Photo: Lisa MacIntosh
You might be wondering what Kindraising means.
Well, fundraising is when you work toward making a difference for a cause or issue through collecting money to donate to help.
Kindraising is all about changing our communities and the world through kindness. I believe that it takes more than money to create a lot of change that we're working on and that compassion, empathy and kindness play a huge part in reaching our goal.
Kindraising is all about acts of kindness -- random, planned or organized. I want to be part of creating a culture of kindness that will replace hate, indifference and apathy. If we do this, we can be on the path to eliminating bullying and other issues that can be helped with positive actions.
Kindraising is all not about me -- it is about everyone -- because that is what it's going to take to create the culture shift that we need. I created my new website to share the stories, experiences and ides of people that have given, received or witnessed kindness -- the actions that have changed someone's mood, day or circumstance.
I have traveled across North America and have met people of all ages who are taking action to make a difference in their community.
Students collecting food for their local food banks, young girls donating their hair to make wigs for children going through chemotherapy, groups of women who get together to knit scarves for the homeless, families who spend time cooking and serving food at soup-kitchens and I know of a 70-year-old man who has volunteered more than 1000 hours at a nursing home. These are just some of the people and actions that inspire me. You are never too young or too old to give and we should all give what we can, when we can and how we can.
This story by Loren Eiseley best defines how far a little kindness can go:
An old man was walking along a beach in the early morning. There had been a storm the night before, and he noticed that the beach was covered in starfish as far as he could see in both directions. The old man noticed a young girl walking towards him along the beach.
She would occasionally bend over to pick up a starfish and throw it into the ocean.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Throwing the starfish back in the ocean" said the girl. "They can't get back into the ocean by themselves, and when the sun gets high in the sky they will die, unless I throw them back in the water."
The old man replied, "There must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I'm afraid you won't be making a difference."
The girl smiled and picked up another starfish and tossed it in the water. "I made a difference for that one."
So, you have a story to share and I'd love to hear about it! Your stories about Kindraising can be about kindness that you have given, received or witnessed.
There are thousands of us out there Kindraising every day. The site will collect those stories, actions and inspiration. I hope that you'll share a story of kindness in action -- it can be something that you have done, something that someone has done for you or it could be an opportunity for you to shine a light on someone you know that is a Kindraiser.
Let's do this -- together.
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