World Kindness Movement Blog

Man who flew too much grounded

HE IS the man who flew too much.

Steve Rothstein bought a golden ticket from American Airlines in 1987, granting him a lifetime of unlimited travel.

He clocked more than 10 million miles and 10,000 flights. He used his power to fly hopeless strangers home, a friend to the Louvre, and a priest to Rome to meet the pope.

He hopped planes to other cities just for a baseball game or a sandwich.

Everybody, even American’s CEO, knew his name.

“[I] became a hero at the airline,” Mr Rothstein, 61, a Manhattan investment banker, said. “I could just show up and get a seat.”

But in 2008, American Airlines accused him of fraud and snatched his bottomless boarding pass.

For holiday travelers, random acts of kindness

Sometimes when you travel, it’s the little gestures of compassion that make the biggest difference, especially during the holidays.

For Becky Brand, it was a Washington bus driver who went out of his way to help her during Thanksgiving week. “While I was struggling with a heavy suitcase in the rain, he made my day by stopping to let me on instead of having me run to the bus stop a block away,” says Brand, who works for a legal advocacy group in the capital. “Although a small and random act of kindness, it made my holiday week and definitely gave me something to be thankful for.”

Jenny Block remembers the nameless American Airlines employee who answered her plea on Twitter. Her cousin had been left in a coma after a traffic accident, and she needed the airline to bend a flight change rule. Block, a writer who lives in Dallas, received an immediate reply: Of course the airline would help her.

“You won’t believe this part,” she told me. “It happened on Thanksgiving morning.”

Random acts of Christmas kindness “overwhelming”

“For the first time ever, I’ve experienced the true meaning of Christmas.”

That’s the word from Fenton Kmart Manager Rick Faulk, who is overwhelmed by the generosity of “Secret Santas” this Christmas, who have anonymously come into the store and paid off peoples’ layaways. “In my 35-plus years in this business, I’ve never seen the generosity of people toward total strangers as I’ve seen this year,” said Faulk.

The Times ran a story on Wednesday about these anonymous benefactors, who stop in at stores and restaurants and pay off layaways and orders of food that are waiting for pick-up. At Kmart, they focus primarily on layaways that have toys and children’s’ clothing, like outerwear and boots.

Confectioner tries to spread a little kindness across the globe

Perfetti Van Melle wants to make the world a far better place

SHANGHAI - An Italian sweet maker has launched a series of activities to encourage Chinese people to practice random acts of kindness and undertake more personal social responsibility to make the world a better place.

Perfetti Van Melle Confectionery (China) Co Ltd (PVMCC) said the initiative was designed to promote charitable work from the heart to help those in need.

As part of the plan, PVMCC joined hands with nongovernmental organization 1KG.org to give books and candy to children in less developed areas of China such as Yunnan and Gansu provinces over the past few months. It also has open accounts at Chinese social networking sites and Sina Weibo to collect stories of kind acts.

“After several years of development we have seen a dramatic increase in productivity in our society. However, somehow people have become a little indifferent and apathetic toward strangers,” said Ma Limin, marketing director of PVMCC. “We must remember emotion and kindness are the most important elements that help us to maintain human relationships in society and support their growth.”

A civil society needs the kindness of strangers and acquaintances

It was an elderly Turkish Cypriot neighbour whom I credit with having taught me about civility. Passing his house one evening in summer, I commented to him that the rose in his front garden smelled heavenly. He promptly disappeared and I wondered if I had offended him, but he returned with a pair of scissors and cut the stem of a perfect red rose and gave it to me. It was the beginning of a friendship between our two families in which we have exchanged recipes, herbs, spiced teas, cakes, vine leaves and flowers.

That experience is part of why I am not in the least surprised by the finding of the new Young Foundation report: that how people treat each other – civility – is more important than crime statistics in influencing how people feel about where they live and their sense of belonging. Much of our day-to-day wellbeing is rooted in the granularity of tiny interactions in the shop, on the street and buses. Isolation can be eased by a greeting, anxiety assuaged by friendliness; and the reverse, an irritated or aggressive response can reverberate in someone’s mind for days, and leave lasting damage in how someone might perceive a place. The research found that many said it was the single most important factor in their quality of life.

City signs reveal Acts of Kindness

Michael Landy, together with Kaldor Public Art Projects and 702 ABC Sydney, collected stories of ordinary acts of kindness that show the connections between residents of a large city, which may sometimes feel impersonal.

The results are shown on signs between Market Street and Circular Quay and between Macquarie and George Streets, and are on display as part of the Art and About Festival.

There is an explanation of the project, together with a map of where the art pieces are, at Martin Place near George Street.

Acts of Kindness wil be on display until Sunday 23 October.

Delivering kindness

Mary Ripley of Charlottetown is a goodwill ambassador on (two) wheels

The loaf of bread came out of nowhere.

The surprise — and tasty — home-baked offering was left hanging from my mailbox with no indication of its origin.

Mary Ripley, I later discovered, would prefer it that way.

The Charlottetown woman with a heart of gold doesn’t want any fuss made over her generous spirit.

Ripley explained that she selected my home for the simple reason that my 11-year-old son Jack, sitting on the front porch humming a tune, caught her attention as she rode by on her bicycle.

“He seemed to have music in him,” she observed warmly.

And, for any number of reasons that catch her fancy, Ripley has dropped off loaf after loaf at one home or another.

Kindness Concert a heart opener

Can small acts of kindness change the world? According to the organizers of the 2011 World Kindness Concert they can.

When Brock Tully envisioned the World Kindness Concert more than a decade ago, he imagined people coming together, with open hearts and a passion to change the way we live and celebrate the human journey. Eleven years later, the annual World Kindness Concert continues to grow and has become the catalyst for thousands of people seeking to create a kinder, more compassionate planet.

After a cycling expedition across North America, which Tully refers to as “the journey back to his heart,” Tully was inspired to commit himself to kindness. “I was concerned with how disconnected and violent society had become,” he says. “The vision for the World Kindness Concert was to raise awareness and to inspire the active practice of kindness.” According to Tully, society at large underestimates the power of a kind act.

“Single acts of kindness, a smile, a compliment or offering a helping hand to a neighbour all have the potential to grow roots and blossom into something spectacular. It is so easy and simple to be kind,” Tully says. “You don’t need money; you only need an open heart or a desire to open your heart. Both the musicians and the audience tell us they feel their energy rise to a joyful and peaceful state during this event. It is wonderful.”

Research has proven acts of kindness have a positive effect on the immune system, the mind and on the production of serotonin, which is known to regulate our mood, appetite and sleep, and which also supports cognitive functions. From this perspective, being kind is a healthy choice.

Schools Take Part in Respect Week

All this week students in Heights will take part in activities in recognition of the district-wide Week of Respect anti-bullying campaign.

Each school has its own schedule of activities for students to take part in which are designed to inspire students to stand up against bullying and remind them to have respect for each other, themselves and their school.

Anti-bullying efforts are ongoing in the school community and on Monday, Oct. 17 the district will bring the entire community together to discuss town-wide efforts. Representatives from all four schools, parents, students and clubs along with town clergy, borough officials and other department heads will gather at the high school auditorium to discuss how the whole community is involved in providing support for fellow neighbors in crisis.

Also this month, students at the middle and high school will take part in a presentation given by John Halligan whose son Ryan was the first suicide documented in the U.S. associated with cyber-bullying.

Washington schoolboy Dylan’s act of kindness

WHILE most schoolboys spend their summer holidays out playing with friends, Dylan Ward spent his creating pictures for his forthcoming art exhibition.

It is the latest drive by the 10-year-old to raise life-saving funds for Macmillan nurses who cared for his late grandfather.

Blackfell Primary School pupil Dylan was last year named as Britain’s Kindest Kid after raising thousands of pounds for the cause.

Now he is gearing up for the latest exhibition of his work which has earned him a number of famous admirers, including Prime Minister David Cameron and TV presenter and actress Denise Welch, who both have copies of his work.

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