What is Kindness 365?

You may have heard about Kindness 365 at ONE Federal Credit Union, but do you know the mission of the program? It may seem self-explanatory, spreading kindness every day. But the sentiment of Kindness 365 goes beyond that. Back in January, our team made a commitment to ‘Making Kindness the Norm’ within the workplace, in our daily lives, and to others, every day. The importance of making kindness the norm is not only to uplift others but us as well.

As CEO, Heather Clancy-Young put it, “What if we started being intentional about not only noticing and absorbing acts of kindness when they happen to us but creating those moments for others? What if we made it a point to go slightly outside of our comfort zone at least once a day to make someone smile? To share a compliment with a co-worker or a friend? To reach out to a family member we haven’t spoken to in a while? What if we stopped thinking about them as random acts of kindness and started thinking about them as intentional acts of kindness?

There are things we do every single day with intention, yet we don’t even think about them. We wake up, take a shower, brush our teeth, get dressed, drive to work... all part of our invisible routine. What if we added a moment of kindness to our invisible routine? What if we woke up and as we turn the alarm off, we immediately sent an uplifting text message to our friend? Or during the morning commute, what if we let that guy merge into traffic with a wave and a smile instead of feeling upset or slighted?

I invite you to look for ways to make kindness the norm in your daily life. Begin building a new routine which means including intentional moments of kindness, laughter, and delight. It also means taking a moment to enjoy and recognize when those things are happening.”

Upon introducing Kindness 365 to our membership, we found that the best way to invite our members to participate in acts of kindness is by connecting them with community missions. Over the last quarter, we have seen the positive impact our monthly Kindness 365 mission has made in the community. So far, our membership has donated over two hundred books to 5 local organizations, a plethora of essential items to Hayden House, and more to come this April with donations being collected for local animal shelters.

Kindness is powerful in moving people to achieve greater things, whether you enact kindness on one person, an organization, or your community. It sparks positivity, which carries on from one person to the next. With that in mind, consider today how you can make a positive impact with kindness each new day. Whether big or small, every act of kindness matters.

FEBRUARY - BOOK DONATIONS

In celebration of Children’s Literacy month and Dr. Seuss week, we decided to gather books for daycares and other organizations. Our membership ended up donating over two hundred childrens and adult books for our cause! Distributions were made to Keystone Day Care, Cornerstone Day Care, Stoneboro Day Care, French Creek Christian Childcare, and The Wesbury Foundation! This project brought a lot of good to the forefront, not only for the people receiving books but for our members, too! Donors were able to sustainably recycle the books they no longer needed, and our youth and senior homes in the community received new stories to read!

MARCH - HOMELESS SHELTERS

Homelessness is one of the greatest challenges anyone may face in their lifetime. We want families and individuals in our community to thrive, so extending kindness to these groups is incredibly important. We decided to gather donations of essential items, which many local shelters are in constant need of such as toiletries & hygiene products, and items like socks, undergarments, and pillows. After reviewing local shelters in need, we came across Hayden House, a home for recovering women. Upon our visit to Hayden House to donate the items received from our membership, John Hartnett filled us in on the need for a recovery home in Crawford County. There are obstacles they currently face while working to get the house itself into a comfortable living condition, the largest concern being a lack of community involvement. They rely on volunteer work to get the house up-to-date, and recently have acquired help from tradesmen such as electricians and plumbers. It takes a lot of work to make a house a safe, clean, warm, and trauma-informed environment. From building and maintaining, to structuring programs to help each woman grow in a well-equipped space.

Want to volunteer your time and skills? Hayden House is open to volunteers Saturdays and Sundays from 9am-1pm.

You can learn more about Hayden House here: https://nomnwpa.org/home/