Groups and Families Rose to the Challenge

In addition to Kids for Peace, a wide range of other groups were involved in both promoting and participating in The Great Kindness Challenge. As noted in an earlier post, Kids Care Clubs promoted the Challenge to its 1,800 chapters worldwide. One of them prepared a special dinner for cancer survivors. A group of Girl Scouts delivered treats to local fire stations and their public library. One YMCA involved all 250 of its campers in acts of kindness. A first-grade teacher made it a class project for her 20 students. Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, church groups and many other organizations also took part.

Many families also found The Great Kindness Challenge to be a great way to spend time together that Saturday, if not also a way to strengthen familial bonds by working together in a common cause. In one of our favorite comments on our Facebook Fan Page, one family said it was their “favorite event of the year.”

Thanks to everyone involved for making this event so special.

We Did It!

Thank you all so much for supporting The Great Kindness Challenge and helping us rock the world with kindness on August 8. Based on the reports we have received so far, The Great Kindness Challenge was celebrated in at least 48 US states and in at least 35 countries, spanning every continent except Antarctica.

We can't wait to read your stories and see your photos and videos. Please share them with The Great Kindness Challenge community by posting them on the "Just Fans" wall of our Facebook Fan Page. Just click the Facebook link on the GKC website. In the coming days we'll post some highlights from the big day, so stay tuned.

To acknowledge and thank each of our participants, we created a special Certificate of Kindness. Just visit our website to download and print your free copy.

Thanks again for making August 8, 2009 such a special day. Thanks to support from people like you, youth around the globe touched countless lives with so many, many gifts of kindness. Imagine how our world was changed.

Volunteers Make It Happen

Much of our success in promoting The Great Kindness Challenge is
thanks to a terrific group of 10 interns and volunteers. They have
dedicated many hours over the past couple of months, doing things like
calling/emailing other youth organizations to encourage their
participation, spreading the word via Facebook and Twitter, and
posting The Great Kindness Challenge on all sorts of events-related
websites and newsletters.

Beyond that, they have provided tons of invaluable feedback, advice
and suggestions. Some of our best ideas have either come from or been
shaped by this bright, hard-working and big-hearted team of
volunteers.

“I decided to volunteer because I thought this is an event that can
touch people's hearts,” says one intern, Karen He. “I feel like I'm
helping make this amazing cooperative event come true by just being a
part of it. It's neat how all the work gets divided into sections and
groups of people do different things to help it succeed.”

Another, Melanie Slocum, says “I have gained a new view of the world;
I learned that there are others out there who care about our world as
much as I do, which is all the comfort a person needs.”

And speaking of other people out there, thanks also to the many people
who have contacted us via email to offer their help and/or to tell us
how they’ve volunteered to help promote The Great Kindness Challenge.
People whom we’ve never met have distributed flyers at their
workplace, spoken about it at their church, organized group acts of
kindness and spread the word in countless other ways.

Thanks to our terrific team of 10, and our large, extended family of
supporters, for making The Great Kindness Challenge such a huge event,
spreading kindness around the world.

GKC Now in 25 Countries, 6 Continents

Just one year ago, the first Great Kindness Challenge was held among local Kids for Peace chapters in San Diego. This year, we decided to share this joyful event with the world. And boy are we thrilled to see how the world has received it!

Based on who’s been downloading the checklist so far, we expect to have participants in at least 25 countries, spanning 6 continents। They are Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, Guam, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Romania, Singapore, Turkey, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the United Kingdom and the United States.

There are still plenty of countries to cover. And surely this list will grow over the next few days, thanks to all of you helping spread the word. If anyone knows of a youth expedition in Antarctica this weekend, please let us know. It’d be great to get that 7th continent!

Kids Care Clubs Promotes GKC

We’re delighted to be joined by Kids Care Clubs as a key partner in promoting The Great Kindness Challenge. A part of the HandsOn Network, they provide opportunities for elementary and middle school children to develop compassion and inspire a spirit of volunteering.

Kids Care Clubs recently sent a special email about The Great Kindness Challenge to their 1,800+ clubs worldwide, which involve more than 100,000 children! Plus, they have featured the Challenge in their August newsletter and on their home page. See it here: www.kidscare.org.

This is a big help in reaching our goal of at least one million participants. We are so grateful to have their support. Thank you, Kids Care Clubs!