365 Days of Kindness

I find that each day is a unique adventure, wondering what my act of kindness will be for the day. Needless to say, I am always racking my brain for new ideas. Today, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few items. On my way out, I received a coupon for $3.50 [...]

Crocheting is my absolute favorite hobby – I can’t get enough! I love experimenting with different projects and creating handmade gifts for friends and family. Today, I wanted to incorporate this notion into one of my acts of kindness. I took some time and hand-crocheted a winter hat, complete with ear flaps and ties for [...]

My cabinets always seem to get cluttered up with endless supplies of canned goods and things I have good intentions of making but never actually get around to. In the spirit of giving (and de-cluttering), I decided to go through my cabinets with an honest assessment of what I need and what I don’t. I [...]

To me, Veterans Day is a day to honor the men and women who sacrifice their time and their lives for others. My grandfather served in World War II and his strength is something I’ve always admired. While I was always proud of his service, we both agreed that war should never be glorified. Instead, [...]

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, it brings me great joy to know that I am able to pass on the gift of giving to my children. That’s why I was overjoyed today when my daughters asked me if we could sort through their clothes to see if there was anything we could “give to [...]

Each year in the United States, roughly 30,000 premature babies die. More than 12.5 million children and 3 million impoverished seniors are hungry, growing sicker, more depressed and hopeless every day. Together we can help stop the clock. That’s why Nourish America provides nourishing foods and nutritional supplements to hundreds of thousands of America’s most [...]

As many people know, I love websites like FreeRice.com, which I mentioned in one of my past days of kindness. Today, I was informed about another one of these sites, called FreePoverty.com. By merely testing your geography skills, you are able to donate clean drinking water to those who are in need. 70% of a [...]

Recently, a friend of mine informed me of a fund raising event they were having at her church. One of the events was a baking contest in which the baked goods would be auctioned off as a means of raising money for the school. Since baking is my truest passion, I was honored that she [...]

To be honest, I spend a lot of my time in the car rushing around when in actuality I am in no hurry. I’m not sure why I feel the need to get somewhere fast instead of simply enjoying the journey. Once I pondered this notion and gained some awareness of it, I thought “how [...]

As I spoke about on the title page for this blog, I love handing out smile cards and committing random acts of kindness in the drive-thru lane. To me, it’s one of the most fun ways to experiment with this sort of giving. I don’t typically go to fast food restaurants, but sometimes I’ll get [...]

GoodSearch is a Yahoo-powered search engine that donates 50% of its revenue (about a penny per search) to listed American charities and schools designated by its users. The money comes from the site’s advertisers. According to the company, as of April 2010, more than 89,000 non-profit organizations are participating in the program. Because I am [...]

While browsing for some interesting kindness ideas, I stumbled upon a website called FreeRice.com. I had never heard of it, but the concept intrigued me.  FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations Food Programme, and their goals are: (a) provide education to everyone for free, and (b) help end world hunger by [...]

I’ve always valued the sentiment of something written from the heart. I view it as tangible “proof” of a feeling ~ something that the receiver can hold onto forever. My favorite letters to write are ones of love and gratitude, so today I was motivated to write a long overdue, much thought about letter of [...]

As some of you know, I run various online shops and one in particular is called The Flour Garden. I make allergy-friendly and vegan products for those of us who are affected by food allergies/sensitivities. The other day, I was contacted without any prompting by a member of the Cortland County SPCA in Cortland, New [...]

Baystate Children’s Hospital cares for children every day who are battling life threatening conditions, including cancer. Awhile ago, I heard of something called a ‘chemo cap’. These caps are given to children to wear when they lose their hair to chemotherapy. During a time of uncertainty, having a cap handmade especially for them may bring [...]

I find each day to be a new adventure in trying to think of innovative ways of giving back to others. I decided to go grocery shopping this afternoon and made a pit stop in Northampton. When I got out to put money in the meter, I realized how a simple gesture could really be [...]

I started to panic this morning when I realized how busy my day was going to be. How do I come up with and perform an act of kindness today? I barely have time to breathe, let alone actually get something done.  It was at this point that I surrendered to the powers of the [...]

It has been my desire to pass along the gift of giving to my children. Since they were very young, I have instilled in them the importance of helping those who are less fortunate. Our city is blessed to have a place like Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen. With a small staff of dedicated volunteers, Lorraine’s serves [...]

Today is my youngest daughter’s 4th birthday.  This weekend, we were fortunate enough to spend time with family while enjoying good food, too much cake and great conversation. On surface level, it seems like any normal birthday party, but today (and due in part to my heightened interest in spreading kindness) I saw it as [...]