Kindness Starts With One®

My kindness story begins with the two kindest people I know, Wayne and Linda Vanderploeg, but I know them as Dad and Mom. I grew up with the most amazing kindness mentors. My parents were always reaching out to those in need, responding to the needs of others before their own needs, and helping in so many countless ways throughout the community....

At recess the other day a group of competitive boys were playing basketball. For some reason a boy who usually prefers to play alone took a risk and joined the other boys. This young man happens to have cerebral palsy. When the other boys saw him, they immediately welcomed him to the game and one boy even tossed him the...

I found myself recently single and somehow was left with an overall feeling of gratitude. While we may not have made a good couple for a handful of reasons, I learned to stop judging myself, others, and life for what it isn't. Rather, I have learned to appreciate myself, others, and life for what it is. I also learned that...

My 85-year-old mother lives in Arizona. I am going to visit her next week, so she picked up a rollaway bed from a local provider in her area for my use. They helped her load it into the trunk of her car, but she voiced aloud that she was a little concerned about how she was going to get it...

My "One" is actually Three. There are three loving hearts down in Nashville that I’d like to tell you about who practice Random Acts of Kindness year round. In fact, they make it a part of their daily existence. These three hearts are Jamey Garner, Kevin D. Campos, and Phoenix Mendoza. 

You might not think, at first glance, that these...

I prefer to do random acts of kindness anonymously, so I will share only a couple of things. Our community raises money by donating returnable bottle money for fuel for people to heat their homes. I donate funds to this. I also paid to have a neighbor's driveway plowed all winter. Her husband died, she was going to lose the...

I was in a small candy shop with my co-workers and we were talking as we were selecting a gift for our other colleague. The shopkeeper overheard us and asked, "Excuse me, ladies, you are teachers?" When we answered that yes, indeed, we were, he showed us a big paper box full of those chocolate advent calendars. There were approximately...

My husband is critically ill. My children are coming to see us this weekend and I wanted the house and yard to look pretty for them. A workman and his helper who have done repairs and painting for us this past year offered to help in any way they could. I called the workman to get a rusting trellis down and to...

This is my club volleyball team. They are always looking for ways to do random acts of kindness. They sent birthday cards, balloons, noise makers, and this picture to a complete stranger! They saw a news article requesting birthday cards for a gentleman who was turning 93 and wanted to help him celebrate!

#doinggood #leadingsmall #simplebutsincere

Coach Mel

Bought the two cars behind me their order at Dunkins. One looked like a young student and the other car looked like a young mother with a child in a car seat. Hopefully I made their day! :)

When I was a freshman at a junior college in New York state, the dean of students was a much older man in his 60s. He was from my hometown and happened to be a former busboy during highschool at the same Italian restaurant that I was a busboy at during highschool. He was an all American lacrosse goalie in...

When my children were very young, someone filed a false charge of abuse against me. A worker from CPS came to my home to check out the complaint. She examined my four children, all five years old or younger. She also spoke with with a woman I cared for who had multiple sclorosis, who was the mother of my friend...

Last year my husband and I took a vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and to Kure Beach, North Carolina. We were able to take a ferry from South Carolina to an island on North Carolina, where we would meet up later that day with friends. We decided to stop at a small restaurant for breakfast on the island. The...

Sitting on my bed, staring at my newborn son, the pride of being a first time mum swam through me. I touched his soft cheeks, then ran down my hand to pat his back as he suddenly coughed. "Shhhh," I whispered to him, as he smiled in his sleep and my heart melted like butter. Then a sudden sadness swept...

I am an avid Ohio State Buckeye fan and when I realized they were coming to California for the Rose Bowl, I was so excited! But, due to four surgeries and two hospitalizations in the past 18 months, I knew I would not be able to nagivate the venue. To my big surprise, a new friend whose Dad went to...

"Laundered with Kindness" is an event held annually to help ease burdens by providing wash, dry, fold, load/unload laundry, dry cleaning, and donated laundry products. We target laundromats, dry cleaners, and homeless facilities with the support of cleaning companies, businesses, volunteers, and in-kind donations, helping more families and making a larger impact. Being a single parent, one of the struggles parents...

I'm a pilot car driver, driving across the country to help oversize loads get through crazy traffic. They say the bigger the load, the smaller the road. I had deadheaded out to Bakersfield, California, and met my driver for dinner. I needed to find a place to settle down for the night, as we couldn't load until morning. I went...

My ONE is to greet all with a smile and implement a school counseling program for all, students, staff, family and community. As a first year counselor, at a school who has never had a one, my goal is build moral, teach social emotional coping skills and help the community that my students come from.

Last week, during our first training session held at Poyner (2A), I realized what the eye doctor had been telling me. I did, indeed, find myself in need of cataract surgery! I am scheduled to have this done in the spring. However, we had a lot of notes to take during the week and I found myself unable to read...

I was in the food court on the lower level of Grand Central Station when I noticed two armed police officers trying to wake up an elderly woman who had fallen asleep on a bench. It was apparent that she was homeless. I was upset by the way she was being treated and people were watching the scene unfold. As she...

I began a service-learning project to teach my students about kindness and other community members. My students have severe and profound multiple disabilities. Many times they are not involved in community activities. I wanted a way for them to connect academics with transition skills to their community. We make crafts and greeting cards for residents of a local nursing home,...

One of our grandsons and his best friend played in the band and on the freshman football team this fall. Football players eat in the cafeteria with special education students. Last week, one of the special education students got angry and turned over a wheel chair with a young 9th grader in it. Our grandson and his friend ran to...

I was driving to my morning class when I noticed someone who also looked like a student parked on the side of the road with his caution lights on. I parked behind him and walked up to ask what was wrong with the car. I realized his vehicle had a flat tire, and he told me didn't have a spare tire. As...

It was close to the end of the school year when they passed out yearbooks. My sister and I were letting everyone sign ours. During lunchtime, we watched our school's only janitor working hard and sharing smiles with everyone he met. We decided to let him sign our yearbook, also. After fifth period, a teacher came by to tell me...

I was enjoying a meal with my boyfriend and our friend at a local ramen place. We were talking up a storm as we hadn't seen our friend in a while! We ended up making conversation with the man at the table next to ours. He was nice and very friendly. We talked with him and his date for a...

My daughter, Jess, and I were sitting around getting ready for Christmas. Christmas is difficult on me, after my mom had passed away three years ago. Jess took out some trash and when she came back in she was excited to show me what she had found on our air conditioner. It was a painted rock. The back of the...

Recently while going through a McDonalds drive thru the kind woman in front of me paid my bill. It was truly random and I had no opportunity to thank her in person as she drove away. It was a wonderful feeling. Thank you!

My Grandma and I were walking around her neighborhood and we saw a stand that says can you please donate so we can help our friend who has cancer and so we gave them 20$

For this Christmas, I gave my very best friend a jar with notes for them. They loved it so much they said they almost cried. They are the nicest person I know and I wanted to return the favor.

Tonight my daughter and I went to Kroger and saw a lady who looked very cold. When we came back out of the store, she was still there. As we talked, she explained that she had been standing out in the cold trying to get back home. I gave her a ride to the bus station and paid for her to...