This Friday, Greater Victoria will be basking in good vibes thanks to one of my favourite events of the year: Random Act of Kindness Day.
The concept is simple: It鈥檚 a day to encourage businesses, organizations, families, individuals 鈥� everybody 鈥� to do something nice for someone else. There鈥檚 no catch and no incentive beyond working toward making our community a kinder, more joy-filled place for all.
Prior participants in the event can tell you the look of stunned appreciation on the face of the recipient of a kind act is the greatest reward for taking part.
People really respond to generosity, and it can truly change someone鈥檚 outlook on their day and, I hope, even their community.
Last year, I had the pleasure of helping to pass out cookies and apples at Our Place Society, and it was a wonderful experience. I was delighted to meet the many wonderful, resilient people who use the services there, and they expressed appreciation for an unexpected treat and the gesture of goodwill.
There are countless ways to take part in Random Act of Kindness Day, from something as simple as stopping by to say 鈥渉i鈥� to a neighbour, to paying for the coffee of the person behind you in line, to sending flowers to an organization or business you support.
In fact, the vast majority of kind acts we saw for last year鈥檚 event seemed to involve either cookies or flowers, a pretty good place to start, if you ask me.
We had many wonderful partner organizations take part last year, from the Robert Bateman Centre, to the Central Saanich Police Department, to the Victoria Disability Resource Centre, to Eagle Wing Tours. We even saw Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps passing out flowers to strangers on Douglas Street.
We鈥檙e looking forward to seeing what organizations in the community do this year, but perhaps even more, we鈥檙e excited to hear stories of regular residents going out of their way to make their community a brighter place for all.
So I hope each of you take up the challenge and perform at least one kind act, large or small, on Nov. 3. And if you feel like sharing your story to inspire others to follow suit, we encourage you to do so on social media using #RAKdayYYJ.
I look forward to seeing your kindness at work in our community. You can find more information, a printable poster and a list of 101 Suggestions for Random Act of Kindness Day by going to victoriafoundation.ca.
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Sandra Richardson is CEO of the Victoria Foundation.
