Handouts:

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Ideas for Acts of Kindness

• Write kind notes to people who provide a regular service. Be specific and respectful in the letters and let the persons know they are appreciated for what they do. This may include a crossing guard, a school volunteer, a letter carrier, the receptionist at the orthodontist office, a choir or youth leader, or the principal at your school.
• Teach a game to younger students as an after-school program. Help them play fairly and teach them to use problem-solving strategies to settle disputes.
• Create cards of support for children or families in a homeless shelter.
• Give flowers (real or artistic models) to residents in a retirement community.
• Organize an event to give gifts to a group of people who utilize a shelter or food pantry. For example, collect donations of personal items for women. Fill shoe boxes for individuals, with items like moisturizer, shampoo, toothpaste, treats, deodorant, razors, etc. Pass out the boxes on a given day.
• Students read aloud to preschool-age children at an at-risk school or shelter. Help the children develop a love of reading.
• Students play games with children from a local at-risk school. (Invite students from a school that doesn’t have an adequate playground to play at your school for a long recess several times a year.)
• Learn to knit and donate knitted items to a shelter or other organization. (hats, gloves, blankets, etc.) 
• Make a simple craft (bracelets, lapel pin, tiny beaded doll/angel) and including an inspirational message or quote. Give the homemade items with the message attached to a designated group as a symbol of empathy and caring. This may be a group in a foreign country, a disaster area, or anyone who needs support.
• Offer to do your brother’s (or sister’s) chores one day.
• Clean up a mess you didn’t make.
• Shovel a neighbor’s driveway (or weed a garden) at a time when they won’t know it was you who did it.
• Arrange regular class visits to residents at a retirement home. Read to them, talk to them, present a short program about Dr. King, and learn about them.
• Make and reproduce kindness ticket booklets. Give the booklets away (or sell them for a fundraiser) and encourage people to use them to spread kindness (pay it forward). Each ticket in the booklet describes one act of kindness that anyone can do. The bearer of the booklet uses one ticket in a day (the act may be repeated many times in a day) to spread kindness. Design the tickets with attractive formatting and make the instructions clear to the person whoreceives the booklet. Ticket ideas may include some of the following: Give someone special a call today. Say hello to ten fellow students who you don’t know. Pass a good book on to a friend. Bake or make something for a neighbor. Give a compliment. Buy a soft drink, snack or coffee for someone.
• Make and give out buttons with kindness slogans on them.
• Create a gift basket for a family who has experienced a loss.
• Create bookmarks with kindness slogans and random acts of kindness ideas. Ask the local library if you may put a stack of bookmarks on the library checkout desk for patrons to take as they leave the library.
• Smile at people you pass in the school hallways and on the sidewalk or in the store.
• Wash the dishes or unload the dishwasher without being asked.
• Randomly hand out chocolate kisses or lollipops to random people for no reason and say, “Have a nice day”.
• Cook dinner for your family without being asked.
• Give a compliment to someone.
• Write a personal note to someone, but don’t sign your name. The note should include a compliment or words of encouragement. Attach a candy bar and the note on the person’s locker or desk. Keep it anonymous.
• Help a family member or neighbor with baby sitting, pet care, house or yard work.
• Invite a fellow student, who appears to be isolated from the group, to join in an activity.
• Share a possession with someone in need.
• Offer to carry someone’s heavy burden.
• Pay for the order of the person behind you at a fast food restaurant or café. 

Philanthropy Framework: