RAK day

Mark Twain once said “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

These words have never meant so much to the world as they do today, where we live in such a fast paced world that we have forgotten some of the simpler things in life, like kindness.

The Random Acts of Kindness day, also known as RAK Day, officially started in 2004 after co-founder Josh de Jong
was stuck in Auckland, New Zealand traffic one afternoon and watched some irate drivers ahead of him getting into
a bit of a road rage.

He began to think… “what would it be like if on one day every person in New Zealand was kind to a stranger?”
That was the beginning of a movement that becoming more and more popular across some nations and is
gained wide spread popularity on social media. In New Zealand, on September 1st , the whole country comes
together to celebrate this very important day. This is also a great example of how one person CAN make a
difference…
Being kind is not difficult or very time consuming so why aren’t we all being kinder to each other? There are so
many small actions any of us can do at any given time to be kind to another. We shouldn’t need to have a
designated day to be kind to ourselves and others, it should part of our daily lives. In New Zealand you can even
download and print the fun RAK cards that you can leave with messages and gifts anywhere.

Here are some of our favourites:
Compliment a stranger
Write a note to someone telling them how much you appreciate them
Let someone go ahead of you in line
Leave a nice message on a stranger’s car
Write a card to someone overseas or an elderly person in your community centre
Drop off flowers on someone’s desk
Donate blood
Buy extra food with your shopping and drop it off at a food bank
Wash someone else’s car
Pay the bus fare for the passenger behind you
Pay for a cup of coffee to the person in line behind you
Leave a thank you note for someone who served you that day, like the table waiter.
Leave books you no longer need in public places for others to pick up
Have your wedding guests donate to your favourite charity in lieu of wedding gifts