing about, reading about, kindness inspires you to go into the world and spread it, too. Trust me, it is true, it works!
I am now gearing up for KINDNESS YARD SALE 2021. It’s so exciting!!! Neighbors will hopefully fill our porches, carport, and yard with donations – furniture, sporting goods, kitchen supplies, tools, clothing and shoes of all sizes, art, toys… No items will have price tags as everything is PAY WHAT YOU WISH, knowing everything you give goes toward kindness. And, if the sale is anything like the others, we will be overwhelmed by the response and by the kindness.
Kindness Yard Sale 2021 – September 18 and 19 starting at 9:00 am. On the corner of S. Fillmore and 2nd Street in Arlington, Virginia. Park on S. 2nd Street, wear a mask, and be prepared to shop til you drop.
Item donations will be accepted starting August 24th. Monetary donations can be sent to: PayPal – thompsongaines@msn.com or Venmo - @Susan-Thompson-Gaines.
I look forward to sharing photos and details of this year’s sale!!
