Growing up, we had a May Day tradition of
making May Day baskets and giving them to people. The baskets (or plastic cups) would be
decorated filled with popcorn, chocolate, sweets and other goodies. To follow the real tradition, you would leave
them on people’s door steps, ring the doorbell, and run away, so they wouldn’t
know who it was from. It is a fun
tradition that I haven’t thought about for years.
Last week while preparing for today’s
Girls Program, I remembered the May Day baskets and our random acts of
kindness. Along with my volunteers, we
decided to do random acts of kindness at the Kennedy Centre (local mall). Each of the girls arrived at our project
centre ready for our “mystery” trip. The
volunteers and I explained that we would be giving out flowers with wee notes
saying “You are a recipient of RAOK
(Random Act of Kindness): ‘Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come
to you without leaving happier.’ –Mother Teresa. ” We talked about the rippling affects of
kindness and how it can change lives like in the movie Pay it Forward. After the explanation, we loaded the bus to
head to the Kennedy Centre. A mixture of
excitement and nervousness filled the girls.
After breaking up into pairs in the
Kennedy Centre car park, we headed into the centre armed with flowers and
kindness. Walking around the Centre, I
saw not only flowers spreading around, but also kind words and smiles. Near the end of a long week, it often can be
the little things that make all the difference. “You really brightened my day,”
said one lady. Some of our girls were
touched by a man they gave a flower to then gave it to a little girl. It felt good to do something kind with no
hidden motive behind it. We weren’t
trying to recruit or raise money for anything even though some offered us money
for charity. Our only motive was to
share kindness and brighten someone’s day.
I am so proud of our girls today. They all stepped out of their comfort zones
to share kindness with others. They
built new relationships partnering with other girls they didn’t know well. Walking around the Kennedy Centre where they
often shop, they had a different agenda- an agenda to spread kindness and start
a rippling effect to those around them.
The truth is I think the ripples are starting within them as well. I hope the ripples continue by sharing
kindness tomorrow.
