Local citizens encourage community to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day

Published 10:00 am Saturday, February 4, 2023

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On a Monday afternoon, it’s not unusual to see friends gathered.

However, with Random Acts of Kindness Day approaching, this was not an ordinary get-together.

A small group of Clark County citizens gathered to discuss upcoming plans for celebrating the day, which takes place on Friday, Feb. 17.

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“[With a] random act of kindness…it’s like a pebble. You throw the pebble in, and it’s a ripple”, said Brett Cheuvront, the administrative coordinator of The Greater Clark Foundation. “We want to be kind to you so that you’ll be kind, and it just keeps on going.”

Playing off that, the group – consisting of Cheuvront, LaShana Harney, and Whitney Leggett – is interested in using the hashtag, #jointheripple, to draw attention.

While there isn’t a planned event for the day, the group suggested plenty of ways to get others involved.

These included contacting local news networks and radio stations, having schools, including Baker Intermediate School, get involved, and even creating signs that could be set up around town to make others aware.

Previously, group members have seen businesses partake in efforts to bring awareness.

Harney and Leggett mentioned seeing coffee shops offering opportunities for customers to invest in others.

From this discussion came a follow-up suggestion for anyone interested.

“What if we asked all the restaurants…to have someone buy someone else’s dessert for the night for Random Acts of Kindness Day?” said Leggett during the meeting. “Then you can physically do something.”

For restaurants interested, one idea was to supply a toolkit of sorts comprising supplies that would make it simpler to advertise and create such an initiative.

Though the phrase “practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty” was first coined in 1982, they did not find the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation until 1995, with Random Acts of Kindness Day first being celebrated in New Zealand in 2004.

With a nearly 20-year history, the group hopes to have plenty to gather from.

“We could see what’s out there, and see if there’s anything we can already pull from,” said Harney. “Then, [we can] build our own.”

According to the official website, www.randomactsofkindness.org, a variety of possible actions are available to choose from.

Schools have previously allowed others to pass on their favorite books while focusing on social-emotional learning.

Calendars, bookmarks, and posters are available for those in office work.

A bevy of quotes to serve as reminders for how to treat others kindly are also accessible.

Other ideas that the group came up with included creating positive notes, utilizing social media graphics to spread messaging, and more.

Talking with representatives at places like city hall was not ruled out.

They hope that many will remember and celebrate the occasion through positive deeds.