Putting a smile on a person’s face and helping others in need has always made my heart jump with joy and happiness. Leo Buscaglia once said, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” I couldn’t agree more with this statement since the act of kindness can go a long way. Sadly, many of us often get caught up in our busy lives. Sometimes, we have a tendency to forget how a simple act of kindness can have a positive effect on those around us: our community and circle of friends as well as our own family.
With February known for being the month of love, this month has also been a designated as the month of kindness. Just 3 days after the beauty of love is celebrated on Valentine’s Day, the beauty of kindness, compassion, and generosity is celebrated on Random Acts of Kindness Day (February 17th). Today, I’m sharing some of my favorite ways to promote kindness.
Donate/Volunteer at Food Banks
Poverty, homelessness, and hunger have always tugged at my heartstrings, especially when children are involved. There are more than 16 million children in America living in poverty. Not only is the number of children living in poverty staggering, but it’s sad to say that child poverty is continuously on the rise. Our children are our future. One of the best things we can do for them is helping them reach their full potential. Break the cycle of poverty by giving back, whether it is donating or volunteering at a local food bank or making donations to a shelter.
Children need the proper nutrition to excel socially and academically. A balanced and nutritious diet enables a child to reach their full potential as it’s crucial for physical growth and brain development. Many don’t realize the fact that hunger isn’t a seasonal issue. That’s why we shouldn’t just donate or volunteer our time during the holidays. Many food banks start experiencing a decline in food donations during the first quarter. They often refer it as a “spring hunger gap” when their food supply is at its lowest level. The hunger crisis is at its historic high and is sadly and continuously on the rise. We can spark change in this epidemic by breaking the cycle of the hunger crisis by giving back throughout the year.
Show Love with Pampers
Babies go through diapers as quickly as you place them on and this can get expensive for anyone – quickly. This is why it’s the right time to visit your local Sam’s Club and stock up on baby products like Pampers Sensitive Baby Wipes, Pampers Swaddlers Diapers, and Pampers Cruisers Diapers to gift to a local women’s shelter, food bank, or a friend in need. Now through February 25th, purchase two Pampers products, and you’ll receive an instant savings of $8 off. Plus, you can get a $10 Sam’s Club eGift Card when you purchase $50 worth of Pampers!
Is there someone you know who recently had a baby? Take it a step further by creating a gift basket filled with essentials that will help the new mom get much needed shut-eye. Fill it with products such as a cozy pair of pajamas, a candle or an aromatherapy diffuser, sound machine, throw, and body scrub – anything you can think of that will be beneficial for the new mom. Don’t forget the baby! For the baby, you can include a swaddle sack and Pampers Swaddlers Diapers.
Surprise a Friend with a Card
Our friendships are important! That is why it doesn’t hurt to reconnect with our friends with a card or a handwritten note to say, “I’m thinking about you.” This is a simple gesture that can brighten up your friend’s day and make them feel loved and appreciated.
Start a Children’s Book Club
Get your children involved, too! One of the ways that your child can get involved in helping others in the community is starting a children’s book club. Statistics indicate that 1 in 4 children in America grows up without learning how to read. They’re 4x more likely to drop out of high school if they don’t read proficiently by the third grade. This can result in a host of issues as they reach adulthood. Starting a children’s book club can help foster the love of reading, improve literacy statistics, prevent dropping out, and create a more promising future.
How do you plan to promote kindness?
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Pampers at Sam’s Club. The opinions and text are all mine.
Great post! I think the world would be a better place if each of us spent more time spreading kindness. I volunteer at my local food pantry, but I’m going to try to do more. I love the pampers idea – I remember that as my biggest expense besides childcare itself! I think another area we could do more with is in teaching people how to become self sufficient rather than reliant on others. Growing food in containers, developing skills, etc. That’s my aim for the coming years!
I didn’t realise there was a Randon Acts of Kindness Day…that’s awesome. ⭐️ I love the idea of sending my friends cards, such a sweet thing to do. I recently wrote to my teenage daughters and told them how great their doing (being a teenager sucks!) and they truly cherished it. They also wrote me a letter back which was very surprising and heart warming. Kind regards, Livvy
I am sooo inspired! I am going to head out and paint the world with kindness- beautiful post and such a powerful movement to promote. Love your blog!!!
I love this, we should all be spreading our light! No matter how big or small our spark may be!
I love this so much. It’s so important that we give back however we can, whenever we can and that we teach our kids to do the same. This is fantastic.
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Beautiful ways to show kindness to the world and the people around you. I think it’s really important especially these days when people are often rude to each other. These are a must!
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
Such a powerful quote, it really makes you think!! It costs nothing to be kind – Powerful post! Inspiring
We try to show kindness as often as possible. We definitely don’t need a lot and I really do want to get involved with something that we can donate our time too.
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Amazing post. So simple but yet so effective. But I believe kindness should not be dead and definitely should not make a day about it, we should follow this till death, don’t you think? It can be any act whether it is small or big.
I believe that being kind to others no matter how big or small should be done every day, but I think having a day dedicated to it is always a good reminder for everyone. 🙂
We need more kindness in the world right about now. These are great ideas to help everyone around us choose kind.
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These are some lovely idea of random acts of kindness. I love the card idea, I think there is nothing like getting a handwritten card from someone you love.
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This is so true – we get so caught up in our lives sometimes we forget to be kind. Something as simple as holding the door for someone or paying for someone’s coffee can make a difference in that person’s day.
I love the idea of a children’s book club. Both of my kids love to read and I think they would really enjoy something like this. I also prefer to mail a card, everyone loves getting mail.
This is great! I’m teaching my children about giving and I’m choosing a different organization each month to give back to and I’m excited because my eight year old gets to help me choose and hopefully will help me one day volunteering. Right now a lot of places think eight is too young. At the food pantry where we live, he can’t start volunteering until he’s 10. But there’s lots of other stuff we can do.
Oh I love this post! I am all about sharing kindness and encouraging it in others. Starting a book club is a really lovely idea!
What a wonderful post. Random acts of kindness are so important and would be awesome if more people did them. My husband and I volunteer by helping pack weekend backpacks of food then deliver to the school.
What a great post! I think too often we are all consumed with our own problems and we need to start thinking of others! I love the feeling you get inside when you do something nice for someone else! I am always trying to model this behavior so that my kids will follow suit! I think when I see them doing random acts of kindness I feel amazing inside
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This is a wonderful post. I believe in paying it forward whenever I can. Since I am home most of the time I might do it by posting on someone’s Facebook, or help them with their website if needed. If we all do something helpful to another person, it makes us feel good and above all them too.
These are great ideas. Sometime you have to be intentional with your acts of kindness . You are right our busy lives can distract us. Thanks so much for your article.
I love these ideas so much. I try to teach my girls the importance of spreading kindness throughout their day.
I love to donate food to the poor whenever I can the happiness I see on poor children’s faces is just price less.
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My youngest kid is in a diapers age right now and I can not imagine how hard it would be actually to go without them, especially if you are a in a shelter os just can’t afford it… I did donate to a local charity program once , should do more often!
I love donating stuff. Giving adoptions really fulfills me especially when the only thing you can get back is a ‘thank you, may God bless you!’ You fill so nice.
My daughters and I love to do random acts of kindness. We try to do something every month!
I really like the idea of starting a kids book club! I bet my daughter would love to be a part of that!
Kindness always do wonders especially to people who needs even just a touch of it.
I’ve heard about Random Acts of Kindness day and seen a few different people participate. I think it’s great that you can do such small gestures like sending a card or picking up the phone to call someone. I remember one family on youtube and they participated by giving a homeless person some pizza from the restaurant they had just visited. Thanks for the reminder!
With the world we live in now, we need more of these actions. I love surprising my friends with cards or a little something. And we donate as much as we can too.
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Kindness is such an important attribute to have in the world. I know some people think that they can love someone else without being kind. And maybe that’s possible but I say now if they don’t feel the kindness, they won’t experience the love in any meaningful way. These are great ideas.
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In fact, the main reason for our Sam’s Club membership was that they offered our favorite baby brand, Pampers! Right now, you can get an instant savings of $8 off the purchase of 2 Pampers products at Sam’s Club. Plus, you can get a $10 Sam’s Club eGift Card when you purchase $50 worth of Pampers.
I love all your ideas and especially the one with donating pampers! It is true, they are so needed and they can get very expensive! I have helped with local pet shelters!
Yes, I send random cards to friends, but I need to volunteer more. Thanks for the reminder!
Sharing is certainly caring. I really like this post, great to think about others too.
Lovely post! I love to cook delicious and healthy food for others.
Must say you have such wonderful blog!!! Thanks for sharing amazing ways to show kindness to the world.
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I promote kindness through volunteer work and programs. Any program that benefits someone in need is where I love to dedicate my time.
We donate all of the time. My husband would rather me throw it all away but I refuse, lol.
This is a great post, hope you can do a more extensive one later on! 😉
I like the idea of spreading wildflower seeds to bring kindness to an otherwise empty space.
The acts of kindness is a beautiful sentiment and these are some fantastic ideas. When I was younger I remember going to a baby shower, seeing a giant tree made out of dozens of diapers and thinking it was a silly idea,… until I became a parent and realized I would have stripped that tree to nothing in less than a week.