In a world where the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life can threaten the most simple acts of kindness, we have to remind ourselves that spreading joy and positivity within our communities is not just possible, but essential. This is especially true for our fellow millennials, who are uniquely positioned with the power to make waves by using their innovative skills, creativity, and social networks.
We created this Guide to Spreading Kindness in Your Community to inspire and encourage millennials (and people of all ages) to get out and help their communities with a few of the ideas listed below. It’s time to get your friends & family together to participate in local events that can be different depending on the time of year.
Spring: A Time for Renewal and Reconnection
1. Participate in or Organize Community Clean-Ups
Spring is a time for renewal, so organizing a community clean-up at your local park, trail, or beach with your neighbors is a great way to come together and give back. Besides making the city cleaner and more aesthetically beautiful, this acts as an effective means in making our community a better place, fostering a sense of collective responsibility as one united front. Use your social media platforms to promote the cause and encourage those in your circle to do the same!
2. Plant Trees
Engage with your local non-profit and ask if they have any tree-planting initiatives. This is a fantastic way to expose people to the current state of local wildlife population and how excess trash and litter can disturb these natural habitats.
3. Volunteer at Local Events or Festivals
Spring and summer are bustling with local events and festivals. By volunteering, you’re sure to find ample opportunity to spread kindness, whether you’re helping to make sure a concert in the park runs smoothly or adding another set of hands with a local pet adoption.
Fall: A Time for Gathering and Giving Back
1. Coordinate a Community Food Drive
As fall is a time of harvest, it’s perfect for organizing a food drive. As the holiday season approaches, food banks often face a shortfall — a community food drive, especially one that involves local businesses or schools, can make a huge difference.
2. Host a "Swap Day"
Bring together members of your community to take a load off the environment and those in need during “swap day.” Have people bring items they no longer need (but still have life left in them) and let them exchange them for something they do need. This way, while those less fortunate are being given the essentials they need, some perfectly good items are getting a new lease on life, too, making the gift-giving season perfect! This is also a great event to hold before the winter weather is in full effect; it’s amazing the number of essentials that aren’t so essential once cold weather sets in!
Winter: A Season of Warmth and Reflection
1. Organize a Toy Drive
As most of us know, the holidays can be a particularly stressful time for those struggling with financial hardships. To help combat this stress, organize a local toy drive to encourage people to pay it forward and make ‘giving’ the theme of the season. Inquire with your favorite local shops & businesses to help increase awareness to the event and encourage even more donations.
2. Offer House Sitting
The holiday season is notorious for a spike in travel. With this, comes homes that are unattended for a few days or even weeks. By offering to watch over a neighbor’s house, you’re not only practicing a kind and generous favor, but you’re offering peace of mind to allow someone else to fully ‘unplug’ and be present with their loved ones.
Year-Round Acts of Kindness
There are countless year-round ways to show acts of kindness in your community, whenever or wherever you can. You’d be surprised how uplifting one five-minute gesture can be to brighten someone’s day and encourage them to pay it forward in one way or another.
1. Support everyday local businesses
This is one of the simplest ways to spread kindness, but it can mean the world in supporting your community. Whether it’s taking your laptop to the neighborhood café on days when you have work to do at home, forgoing a big name brand for local artisans or simply buying everyday items closer to home, this small act makes a big difference.
2. Use social media
With most of us checking our social media accounts every day, we might as well make it worthwhile for the community. Start high-lighting local businesses, sharing what all is happening in your area or start a kindness challenge. Show everyone how well-connected and full of happy folks your neighborhood is.
Conclusion
Spreading kindness in your community doesn’t require grandiose actions. In fact, it’s often the smaller, more personal acts of kindness that can make a lasting impact. By considering seasonality, highlighting what is interesting to millennials, utilizing local events – and most importantly, leading with kindness – we can enable waves of positivity and change to propagate through the communities that we love. Let this be the generation where kindness is our first choice and watch as we create a legacy of community, connection and care.