About KindActs

• Why Kindness
• Our Story
• Current Initiatives
• A Track Record of Results
• KindActs Facts

Why Kindness

Far from being a luxury item, kindness is essential to our effectiveness as a society. Our society is built on a foundation of relationships, which connect individuals, families, work environments, communities, countries and our global community. From the courtroom to the battle field, relationship lies at the heart of our challenges as well as, our solutions. The way we affect each other relates to the quality of our interactions and ultimately determines the well being and success of our society.
The challenge and the opportunity...Read more here.

Our Story - A Kinder World, One Act at a Time

In 1998 Co-Founders Brock Tully and Nadine Marshall, together with a very enthusiastic team, embarked on a journey to make this a kinder world, one act at a time. Starting with a simple random acts of kindness campaign and a belief in the powerful rippling effect of kindness, they set out on the streets of Vancouver hoping to touch hearts through kind acts and, in turn, inspire the recipients of their acts to "pay it forward" and create their own ripples of kindness.

Ripples it created… The Vancouver team was soon joined by the Victoria Kindness Group and Abbotsford's Kindness is Cool Team to create the KindActs Network Association of B.C. non-profit Society. KindActs is now entering its 10th year of service and has enjoyed an inspiring track record of results, including the millennium Cycling for Kindness project - an 18,000-kilometre journey to join and touch hearts around North America. Read our Track Record of Results for details.

Current Initiatives

KindActs' current focus is on three feature initiatives: the Invest in a Kinder World Coin-spiracy , the World Kindness Concert, and the One of a KIND Stories event.

The Coin-spiracy, created in 2002 by Nadine Marshall and Gail Smit, is a campaign developed for schools and youth groups to raise awareness for how kind acts can create positive global change. The campaign revolves around the launch and tracking of a kindness coin called a UNI. To participate, the 'Coinholder' commits 3 kind acts: one for self, the environment and another. Then, the coin is passed on to the recipient of the kind act who in turn commits the 3 kind acts and passes it on. As each UNI is uniquely coded, the coin's amazing kindness adventures can be tracked on the Coin-spiracy web site at www.investinakinderworld.com.

Between November 2002 and June 2007, over 207 UNI Coins have been invested in kind action resulting in an estimated 282,383 hours invested in service and over $270,143 raised for communities in need locally as well as in 45 countries around the globe. To accommodate expanding interest and ongoing demand for the program, as well as various school/youth groups' budgets, a Coin-spiracy "How To" Kit was developed in 2006 containing all the tools necessary to launch a Coin-spiracy.Schools and youth groups can now register for the Coin-spiracy year-round. Find out more here.

The World Kindness Concert, produced by Brock Tully, is a yearly inspirational event featuring talented local artists from a variety of cultures and influences as well as a multi-media presentation highlighting kindness stories from around the world. The first concert, hosted in 2001, was such a heartwarming success that it has since grown into a yearly tradition with further concerts taking place in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Join us on November 19th and 20th, 2007 for the 7th annual World Kindness Concert. Read the details here.

The One of a KIND Stories, previously titled "Clam Chowder for the Soul", is an inspirational event featuring a diverse group of speakers and musicians who share their experiences and perform for guests.For more information, visit www.oneofakindstories.com.

A Track Record of Results

• Ride Kind/Drive Kind (1996, 2000): A joint initiative of the Victoria Kindness Group, ICBC and BC Transit in recognition of the direct relationship between kindness, courtesy and road safety... Elementary children's artwork depicting kindness were displayed on over 210 buses and seen by as many as 70,000 bus riders and an even greater number of auto-drivers daily.
• Porridge for the Soul:(1998 - 2003) A unique and uplifting monthly breakfast gathering that mixes an inspiring keynote speaker with an opportunity to connect and network with like-minded individuals interested in creating positive change in their communities and workplaces. Since its Vancouver launch in 1998, Porridge raised the spirit of thousands of people in its 5 years of operation, as well as raising much needed funds for KindActs.
• Cycling for Kindness 2000: An 18,000-kilometre journey to join and touch hearts around North America. After 205 days on the road, the Team reached millions of people with the important message of kindness through conferences, presentations to schools and businesses and over 210 media interviews.
• The Abbotsford Kindness is Cool Canada Day Parade Float (2000 - 2004): The youth-focused Kindness is Cool Team launched a float at the Canada Day 2000 Parade in Abbotsford to raise awareness for kindness. They not only won the hearts of 10,000 spectators but also won first prize in their category and were so well received that they returned for four more runs - 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004!
• The Kindness to Colleagues™ Program: A proactive program aimed at countering the increasing and often hidden violence in the workplace. Coupled with a determination to put the human back in human resources, this program produced outstanding results including more positive employee relations, decreased stress claims and an overall sense of a more caring employer. (In 2006 this program was relaunched as The Business of Kindness. Find our more about this amazing resource by Olivia McIvor.)