Sunday, December 28, 2014

Kindness Ideas

Last month I wrote about doing #365daysofkindness
As the new year is fast approaching, I thought I would share a list of some ideas that we could tackle this coming year in 2015. 

1) Go through a drive through and pay for the car behind you. 
2) Send an encouraging card to a complete stranger. 
3) Donate items to a local food bank or shelter. 
4) Volunteer at a homeless shelter or any shelter. 
5) Give your mail carrier a gift card to thank them for their hard work. 
6) Bake some goodies and bring them to your local fire hall, police station or other public service workers. 
7) Go to a laundry mat and place some money on top of a washer or dryer. 
8) Donate towels, food, toys, blankets to your local animal shelter. 
9) Spend some time on Go Fund Me & donate to someone who touches your heart. 
10) Open the door for a complete stranger and tell them to have a nice day. 
11) Do something nice for your spouse. 
12) Do something out of the ordinary for a loved one. 
13) Spend an hour of your time volunteering at a nursing home & play some games with some of the residents. 
14) Start a canned food drive at your work to bring to a shelter. 
15) Send birthday cards to family members & friends. 
16) In the express lane at a grocery check out, offer to pay for someone who has a few items. 
17) During Valentines Day week, send valentines to a nursing home. 
18) Volunteer at your local Veterans Hospital. 
19) Send a care package to a soldier overseas. 
20) Make up some care packages to keep in your car to hand out to homeless as you pass them by on the streets. 
21) Encourage others to join this movement. 
22) Tape $5 to a gas pump. 
23) Tape some popcorn to a redbox machine. 
24) Tape money to a vending machine. 
25) Tape money to a parking machine/meter. 
26) Send get well mail to a sick child. 
27) Donate baby supplies to your local NICU. 
28) Do something out of the ordinary for someone who has impacted your life & let them know how much you appreciate them for it. 
29) Send a thank you email to an old school teacher or professor who impacted your life. 
30) Pay for lunch for a good friend or coworker. 
31) Make a care package or donate food to your local Ronald McDonald house. 
32) Make a homemade meal for a family or friend to show them you care. 
33) During Easter or the Month of April, hand out chocolate eggs that have a tag that reads "Have an Egg-celent day" 
34) Donate old magazines or a deck of cards to your local hospital. 
35) Offer to walk your neighbors dogs. 
36) Send shoes to an orphanage in another country. 
37) Walk for a cause - Relay for Life etc. 
38) Pay for a strangers coffee at a cafe. 
39) Buy the office receptionist some flowers just to say thank you. 
40) Help an elderly person with their groceries. 
41) Pay for a service members lunch or coffee. 
42) Each time you buy a new piece of clothing, give away something old. 
43) Bring in breakfast to share with the office. 
44) Help a friend pack or move. 
45) Leave a generous tip for a waiter who did a great job. 
46) Listen to someone attentively who needs to vent. 
47) Pass along a great book that you have finished reading. 
48) Donate old books to a nursing home, hospital, church or wherever you see fit. 
49) Encourage a friend to make a leap of faith. 
50) Call someone just to tell then you love them. 
51) Write a note of appreciation to your colleague. 
52) Gift someone with a journal where they can write their own reflections. 
53) Participate in a park or neighborhood clean up. 
54) Send a thank you card to someone who helped you when you really needed it. 
55) Send a card with a beautiful message to a friend or co worker anonymously. 
56) Become a mentor for a child. 
57) Get children excited about kindness. 
58) Pick up litter at a public place. 
59) Smile at a stranger. 
60) Give a sincere compliment. 
61) Read to a child. 
62) Refrain from gossiping about something. 
63) Become a pen pal. 
64) Donate blood. 
65) Start a kinds book and pass it around. On the very last page of the book, have them mail it back to you so you can reflect on other peoples good deeds. 
66) Contact an animal shelter & find out what donations they need & collect those items to donate. 
67) Stop and help someone who is broken down on the side of the road. 
68) Leave flowers for someone anonymously. 
69) Leave an encouraging note for someone you know is or was having a tough day or week. 
70) Treat a friend to a movie for no reason. 
71) Let someone jump in front of you at a line. 
72) Help someone with children at an airport, maybe with their bags or stroller or whatever they may be struggling with. 
73) Make a CD for an old friend with songs that remind you of your friendship with the. 
74) Befriend a new coworker. 
75) Renew an old friendship by sending a letter to say hi. 
76) Give a bag of groceries to a homeless person 
77) Offer to babysit for free. 
78) Volunteer for a non-profit organization. 
79) Volunteer at a hospice center 
80) Put a smiley face post it on someones desk. 
81) Buy a lottery ticket for a stranger. 
82) Bring soup to a friend with a cold. 
83) Tip the garbage man. 
84) Donate some school supplies to a school with under-privileged children. 
85) When you see someone else doing a small act of kindness, acknowledge them for it. 
86) Do your best to prevent bullying. Stand up for something you see that is wrong. 
87) If you see someone crying, stop and ask if there is anything you can do.. and genuinely mean it when you ask them. 
88) Wake up early & make your spouse breakfast in bed. 
89) Return a lost item if you find it. 
90) Start a coin jar & when its full, donate the money to a charity. 
91) Buy a phone card & give it to someone who is less fortunate. 
92) Stay after a holiday party and help clean up. 
93) Buy ice-cream for a kid. 
94) Encourage someone to pursue their dreams. 
95) Subscribe someone to their favorite magazine. 
96) Let go of a grudge. 
97) Say a prayer for someone in need. 
98) Write a referral for someone on LinkedIn. 
99) Randomly hand out balloons to children in a park. 
100) Sign up to be an organ donor. 
101) Hide an inspiring note in a library book. 
102) Donate coloring books and crayons to a children's hospital. 
103) Clean up someone else's mess. 
104) Be kind to someone you don't like. 
105) Buy a homeless person a sandwich. 
106) Bake cookies and share them with family and friends. 
107) Make a new friend. 
108) Attend an important event to support your loved one (even if you're not interested in it). 
109) Share a positive blog post 
110) Share your snack. 
111) Leave a nice note on a strangers car. 
112) Thank your boss for their leadership. 
113) Forgive yourself for something you regret. 
114) Offer to take a picture for someone when you see them  trying to take the picture themselves. 
115) Let your spouse have control of the remote for the evening. 
116) Help a kid with their homework. 
117) Pay for a round of shots at happy hour. 
118) Photocopy some jokes & leave them on some peoples windshields. 
119) If you stay at a friends house, leave a little thank you gift behind. 
120) Teach a child something you wish you knew at their age. 

I can't take credit for all of these great ideas. I used google. 
But, you get the idea. 

Now let's start off 2015 with some KINDNESS!!! Be sure to tag your ideas on the Facebook page & Instagram using the hashtag #365daysofkindness