Tag: RAK

GIVE. SPREAD. DO RAK

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I decided that this year I was going to begin again to try to spread KINDNESS around like confetti. It is a great thing to do all year, but it is especially wonderful for LOVE month…and also RAK week.

Take this link and post it. share it. do it… SPREAD LOVE & KINDNESS.

Please do SOMETHING to teach LOVE and KINDNESS to those around you and spread it …KINDNESS IS contagious!!

We have enough garbage going around…spread something SO GOOD FOR EVERYONE.

I just wanted to put together something that could help in some way.

YAY FOR RAK KINDNESS DAY….and RAK WEEK (February 14-20 this year)

Get out and do RAK’s and then strive to do a little more and a little more and….BOOOM…you can’t stop.

JUST BEGIN!!

HAPPY DAY.

XOXOXO

PS almost all the images were from Pexels. Thank you beautiful photographers.

PEACE. LOVE. LIGHT. KINDNESS in all you do. xoxo. -H

Sharing KISSES

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This is the PERFECT video to share for RAK week…I think random acts of kindness need to be shared every day, so watch this video, buy some Hershey’s kisses and share them with strangers, friends, neighbors, roommates, people who look like they need a little love…care…and SHARE.

I also thought this would be a great place to put the wonderful story of the Hershey Kiss creator, Milton S. Hershey. His story is one of hope, inspiration, perseverance and the difference one person can really make. enJOY his story.

MILTON S. HERSHEY

In addition to leaving us with America’s most iconic chocolate bar, Milton S. Hershey left behind a legacy of goodness. It’s a story of persistence, spirit, compassion, selflessness and purpose. 

Milton Hershey made his mark as a successful confectioner, philanthropist and innovator. But Milton was by no means an overnight success story, nor did his achievements come without their hardships. 

Born September 13, 1857 on a farm near Derry Church, a small Pennsylvania community, Milton Hershey was the only surviving child of Fannie and Henry Hershey. Frequent family moves interrupted his schooling and left him with a limited education. He only completed the fourth grade.

Following a four-year apprenticeship with a Lancaster candy maker, he established his first candy making business in Philadelphia. That initial effort failed as did his next two attempts in Chicago and New York. Returning to Lancaster, PA in 1883, Hershey established the Lancaster Caramel Company, which quickly became an outstanding success. It was that business which established him as a candy maker and set the stage for future accomplishments. Mr. Hershey, a man with steadfast convictions and an insatiable curiosity, turned his story from rags to riches by persevering, eventually selling his caramel company for $1 million to devote all his energies to making chocolate.

Learning About Chocolate Hershey became fascinated with German chocolate-making machinery exhibited at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. He bought the equipment for his Lancaster plant and soon began producing a variety of chocolate creations. Hershey sold the Lancaster Caramel Co. for $1 million in 1900 in order to concentrate exclusively on his chocolate business. Three years later, he returned to Derry Church to build a new factory. There he could obtain the large supplies of fresh milk needed to perfect and produce fine milk chocolate.

Excited by the potential of milk chocolate, which at that time was a Swiss luxury product, Milton Hershey determined to develop a formula for milk chocolate and market and sell it to the American public. Through trial and error he created his own formula for milk chocolate. In 1903 he began construction on what was to become the world’s largest chocolate manufacturing plant. The facility, completed in 1905, was designed to manufacture chocolate using the latest mass production techniques. Hershey’s milk chocolate quickly became the first nationally marketed product of its kind.

Using equipment purchased at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, Milton Hershey began experimenting with boiled milk, sugar and cacao beans in an effort to create affordable milk chocolate that could be mass-produced. In a few years, he perfected his recipe and by 1903 was breaking ground for a new factory in the town that bears his name.

Unlike other industrialists of his time, Milton Hershey’s vision of a company town expanded beyond the brick-and-mortar walls of his chocolate factory. He built homes, parks, schools, public transportation and infrastructure, enriching the lives of those around him. His wealth was accompanied by a profound sense of moral responsibility and benevolence.

When he and his beloved wife, Catherine, realized they could not have children, they founded a school for orphaned boys. His dream had grown far beyond acquiring wealth for his own benefit: “One is only happy in proportion as he makes others feel happy.” In 1918, long before his death, Milton Hershey endowed the school that he and Catherine started with his entire fortune.

-taken from hersheypa.com

Video of his life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp4z8o1ioJA

Hope these videos and stories brighten your day. Now, go out and buy some chocolate and SHARE SOME KISSES. xoxo

HAPPY 40

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Image40 wishes…done one at a time…HAPPY 40

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS BIRTHDAY!!

I am turning 40 this year & wanted to do something that would be memorable. I didn’t want a bunch of fan fare, gifts galore, black balloons or a big party….I thought and thought…and I thought I would like to do 40 random acts of kindness!! Then I thought it would be more fun to have those I love and care about join in and help me do 40 things for other people. So for my birthday this year (August 10th) or between now & then–I would love everyone– young and old –to pledge one (or more if you would like) RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS . And if you want (you dont have to) I would LOVE to hear about them!! Send me an email about how your experience went or take a pic, send a post comment, etc–that would be an AWESOME GIFT!

 

Here are some ideas to get you thinking…Ideas to Inspire you…and those you love… Write a love note to someone you love . Put change in a vending machine. Listen to someone who needs to talk—just listen . Do something nice for someone who is ill or needs a helpful hand (wash their dishes,cook a meal, do their laundry, take them some soup) . Buy a meal for a homeless person . When shopping let someone go ahead of you in the checkout line . Compliment a stranger . Give a book you have already read to someone who may enjoy it (leave a note inside) . Read to a child. Smile . Pick up litter at a local park or pond. Hand bottles of water out to people on a bike path . Offer a couple of hours of free babysitting to someone who needs a break . Make and give carepacks to the homeless . Give the gifts of your talent to a senior center (play the piano, sing a song, do a magic trick) . Help someone whose car has broken down (give them a ride, fix their tire) . Help someone with yard work . Make blankets for the homeless . Mentor a child . Pay the tab for someone in the restaurant you are at . Return a shopping cart . Thank your local police or fire dept. with goodies . Write a letter to someone who made a difference in your life . Visit a local animal shelter . Pick up groceries for a neighbor . Leave a nice tip . Return grocery carts . Take doughnuts to the police department . Say hello or good morning to everyone you see . Send someone a ecard . Transport someone who can’t drive .Take coworkers a special treat & share something you appreciate about them . Send or give flowers . Thank your mail carrier, stylist, teacher, principal, parent, bus driver, janitor, etc . Praise someone who needs it . donate a bag of clothes to a shelter . Take a bag of dog food to an animal shelter . Leave happy notes “to have a HAPPY day” on car windshields . Leave quarters at a laundromat . Bring in your neighbor’s garbage can…

Get out and hug, love, share, give any random act of KINDNESS and LOVE.

Cheers!! Spread the LOVE.

1 Act of Random Kindness makes a difference

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Image

Hello and hope all is well in your world!! Today I wanted to share one of my favorite weeks in the whole year…RAK (Random Acts of Kindness week). Each year the organization randomactsofkindness.org has a week that inspires people to break away from the norm and share kindness in the world. It is usually a week in February (the month of love–fitting). This year it is FEBRUARY 11th through the 17th!! So I wanted to share some ideas and getting you thinking and planning to do this with those you love. Make it a fun event—plan for it & share it with friends & family, get out and make a difference in your community, your neighborhood, your family, your world!

I was lovingly reminded that this RAK week was coming up as I was watching the sweet movie “Evan Almighty” with my little daughter. It reminded me as Morgan Freeman spelled out the words ARK…1 ACT of RANDOM KINDNESS will make a difference.

So, in the spirit of LOVE, HAPPINESS and making a DIFFERENCE, here are some thought and ideas to enjoy your RAK week…

If you have read my blog you know I have a nine-year-old daughter who is an only child and one of my greatest fears is that she is going to grow up and be selfish!! Especially after reading an article about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who was an only child and personally admitted how selfish he had been. Every red flag went up, Am I doing enough to help this little person think of others??? 

Ever since she was little we have done random acts of kindness…made brownies for the fire department, created hand made valentines for a local old folks home, handed out teddy bears to crossing guards, bought cookies for the McDonald’s employees…

I am always trying to think of ways to get our little family out of ourselves and doing something for someone else. Hopefully we are heading in the right direction, it is an ongoing, loving lesson for our lives. When we think of others, the world is better for it! Our family is better for it!

This last year (during RAK week ) was especially fun because we got others to celebrate RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) with some neighbor girls.  We made a 15 foot banner filled with kindness ideas kids could do & we hung it at their school. In the true spirit of RAK week I made a flyer and sent it to a large local email list in hopes that people would feel the giving spirit & it worked! I received a call from one of my neighbors (that I did not know very well) and she was filled with enthusiasm at the idea of RAK week!

She expressed how her 38th birthday was this particular week and that she decided she was going to take her family and do 38 random acts of kindness in celebration of her birthday!!.

Outstanding idea!

I saw her the next week at a school function and she lit up!! It was soo wonderful to see someone so excited to share in their experience. She told me how they handed out quarters to kids at a local hamburger restaurant so they could use the candy machines. They bought food for the people behind them in the drive-thru, they took a bunch of water bottles and handed them out at a local rec center…the enthusiasm was infectious. I loved it!! Then she got really quiet and she said, “but the best part of it all was that my son (who I struggle with) truly got in the spirit of giving. He is kinder today, he was writing notes to our family, he was moved more than anyone by this experience.”

That was the best part! She even said that he wanted to do the same thing for his birthday!

What a beautiful thing!!

If we can do one thing for our kids…it is to be an example of love, get out and do something random for someone else. Teach them to write thank you cards, help them each week think of some way to serve someone else. Make a dinner for someone in need, take a batch of brownies to someone you don’t know, say thank you to EVERYONE! It is truly the little things that make a big difference.

Here are some additional ideas from the RAK website and other sources:  Clean up graffiti, Donate used books to a library, Give care packs to the homeless (or a blanket), Share your talent of music with the elderly, Help someone with yard work or snow removal, Let someone go in line in front of you, Write a note of appreciation to a teacher, Mentor a child who needs a friend, Pay for a coffee for the person behind you at Starbucks, Return shopping carts, Thank your police or fire department with a fun note or treat, Write a letter or email to someone who made a difference in your life, Visit an animal shelter, Take a bag of dog or cat food to your local shelter, pick up trash at the beach or nearby nature trail or neighborhood, Send a nice note thanking a soldier, Be a designated driver, Give someone flowers, Visit someone who is sick, Collect canned food and give it to your local food bank, Donate $1 to your child’s favorite charity, Start a charity day at your work & give the money to a good cause, Help someone with their groceries, Give hugs, Leave a nice note for your local mail carrier, Thank your child’s bus driver or crossing guard, Plant a tree, Give compliments, Send something inspiring to those you have on your email list, Be a nice driver on the road, Take shorter showers this week, SMILE, Start a piggy bank for a cause, Share something yummy with coworkers, Say thank you to your school principal and office help, Tell your parents (or send a letter or email) how much you appreciate them & everything they’ve done for you, Let your staff leave a little early from work & thank them for all they do, give flowers to be delivered with meal delivery programs, Make valentine hearts for the elderly home, Give someone a “heart attack” on their door (bunch of paper hearts that say nice things), Invite someone new in the neighborhood over for dinner, Have your child take a bunch of fun stickers or suckers and hand them out when the final bell rings & remind everyone that it is RAK week, genuinely thank your waitress for doing such a good job, make and share kindness bookmarks or give them to the school library to give away, Leave a $20 in an envelope and leave it for someone in need, give freely, spread LOVE everywhere you can…

-Spread Love, Heather

–not sure who to credit the picture, but thank you.