Random Acts of Kindness

A Random Act of Kindness (or RAOK) is doing something simple to show care for someone else.

Have you ever noticed how truly grateful you felt when someone took a moment to extend kindness your way? A Random Act of Kindness, usually a surprise, happens without any expectations. Try this out today -- just smile at someone you don’t know. Smiling is a great RAOK, and it doesn’t cost anything!

Here’s how it works.

Choose a RAOK you can do by yourself, or with family and friends. Check out the ideas below.

Bag groceries for a parent standing in line with antsy children
Mow your neighbor’s lawn or shovel their sidewalk
Give a compliment to someone at work or school
Leave bubbles at the park
Donate your books to the library
Pick up litter
Pay for someone’s coffee behind you in the drive-through
Stop at a child’s lemonade stand and buy a glass—then leave a tip!

The possibilities are endless!

Benefits

Because it boosts your happiness, doing a RAOK is an investment in you. Studies show that a person receiving a RAOK experiences positive benefits that last for 24 hours. The person performing the act gains these positive benefits for two weeks.

When you do a random act of kindness, the hormone oxytocin is produced in your body. Often called the “feel good hormone,” oxytocin is released when you hug people or shake hands. It promotes bonding and is released during a RAOK! More and more RAOKs will create vibrant communities with high levels of social connections and civic engagement. Happiness can be contagious!

Studies show that Random Acts of Kindness will:

Decrease anxiety, stress and depression
Protect your heart and improve your immune system
Make you happier
Help add 10 years to your life
Diminish pain perception

THE DELICIOUS DOZEN

Leave a snack and a thank you note in the mailbox for your mail carrier
Put together a dinner package and leave it on your neighbor’s porch
Buy a stranger a coffee
Tape money to a vending machine with a note stating, “This snack is on me.”
Buy and send dessert to a table at a restaurant
Bring treats to work for your co-workers
Make your spouse/partner/child their favorite meal
Pick up the tab at lunch
Bring food to the food shelf
Bake a special treat for someone
Stop at a child’s lemonade stand and purchase a glass – leave a tip!
Leave money in the gumball machine

A NOTABLE ACT

You are doing a fabulous job. Keep it up!
You look great today!
Smile! Yes, I’m talking to you.
Dream BIG!
You are amazing!
You are more important than you realize!
Have a super day!
This # does not measure how beautiful you are (put on a scale).
You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Have a beautiful day!
Keep shining!
This smile is contagious. Be a carrier!
Your face shows where you were, are, and where you will go. Now that is beautiful!

THOUGHTFUL TEN

Buy a stranger a lottery ticket
Bring flowers to a nursing home
Leave money at the laundromat with a note – "This load is on me."
Let somebody go ahead of you in line
Send a faraway friend a $5 gift card to get coffee
Slip money in a book at the bookstore
Leave a diaper and wipes on a changing table
Leave bubbles at the park
Donate your books to the library
Pick up litter

FREE! (or darn close to it)

Write chalk messages on the sidewalk
Become an organ donor
Compliment everybody you encounter in a day
Write a handwritten note to somebody
Volunteer
Encourage somebody you see working really hard at the gym
Leave random notes of happiness
Leave the closer parking spot for somebody else
Hug somebody like you mean it
Sincerely compliment someone on their character
Treat yourself to a long bath
Donate your used clothing
Help somebody with yard work
Collect canned food for a food shelf
Visit somebody who is sick
Write a letter to a person from your past that impacted your life

FOR KIDS

Write chalk messages on the sidewalk
Decorate the inside of your mailbox, so your mail carriers smile every time they open it.
Record a video love-note and text it to grandparents.
Leave a note and candy or microwave popcorn on a DVD rental machine.
Help someone load their groceries into their car.
Go outside when the garbage truck comes and wave your little hearts out.
Tape change to a parking meter, or run around looking for any that are about to expire and buy the driver more time!
Dry the slides at the park after it rains.
Take in a neighbor’s trashcans—or the whole street of them!
Take your child’s teacher a box of tissues or a bottle of hand sanitizer.
Bury treasure at the playground. A container filled with small toys or goodies is sure to light up a child’s eyes sometime in the future.
Sponsor a child. Your monthly contribution covers medical and school fees, healthy food, and more. You can also send and receive letters from your child, which makes the experience much more real for children and adults alike.