Sometimes, all it takes to show someone kindness is a simple smile, which is exactly what schools throughout Orange County will convey to their students during the week of the Great Kindness Challenge.
From Jan. 27–31, schools will hand out checklists with various acts of kindness, challenging students to complete as many as possible before the week’s end. From saying thank you to making a new friend, the goal is to foster a culture of kindness and empower students to disseminate it within their communities.
Schools can sign up on the program’s website to receive the checklists and have their kind acts recorded. According to the website, the initiative has registered more than 1 billion acts of kindness to date from over 20 million students around the world — an incredible feat considering the movement began at just three schools in Carlsbad, California.
Though the Great Kindness Challenge hasn’t started yet, one Orange County student decided to begin a little early.
In response to the ravaging fires in Los Angeles, Lana Lee, a junior at the Orange County School of the Arts, felt compelled to help on a much larger scale by arranging a face mask drive.
“I was inspired to organize this drive because the LA fires really opened my eyes to how vulnerable so many people in our community are, especially those who lost everything to this devastating fire,” Lee said. “Watching them go through such a difficult time and having to also struggle with the smoke and poor air quality broke my heart, and I knew I couldn’t just stand by.”
Lee took to social media to rally her community and collect face masks for those in the Los Angeles area, helping protect Angelinos from the hazardous air quality. Just two days later, the drive had collected over 10,000 masks — a testament to the compassion and generosity of the community.
“Seeing our neighbors come together to help those in need has been truly inspiring,” Lee said.
She then sorted and delivered the masks to three emergency shelters in Los Angeles, while saving additional masks for OCSA’s sister school, California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley, where families have already reported losing their homes.
It’s acts of kindness like this that make a significant impact during times of crisis, but it’s also important to remember that kindness doesn’t always have to be a large undertaking. Even the smallest gesture can go a long way.