National Random Acts of Kindness Day

Today is National Random Acts of Kindness Day.

It is not a holiday, but rather a national day where the entire country is challenged to do something kind for a friend, family member, or stranger for no reason at all. Random Acts of Kindness Day is an opportunity to do something kind for someone else, to appreciate fellow citizens and for community building – it’s NOT about fundraising or giving money – just a day to celebrate kindness.

Simple acts of kindness are endless.  Check out last week's three articles labeled Little Acts of Kindness, parts one, two, and three.  For more ideas, check out The Kindness Wall at Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.

Kindness can mean different things to different people; usually kindness means:

• the quality or state of being kind.
• a kind act or kind deed.

I have a challenge posted on Facebook this week for Random Acts of Kindness Week.  If you participate by doing a random act of kindness -- big or small -- please post in the comments section here or at All Things Cherished on Facebook.  Everyone who competes will be entered into a drawing to receive a small gift from my "gift cupboard."

Various articles and posts on kindness:
Random Acts of Kindness Across America
Can We Teach Kindness?
RAK Week Lessons and Projects
Volunteerism... A Way of Life Resources
National Random Acts of Kindness Day


I hope you  join me this week in celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Week and start today by helping others.

Little Acts of Kindness - Part Three

Let's continue making others happy by giving of ourselves.

41. Introduce yourself to your neighbors.  You might make a new friend.
42. Compliment a stranger.
43. Adopt a pet from the pound.
44. Send a paper greeting card -- thinking of you, thanks, get well, etc, -- to a friend, family member, colleague, whomever.
45. Let the person behind you in line go first.
46. Call your parents and tell them you love them.
47. Make duplicates of your photos and send photos to the people who are in the images.
48. Take the shopping cart back to the front of the store.
49. Send a care package to a soldier.
50. Compliment a well-behaved child.
51. Bake a cake or cookies for no reason at all.
52. Leave nice comments on blogs, Twitter, and Facebook.
53. Be on time.  Don't make others wait on you.
54. Offer a ride to someone who is "car-less."
55. Donate your old clothes and other items to Goodwill, Salvation Army, or other charity.
56. Share your talents.  Offer to teach a class to your friends or at your local craft store.
58. Donate craft supplies and office supplies to your local elementary school, daycare, or preschool.
59. Become a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters or other similar agency.
60. Don't spread gossip.

I hope these sixty acts of kindness will give you some inspiration for today, for Random Acts of Kindness Week, and beyond.

Little Acts of Kindness - Part Two

21. Let a fellow driver merge into your lane.
22. Offer to babysit for a single mother or father.
23. Put your shopping cart back in its place.
24.  Write to a teacher who changed your life.
25. Tell a colleague they did a good job.
26. Simply say "I'm sorry" when you are wrong.
27. Throw away your trash and someone else's after a movie, picnic, etc.
28. Forgive someone a debt and never talk about it again.
29. Take care of a friend's pet while they vacationing.
30. Bake cookies or cake for the local police station or fire station.
31. Visit a senior citizen center and spend time with some of the residents.
32. Read a book to a preschool group at the local library.
33. Play football or other games with the kids in the neighborhood.
34. Ask someone "How are you really doing?" and then truly listen to her response.
35. Leave a generous tip for a pleasant waiter.
36. Help a friend pack for a move.
37. Pass along a great book you've just finished reading.
38. Have your children make/draw pictures and send to local nursing home.
39. Frame a favorite photo and give to your friend or sibling.
40. Call an "old" friend and take the time to catch up on all the family news.

This is a continuation of ideas for the upcoming Random Acts of Kindness Week.  

Little Acts of Kindness

One small thoughtful gesture can make someone else's day . . .
 
1.  Smile.  Smiles are contagious.
2.  Pick up the newspaper off the ground for an elderly neighbor.
3.  Pay the toll for the driver behind you.
4.  Take a moment to direct someone who is lost.
5.  Pay for coffee for the person behind you in line.
6.  Help carry groceries for the elderly, disabled, or pregnant person in line behind you.
7.  Write a letter to a child who could use some extra attention. Kids love getting mail.
8.  Offer to pick up groceries for an elderly neighbor. 
9.  Drive the car pool, even if its not your turn.
10. Give a homeless person your "doggie bag."
11. Take a neighbor's dog for a walk.
12. Put coins in an expired meter.
13. Help a mother carry her baby stroller up the stairs.
14. Hold the door open for people behind you.
15. Each time you get a new item of clothing, give away something old.
16. Drive a friend to church.
17. Send a card to a friend. Most people still like getting mail.
18. Say "please" and "thank you" and truly mean it.
19. When you're on a crowded train or bus, offer your seat to an elderly, disabled, or pregnant person.
20. Take your neighbor's mail to the post office.

The week of February 16, 2014, is Random Acts of Kindness Week.  Throughout the coming week, I'll be sharing many ideas that you can do to make things a little easier, a little nicer, a little happier for all of those people around us.  

Life or Living

Would you rather have a life or a living?

Mother Teresa lived her life in a little room and with a vow of poverty yet impacted millions of lives.  My friend, Wendy, went to Haiti to rescue restaveks (child slaves).  My girlfriend, Jennifer, donates a huge chunk of her time to Beaded Hope, an organization that employs women affected by AIDS in South Africa by selling their jewelry and returning the profits to their AIDS Hospice.

Each one of these women, and so many more, are making a life by giving. They give their time, their energy, and their lives to make others' lives better.

Personally, I think this is a great girlfriend lesson. It's not about how much money our paycheck says or the title on our business card . . . what matters is what we give.

SparkPeople Challenge

As you may know, I am an active member of the popular healthy-living website, SparkPeople.com. In an effort to help SparkPeople live out their mission of helping millions of people reach their goals and live healthier lives, I have joined a contest they're holding called "The Spark Free Chapter Challenge." If you have one minute to spare, I could use your help, because I REALLY want to win!

So here's the deal with the challenge…

Chris Downie, SparkPeople's CEO and founder, recently published a book called "The Spark" that offers a proven new approach to improving your health, transforming your life and reaching your goals (for example, real people have lost over 10 million pounds using their free online program)!

People like me who are helping them "Spread The Spark" through The Spark Free Chapter Challenge are encouraging our friends and family to download a FREE chapter of "The Spark" book. And for every person I can encourage to download the chapter, I will get an additional chance to win a $500 weekend getaway and other prizes, as well as something they offer called "SparkPoints," which also help motivate me to reach my goals.

All you have to do to help is download a free chapter from The Spark book. Nothing else. To do so, simply go here and click the button to download your free chapter.

If you would be willing to help me with this, I would truly appreciate it, and I also think you will enjoy reading this free chapter from "The Spark". I know I did!

Haiti Relief Effort

On January 12, 2009, Haiti was struck by the largest earthquake the island nation has ever seen. The Red Cross estimates that 45,000-50,000 people have died as a result of the 7.0 quake. As rescue workers dig through the aftermath for survivors, millions are left homeless in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.

Examiner.com (who I write for)  has published a resource page full of information on this catastrophic event that includes ongoing coverage and information on how individuals can contribute to the relief efforts in Haiti:

• You can simply text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross' Haiti relief initiative.
• For ongoing Examiner.com coverage of this devastating event, you can subscribe to the RSS feed.
• Examiner.com is also donating to the cause with contributions to Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross. 

My hearts and thoughts go out to the millions of people affected by this horrific situation.

Arthritis News

Health care reform is important to all of us, click here to read how the Arthritis Foundation is taking action to take care of the of 46 million Americans with arthritis. Contact your Senator and Representatives and let them know what we all need in the health care reform bill to benefit people suffering with arthritis and related issues. For more arthritis advocacy information visit Arthritis Foundation.

Register now for The Power of One -The Voice of Many 2010 Advocacy and Kid’s Summit.

Giving Back

God Bless This Home

God calls us to be generous givers . . . not only with our money but also with
our time and talents. Karla has wanted to use her talents to promote a few charities over the years and now she is.

The house was painted as a blessing for those of us who do have home in order to bless those who don't.


I am honored to announce that from now until December 1st, 100% of the profits from the sales of this print will go directly to Open House Ministries.

Their program focuses on equipping homeless families with life skills and foundational tools to help them regain healthy, independent lives. For more information on this special ministry, go to Open House Ministries.

(The print is designed to be personalized with your last name
hand-lettered above the front door or you could choose to have it personalized for a friend or family member as a housewarming, wedding, or Christmas gift... a gift that keeps on giving.)

Make a BIG Difference!

Big Brothers Big Sisters Makes a BIG Difference




Teachers who were surveyed about children who are matched with a Big Brother, Big Sister, or Big Couple said:

• 83% have improved their academic performance.
• 66% have better self-confidence.
• 32% are better able to make decisions.
• 33% have better relationships with their peers.
• 33% are better prepared for school.

Big Brothers Big Sisters' mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of children and youth and to assist them in becoming confident, competent, and caring individuals by providing committed volunteers.

Gas Vouchers

I need your help.

Gas Vouchers Program

The cash earned from this program will benefit SOS/Save our SplashPark (local pool at Memorial Park, Butler, PA) and also help me get a more secure vehicle for my family.



This is an never-ending program at this time. Send your gas receipts to me. Email me at storm2c [at] zoominternet [dot] com for my address.

Duplicates of receipts can be used if you need the original receipt for personal or tax reasons. For security, you can black out the credit/debit card numbers (though the receipts only show the last four numbers).

Anyone in the United States can participate.

Ask family, friend, neighbors, and colleagues for their receipts too.

Receipts/vouchers are turned in on a monthly basis so please mail your gas receipts to me on a regular basis.

I will update you on our progress monthly.

Thank you for your help. The children of Broad Street Elementary School and the neighborhood children thank you.

Save a Child

If you are concerned about the welfare of any child, tell the authorities. Please report your concerns to anyone and everyone who will listen to you. If they don't listen (and your concerns continue), call again and ask to speak to a supervisor. The miniscule risk of invading another's personal affairs is trumped by the reward of saving a life.

If each of us truly believed we are personally responsible to help the most vulnerable population -- our children -- we would follow our intuition and go the extra mile to protect them. Any one of us could be the hero who saves a child from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse.

Distribute Cycles

Before I read the book Storm Cycle I did not know about computer cycles.

Does your computer spend most of the day running screensavers or otherwise wasting its computing cycles? Why not use those spare cycles to help solve some huge problems?

Distributed computing is a science which solves a large problem by giving small parts of the problem to many computers to solve and then combining the solutions for the parts into a solution for the problem. Recent distributed computing projects have been designed to use the computers of hundreds of thousands of volunteers all over the world, via the Internet, to look for extra-terrestrial radio signals, to look for prime numbers so large that they have more than ten million digits, and to find more effective drugs to fight cancer and the AIDS virus. These projects are so large, and require so much computing power to solve, that they would be impossible for any one computer or person to solve in a reasonable amount of time.

The concept of distributed computing has been around for more than a decade.
There are currently hundreds of worthwhile projects that pool the resources of personal computers and game consoles all over the world. To find a cause meaningful to you and contribute your cycles to a worthy endeavor go Distribute Computing.

IDEA Fairness Restoration Act

School districts can use tax dollars to employ and pay for psychologists and other technical experts.

Few parents can afford the thousands of dollars needed to pay for expert testimony that is necessary to prevail in IDEA due process hearings and litigation. Parents have fewer resources and yet must bear a greater financial burden.

Please call your Congressional Representative on Thursday, July 9. Ask him or her to co-sponsor the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act, H.R. 2740.

Get Cool for a Cause

Get Cool For a Cause This Summer by Opening a Virtual Lemonade Stand

Join Electrolux and Kelly Ripa the fight against ovarian cancer. When you open a lemonade stand, you can recapture the feeling of childhood summers, and help raise funds and awareness for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

For every lemonade stand opened at Electrolux, Electrolux will donate $1 to OCRF. In addition, you can help the cause even more by selling virtual glasses of lemonade to your friends and famil with 100 percent of the proceeds will go to OCRF.

To help spread the word, Electrolux is giving away an elegant new French Door Refrigerator.

Go to my stand today to get your refreshing glass of lemonade.

All Pro Dad Teams Up with Head Start

All Pro Dad has started a new partnership with Head Start. Head Start is a nationwide government agency that exists to help over one million young, at-risk children prepare for school so they do not fall behind when they begin kindergarten.

"We are pleased to be working with All Pro Dad to help the Head Start Programs build strong bonds between fathers and their children", says Head Start Executive Director Michael McGrady.

All Pro Dad will be rolling out its father and kids monthly breakfast program with Head Starts all across the country. This event features good food, fun and meaningful, relationship-building activities between dads and their kids

Save an Hour, Give an Hour

We all have the same amount of hours in the day. It doesn't matter what you need or want to get done or how noble your intentions are. Each of us only has 24 hours in a day--for good or bad, to waste or to use efficiently.We will see on TV or read in the paper about people who give generously of their time to help others. Examples are people who volunteer to serve food to the homeless or rock those babies to sleep who have no one to love them.

Often, these are people who have families, careers, and commitments. What makes them special is that they have managed to figure out a way to make time in order to give their time and themselves.

Saving time requires some effort. How do you make time?

Do One Nice Thing

My friend, Debbie, is not fond of acting, but she made a video for a special reason.

She made a bet with ten friends: Debbie would be in a video if they'd donate ten cents for every person who watched it. The cause: Feeding America, the food bank network. Her friends agreed. The dimes add up quickly, 10 people x $10 = 1,000 pounds of groceries. All you have to do is watch the video. Then share the video via email or blogs. More viewers = more groceries. In gratitude for Debbie's new book, Debbie is donating a dime to Feeding America for every view, up to $100.

Just click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVi0z2eMAGw

You Roared, They Caved

Time Warner Cable’s price-gouging scheme came crashing down this past Friday.

In a spectacular victory for Free Press and supporters like you, the company buckled under public pressure and abandoned its plan to impose Internet penalties against those who go online for more than email and basic Web surfing.

If they had gotten away with this scam, users of online innovations like Web video and radio would have been forced to pay up to $100 more per month for full broadband service.

Time Warner Cable didn’t cave because of a sudden spurt of good conscience. They reacted to a torrent of protest from Free Press members and from Internet users across the country.

Savor this victory, because it belongs to you. You proved -- again -- that when we pull together, we can defend our online rights against even the biggest of Big Media giants.

But this fight isn’t over. The threat of this kind of price gouging is not going away. Big media companies like Time Warner Cable, Comcast and AT&T know that the new media landscape -- with Internet users watching video at YouTube, listening to radio at Pandora and making phone calls using applications like Skype -- is a threat to their monopoly control.

They’ll do whatever it takes to protect their profits and limit your freedoms.
Our victory is a lesson in what we’ll need to keep doing to stop these companies from squeezing our use of the Internet:

In less than a week, Free Press generated more than 16,000 letters to Congress, urging members to launch an immediate investigation of Time Warner Cable.

Our policy advocates are working with pro-Internet policymakers on Capitol Hill to stop these sorts of anti-competitive scams and make sure more Americans can get online.

Our media outreach fueled a withering barrage of negative press (including mention of our work in more than 50 prominent news stories), consumer complaints, blog postings, and other opposition to Time Warner Cable's scheme.

This week’s victory over Time Warner Cable proved what we can do when we pull together. Pat yourself on the back!

Save the Internet

When we log onto the Internet, we take a lot for granted. We assume we'll be able to access any Web site we want, whenever we want, at the fastest speed, whether it's a corporate or mom-and-pop site. We assume that we can use any service we like -- watching online video, listening to podcasts, sending instant messages -- anytime we choose.

What makes all these assumptions possible is Network Neutrality.

Network Neutrality -- or "Net Neutrality" for short -- is the guiding principle that preserves the free and open Internet. Put simply, Net Neutrality means no discrimination. Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from blocking, speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination.

Who wants to get rid of Net Neutrality?

The nation's largest telephone and cable companies -- including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner -- want to be Internet gatekeepers, deciding which Web sites go fast or slow and which won't load at all.

But as a consequence of a 2005 decision by the Federal Communications Commission, Net Neutrality -- the foundation of the free and open Internet -- was put in jeopardy. Now cable and phone company lobbyists are pushing to block legislation that would reinstate Net Neutrality.

Writing Net Neutrality into law would preserve the freedoms we currently enjoy on the Internet. For all their talk about "deregulation," the cable and telephone giants don't want real competition. They want special rules written in their favor.

Learn how to tell apart the myths from the realities in this report, Network Neutrality: Fact vs. Fiction.

Who's part of the SavetheInternet.com Coalition?

The Save the Internet coalition is made up of hundreds of groups from across the political spectrum that are concerned about maintaining a free and open Internet. No corporation or political party funds our efforts. We simply agree to a statement of principles in support of Internet freedom.
The coalition is being coordinated by Free Press, a national, nonpartisan organization focused on media reform and Internet policy issues.

What can I do to help?

• Sign the Save the Internet petition.
• Call your members of Congress today and demand that Net Neutrality be protected.
• Encourage groups you're part of to sign the "Internet Freedom Declaration of 2007".
• Show your support for Internet freedom on your Web site or blog.
• Tell your friends about this crucial issue before it's too late.

If you are interested in Saving the Internet, write about it on your blog, then link to Mr. Linky below by using the permalink to your post.