How great is it that our random acts of kindness and good deeds can make someone else’s entire day?
HumanKind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time is a heartwarming, national bestseller that shares true stories about how a seemingly small act of kindness can transform thousands of lives. Like the six-year-old who started a global kindness movement and the $45 donation that rippled across continents to change more than 800 families’ lives. (“The most uplifting book in years”—Forbes.) For inspiration, check out the book.
For now, here are 103 random acts of kindness and good deeds, that you can do today to carry out kindness and be an everyday hero:
Random Acts of Kindness
Create a holiday to celebrate someone you love. I have “Mia Appreciation Day” for my wife. Your appreciation day can be as simple as declaring the date of the holiday and writing a note of thanks each year to read out loud on that day.You can also invent your own fun or crazy family holiday.
Put 50–100 paper hearts or smiley faces in a box. On each cutout write something that is special about your lover or a good friend. Give her the box and tell her to pull out a heart or smiley face anytime she gets lonely or wants a pick me up.
Find opportunities to give compliments. It costs nothing, takes no time, and could make someone’s entire day. Don’t just think it. Say it.
Your compliment could be something silly, yet endearing. Here’s a post from Pinterest.
Upon entering the Magic Kingdom, one of the security guards said to Alli ‘Excuse me Princess, can I have your autograph.’ I could see that the book was filled with children’s scribbles as the guard asked the same question of many little Princesses. Alli could not get over the fact that the guard thought she was a real princess.” From Pinterest.
Share overheard compliments.
One easy way to ensure you write a nice note or give at least on compliment a day . . . When you open your inbox for the first time of the day write a short email – 1 paragraph max – praising someone. This note can be as simple as, “Just wanted to say, ‘thanks for being such a great friend.’” Or, “Thinking of you.” Or point out something nice you noticed. 15 seconds can make someone’s entire day. And looking for something to compliment a person on each day will make you more aware of and appreciative of the kindness around you.
Here’s Helen Mrosla’s great kindness idea…
Give each member of your family, team, class or group a piece of paper with the name of every group member on the piece of paper. Tell each group member to “write what you appreciated about each fellow group member next to the person’s name” (or you can give out notecards and instruct everyone to “write what you appreciate about each group member on a separate notecard”). The leader collects all of the sheets/cards.
All of the comments are organized so each person gets a page (or the cards) with all of the positive comments about them.
Helen discovered that her students cherished these sheets so much that the students kept them and still talked about them a decade later. The parents of one student told Helen that their son took the paper with him when he was deployed and kept it with him the entire time.
People don’t hear how special they are often enough. This act of kindness exercise is a simple way to appreciate others in a lasting and touching way.

Take five minutes to send cards to sick children who are fighting serious illnesses and want to receive mail.Send mail to Cards for Hospitalized Kids, which delivers the cards to children in US hospitals. A great activity for individuals, families and classrooms.
Through Cardz for Kidz! you can send cards for uplifting the spirits of hospitalized and/or traumatized kids around the globe.
Sign up to get 30 free “You Matter” cards. Give them out to people who make a difference in your life. From the cheery barista who gets your day started right to the family member who asks how you’re doing and then listens to what you have to say. I cover the You Matter Marathon in more detail here. You can read about the woman who got the movement started, which has led to close to half a million cards given out globally.
On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, remember any friends who have lost a parent the previous year, and check in with them. Those will be tough days.
Make little gift baskets for the kids in your neighborhood. One of our neighbors made our son an Easter basket (also a Halloween and Christmas basket). It made our son, my wife and me feel great. The cost of each basket was probably $5.
Looking for more ideas about how to spread kindness? These ideas are from my book, HumanKind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time. This National Bestseller is filled with true stories about how one small deed can make a world of difference and dozens of ways we can all have an impact. “Elegant and wise” (Deepak Chopra). “The most uplifting and life-affirming book in years” (Forbes). Learn more about HumanKind.
“Want me to pick something up for you?” If you know someone is overwhelmed – perhaps by a new baby, family health issues, or something else – give them a call when you’re going out to the store. Ask if they’d like you to pick something up. We’ve been the beneficiaries of this random act of kindness, and it’s great.
When a friend’s family member dies, an incredible gift is to gather stories about the deceased. Get friends and family members to provide stories, anecdotes and photos. Your friend will forever cherish the book you’ll put together. If you can’t make an entire book, just sharing your fond memories is appreciated.
If you’re an Amazon.com customer you can donate Amazon.com’s money to your favorite U.S. nonprofit through Amazon Smile. It takes a total of 20 seconds to read how to do this and set it up. Then Amazon will donate to your favorite nonprofit each time you make a purchase.
When you buy goods from over 1,700 other online retailers you can use iGive to have that retailer donate money to your favorite charity. This includes major retailers like Best Buy, Expedia, Bed Bath and Beyond, and others.
Help a teacher get the supplies needed for class. DonorsChoose.org let’s you support schools and teachers in your community so students can get the tools, supplies and experiences they need for a great education. Here’s an opportunity where a small donation will make a big difference. DonorsChoose.org let’s you support schools and teachers in your community so students can get the tools, supplies and experiences they need for a great education. Here’s an opportunity where a small donation will make a big difference.
Collect soda can tabs to donate to Ronald McDonald House for sick children and their families. The charity gets paid for these.
My mom called me after a winter storm that resulted in a few days of icy roads. Mom suggested I call some of the seniors in my neighborhood to make sure they were ok and didn’t need anything. What a great idea.The thoughtful owner of Fox’s Pizza Den in Ligonier PA went even further. When freezing temperatures made it dangerous for elderly people to go outside, Tom Wynkoop offered that his delivery people would bring medicine, food or other necessities to those who couldn’t get out due to health reasons – no food ordering required.
If you’re a musician living in NYC, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Nashville, Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Francisco, Baltimore, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas, Boston or Miami, you can volunteer through the nonprofit Musicians on Call to deliver a live, in-room performances to patients undergoing treatment or unable to leave their beds. Add a dose of joy to life in a healthcare facility by bringing the healing power of music to people who need it.
Put a surprise note or sketch in with your spouse’s or kid’s lunch.
Help others find the positive.At the beginning of one of my classes, we’d often discuss what was going on in the students’ lives. One student frequently pointed out the positive qualities of her classmates. When Yasmiyn spoke you could see other people glowing. In fact, Yasmiyn’s participation changed the tone of our class.
My students were young adults and often focused on what they saw that was unfair, what others were doing to them and the hardships in their lives. Yasmiyn helped her classmates focus on what was special about them and the positive. Over time, everyone started noticing and pointing out the positive. Our class thrived after taking Yasminy’s lead of looking for the positive.
When it’s summer and hot, give out cold Gatorades to your mail carrier and garbage men. When it’s freezing outside offer hot chocolate to crossing guards, police officers and others.
Cook an extra portion of dinner (or dessert) for someone who needs it. Aid for Friends is a Philadelphia area nonprofit that delivers about 500,000 meals yearly to people in need. It started with one woman’s small acts of kindness. She made an extra meal each night to give to someone who needed it. Read her amazing story.
After a wedding or party donate all of the flowers to a nursing home. If you want to see the impact of these random acts of kindness, personally deliver a flower to each resident. You could also bring the flowers to a hospital and ask the receptionist to distribute them to patients who could use them.
Speaking of flowers — Why not take flowers to the nursing station at a hospital — for the nurses.
Tell someone the truth. Sometimes it’s really hard, but it’s what friends do.
Say “thank you” to someone who made a difference. . . .Send a card to people who dedicate their lives to helping us – soldiers, police officers, fire fighters and teachers to name a few.
A student at Mango Elementary gave the police officer patrolling her school this note after the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Write a letter to a deployed or wounded member of the military through Operation Gratitude or Soldiers’ Angels. Soldiers say that’s the most meaningful part of care packages they receive.
It’s never too late to say “thanks.” I sent a note 7 years after someone had helped me, and she told me it made her feel terrific. I’m glad I got over my embarrassment at how much time had passed and finally sent it.
On the topic of “thank you”, TD Bank’s Thank you video shows them turning ATMs into Automatic Thanking Machines for some personal and special moments for customers. If you decide to watch this random acts of kindness video, have your tissues ready.
Offer a ride. Many veterans don’t have transportation to and from their medical appointments at VA Hospitals. You can volunteer as a van driver for Disabled American Veterans.
Support our troops by supporting families who have a member deployed. The families are often forgotten. Thank them for their sacrifices. Offer to help them around the house. Babysit. Let them know you recognize their sacrifice and ask how you can help.If you’d like to help, Operation Homefront supports families of veterans with financial and emotional needs.
Soldiers’ Angels provide support to military families through three services: Comforting the loved ones left behind when a soldier dies in battle, providing handmade gifts and virtual baby showers, and holiday adoption program to support a family’s holiday needs. Volunteer with Soldiers’ Angels.
On Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day, go to your local memorial or event and pass out mini flags or flowers to Veterans.Thank you veterans – For more ideas to thank our veterans and random acts of kindness for veterans, here’s a list of 22 ways to support our troops. Copyright: Bradaranson.
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