It’s time to ask yourself if you’re that kind of person — the kind that would mark national Kindness Day, the signal to do something nice today for someone in hopes of creating a region-wide pay-it-forward buzz.
Don’t be surprised if someone makes your day and then hands you a card that reads: “You have been touched by a random act of kindness. Please return the favour and perform a random act of kindness for a fellow citizen today.”
The Victoria Foundation, the local Kindness Day sponsor, is distributing the cards to 150 locations, said spokesman Kyle Wells. He’s already heard of people planning to leave payment at a coffee shop to treat a few customers or bring food to homeless people on the route into work.
Wells’s deed? He plans to write a letter to his penpal in Australia for the first time in eight years.
The Times Colonist is placing TC mugs and tickets to various events inside vending and drop boxes so “the lucky person who buys the paper gets the swag,” said Bruce Cousins, director of reader sales and service.
National Random Acts of Kindness Day was first celebrated in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., in 2008, and now includes 250 communities.
As the national website says: “You can’t have ‘humankind’ without ‘kind’, after all.”
Can’t think of anything to do besides the usual wonderful good deeds you’re already known for? The Victoria Foundation has a handy list of 101 suggestions — from effortless goodwill such as offering someone a mint, to more intense efforts such as raking your neighbour’s leaves, visiting an elderly friend, sending flowers anonymously or tidying up the office kitchen.
And while not everyone will pick up on No. 37 (tell your siblings that you love them), anyone can toss off No. 41 (compliment someone).
To share your random acts of kindness via social media, tag the Victoria Foundation (@VicFoundation on Twitter, @victoriafoundation on Instagram) and use the hashtag #RAKdayYYJ.
