Are you a RAKtivist? The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation hopes so. The foundation has celebrated Random Acts of Kindness Day and Week every year since 1995, offering participants a variety of free resources. You can download a calendar for 2024 with great ideas for showing kindness throughout the year.
The underlying goal is to promote the life-changing potential contained in even a small act of kindness. You don’t have to create a large-scale strategy to address a global problem — just look for someone within your circle of influence and do something to improve their day.
If you’re the type of person who starts each new year with a plan to develop positive and healthy habits, then participating in Random Acts of Kindness Day and Week should be on your list!
It could give you a solid start in creating a behavior that offers enormous benefits to you and to others.
When Is Random Acts of Kindness Week?
Random Acts of Kindness Day 2024 is on February 17, and Valentine’s Day kicks off Random Acts of Kindness Week 2024.
The movement’s 40-plus-year history goes back to writer Anne Herbert’s 1982 CoEvolution Quarterly article, “Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Acts of Senseless Beauty,” which inspired a kindness movement in and around Berkeley, California.
Why Are Acts of Kindness Important?
According to the American Psychological Association, studies have shown that acts of generosity not only benefit the recipients, but also boost happiness and well-being for the person offering kindness.
You can discover the unexpected power of random acts of kindness whether you hold the door open for someone or become a faithful volunteer at a local charity. And you can experience a collective benefit when you link your proactive kindness to others’ efforts.
Random Acts of Kindness Day encourages people to think about ways they can make a positive impact on their communities.
In his book Disruptive Compassion, author Hal Donaldson said, “You want to change the world? You want to impact your neighborhood or school? Be part of a team. Whether in sports, film, family, business, or life itself, a strong supporting cast leads to greater impact. Even when compassion is delivered one person to another, there’s still a team of family members and friends behind the scenes that helps to make it possible.”
Donaldson’s own experience bears out that observation. In 1994, he founded Convoy of Hope, a faith-based nonprofit that combats poverty and hunger.
Since its founding, more than 1 million volunteers have helped Convoy address real needs in communities all over the world. Over the past three decades, generous corporate donors have provided $2.5 billion in resources that Convoy has distributed.
Through Convoy, the intentional generosity of like-minded people and organizations is changing lives in some 55 countries.
Random Acts of Kindness Ideas
Leading up to Random Acts of Kindness Week, step outside of your comfort zone and perform at least one random act of kindness for someone each day.
If you’re wondering how to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day, here are 10 ideas for random acts of kindness that you can do for the benefit of those around you.
- Offer to help a neighbor with chores or errands.
- Pay for someone’s meal or coffee.
- Leave a kind note for someone to find.
- Volunteer at a local charity, homeless shelter, animal shelter, or other nonprofit organization.
- Donate items to a shelter or food bank.
- Offer to give someone a ride or help with transportation.
- Listen and offer support to someone who needs it.
- Compliment a stranger and make them smile.
- Hold the door open for someone or offer assistance when their hands are full.
- Write a positive review or recommendation for a local business or service provider.
Your gesture doesn’t have to be big or elaborate. Sometimes, the simplest acts of kindness can have the greatest impact. And the more thought you give to the people around you, the more easily you’ll come up with more ideas on how to be a RAKtivist!
Donaldson discovered this principle when he had the opportunity to interview Mother Teresa — an interview that propelled him to start Convoy of Hope.
When the Nobel Peace Prize-winning nun asked Donaldson what he was doing to help the poor, he honestly replied he really wasn’t doing anything.
“Everyone can do something,” Mother Teresa told the young journalist.
Take another look at the list above and identify a “something” you can do. It won’t take long at all for an opportunity to present itself, and the growth potential of that one act can create enormous benefits for you and others.
If you want to join thousands of other compassion-focused people and multiply your efforts, there are many ways to get involved with Convoy of Hope.
During Convoy of Hope’s earliest days, Donaldson and some friends loaded a few hundred dollars’ worth of groceries to give to food-insecure people in their community. Today, semi-trucks leave Convoy of Hope’s World Distribution Center with tons of food and supplies for communities in need around the world.
That includes destinations as far away as war-torn towns in Ukraine and as nearby as hurricane-impacted neighborhoods in Florida.
Young or old, everyday citizen or lauded leader, rich or poor — people from every corner of humanity have the opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life. The commitment to do that on Random Act of Kindness Day can evolve into a new way of life that gives lasting purpose and creates meaningful change. Determine today to put into practice the goals of National Random Acts of Kindness Day and Week. You can be a person who transforms generations.
