Friday, February 17th is National Random Acts of Kindness Day. Siouxland Public Media’s Sheila Brummer with a Siouxland effort to put smiles on people’s faces today.
Local advocates want to raise awareness in the importance of being friendly, generous, and considerate, all words that describe kindness if you look in the dictionary.
“Random Acts of Kindness Day is a national celebration that allows for individuals to celebrate doing something kind for other people.”
That’s Rachel Lundgren, the Executive Director of Siouxland CARES, a group coordinating a local campaign along with the Bullying Prevention Community Coalition.
“We know that individuals, especially following the pandemic and being isolated, really could use an extra dose of kindness and understanding from others around them. So that's why this year's National Random Acts of Kindness Day is extremely important.”
Lundgren encourages people to spread their random acts of kindness with others through social media, a medium that is sometimes used to target others with unkind words and questionable content. On National Random Acts of Kindness Day, people can turn things around with meaningful posts.
“In Siouxland, we're really excited to be able to share about random acts of kindness through the hashtag 'be kind be somebody.' That way, not only will you be able to do a random act of kindness to improve the day or the life of one individual, but you will also be able to share about that and inspire others in the community to also engage in random acts of kindness.”
A day to focus on others, that sounds like a good idea for the rest of the year and always. Again, the hashtag to use is #beKindbeSomebody.
News release from Siouxland CARES:
The Bullying Prevention Community Coalition, coordinated by Siouxland CARES, is celebrating National Random Acts of Kindness Day on Friday, February 17th! This awareness campaign will promote community-wide kindness for a 24-hour period. Get Involved: We encourage you to complete random acts of kindness on February 17th. We would LOVE to see posts about acts of kindness that you performed, acts of kindness you received, or kind individuals in your community that you would like to recognize. Please use the hashtag: #beKindbeSomebody, on the social network of your choice on Friday. This is not a physical event at a specific time or location. Instead, we would like for you to share about kindness on social media to fill the newsfeeds of those in our community with positive posts about kindness. Spread the Word: We need your help! Please encourage your friends, family, colleagues, etc. to participate. Let's see how many people care about kindness in our community! Feel free to contact us with any questions at SiouxlandCARESDirector@gmail.com.