Kindness for Japan

I realize that I am, perhaps, a bit late to jump on the Japan bandwagon. What more can possibly be said? Some of my favourite bloggers have posted thoughts and images that are eloquent and moving. For example, my blogging hero, David Lebovitz shared this post with beautiful images.

However, last weekend when I answered a knock at the door, I was surprised to find our neighbour's two young daughters. They were selling origami cranes, in an effort to raise money for Japan. Paper cranes that they themselves had made. The story of the origami crane is incredibly inspiring, and under the circumstances so apropos. I was impressed and encouraged by their effort to make a difference, their creativity, and their kindness. As it turns out their Sensei is from Japan, and so their dojo decided to do something to help. But I think they can tell their story so much better than I can......

Making Japanese cranes – raising money for the earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan

Our Mom and Dad told us about the horrible thing that happened in Japan. They showed us internet pictures of what happened to Japan after the earthquake and the tsunami. People dying, losing their homes and belongings, being separated from their families – what can we do to help being so far away from Japan? We belong to a karate school and our Japanese sensei sent a newsletter on Friday morning during our March break. Our dojo was going to make a thousand cranes and sell them at two dollars each to raise money for the Red Cross in Japan.

We know how to make cranes and enjoy making them. We made lots of cranes that Friday and started selling them in our neighbourhood that weekend. We did not tell people how much the cranes were and told them to give us whatever they want to pay for them. Many neighbours were happy in seeing the cranes (we made the cranes that can flap their wings) and gave us lots of money and would only take a few cranes. One the first day within one hour we sold 29 cranes and made $79. We went home and made more colourful cranes and sold more cranes the next day. We just went around our neighbourhood during one weekend, no more than two hours going door to door and made $225 for 50 cranes. We were very impressed and excited. Many people told us that we are doing a good job raising money for Japan. We took more cranes to our dojo on the Monday after March break. There we learned a different way to make cranes (these cranes are not able to flap their wings). These cranes were threaded onto a string which has a sign on the bottom saying “I Japan” on the front and has Japanese writing on the back. So we taught our friends how to make cranes so that they can sell them in their neighbourhoods.

We also went to our principal in school to see if we could sell cranes there. She agreed, but the moneywould not go through our dojo, but go directly to the Red Cross. We made a box with the Japanese Flag on top and taped letters on the side of the flag saying “Support Japan” and put 60 cranes into the box. Then our neighbour asked us to send in a picture of us and the cranes so that she can put it onto her blog.We hope with all the cranes and making people aware of the suffering that is going on in Japan, we will make a difference.

from Sonja and Katja




Raising children with empathy and compassion - now that's really kind.

Secret Agents and Superheroes

Ingenuity has always fascinated me. Kindness, of course, is one of my passions. So, when you combine the two, as they are in Laura Miller, I become almost incoherent with excitement. Seriously, it's what I imagine a fix must be like for addict. I get jittery, my mind races with ideas, I'm overwhelmed by all the potential for good. Right now, I'm in the middle of a fix I've just discovered...so bear with me as I try to channel my thoughts coherently.

It started with an article I found about a pre-school teacher at Missoula Community School in Missoula, Montana, who has her students don capes and become 'superheroes of kindness'. WOW. What better superhero could there be? The children perform weekly gestures of kindness in their community, that have inspired adults to become superheroes of kindness as well. (Kindness has that power doesn't it.) Apparently, Krystal Burns, the teacher of the superheroes of kindness, was inspired by Secret Agent L. (aka Laura Miller).

Secret Agent L, from Pittsburgh, anonymously performs acts of kindness throughout her community, and then blogs about them - sound familiar? (except for the anonymous part :) She now has affiliated agents all over the world helping her to perform missions that change the world we live in. She calls them missions, I call them daks. I think there is a great connection here. I think Secret Agent L needs some dakbands. So although we don't have secret agents, we do have dakscouts. And my dakscout is going to send some dakbands to Secret Agent L., and the superheroes of kindness at Missoula Community School.

One thing is becoming clear, as my adrenalin starts to find a normal level, I need to get daks on the twitter bandwagon!!

Stay tuned for updates on our new and improved map, our new dakbands (arriving early next week) and some exciting new projects I'll soon reveal!

Advent

I hesitate to share this, since my first attempt to blog everyday for a continuous month took me about six weeks. Yet, I am inspired by the season of Advent, the first of December and the fact that today I addressed all the teachers at a local high-school that is implementing the dakbands. I want to model for them the possibilities I speak about. Sooooo........

I am going to try and give away a pair of dakbands everyday between now and Christmas, and share the story here. I've been contemplating the idea for a few days, but was afraid that I would fail as miserably as my attempt to simply blog everyday. Yet once I made the emotional commitment the Law of Attraction kicked into high gear and I became a kindness magnet.

To start the day, I had to do some banking - with my four year old in tow. As you can imagine, this is never really the best scenario because while I am talking with the teller, swiping cards, punching in numbers and trying to keep all the business and personal accounts straight, Garrett is usually hanging off my leg, trying to help me push the buttons and generally distracting me by entertaining everybody in line. Today he was particularly impressed with all the red and white balloons that were decorating the teller area. Somewhat manipulatively he began to share with the girls, and anyone else who could hear, how much he really like those balloons. He left with a beautiful red balloon, on a stick no less, that he carried around for the rest of the morning - until it escaped while he was getting out of the car at Starbucks. I gave a whole set of pink daks to the girls. (and by the way, the Scotia bank at Walkers Line and New Street, in Burlington is the BEST!)

We walked into Starbucks, my daughter, her best friend, myself and Garrett, hoping for a moment to sit down and enjoy a delicious decaf, non-fat, half-sweet, no-whip, peppermint mocha (peppermint hot chocolate for the little guy who just lost his balloon). But the only place left to sit was a table for two....we all stood around awkwardly with our hot drinks, until a very kind gentleman got up from the corner where he was sitting alone with four cozy chairs, and he moved to the small table. I gave him two bands as we left.

If that wasn't enough kindness for one day.....while I was presenting at the high-school this afternoon, one of the teachers (who opened the meeting with a beautiful prayer!) shared her agenda with me and was just heartwarmingly kind. I used her as my part of my demonstration and gave her a pair of bands.

I think I'll start wearing red and green bands in recognition of the season, and I'll have to wear an arm full if this keeps up!

Andre Agassi

As much as I do enjoy tennis, this isn't about sport today. It is about a man with an incredible vision.

This year marked the first graduation for students attending the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy:

"The Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy (AACPA) is a model charter school whose goal is to offer academic programs designed to enhance a child's character, respect, motivation and self-discipline. Located in the heart of Las Vegas' most at-risk neighborhood, AACPA was created specifically to improve skill levels and combat lowered academic expectations while creating a climate of hope among this community's most challenged children. Advanced technology, smaller class sizes and extended school hours are just some of the practices the AACPA utilizes to achieve a higher standard of education."

Every single student in the graduating class has been accepted to college. Every single one.

At an award ceremony last week, the U.S. Open celebrated Agassi's contribution to humanity. During his speech he quoted one of the commencement speakers,"She said that some who are short-sighted have labeled us as at-risk," Agassi said. "She said that was right. That we are at-risk. At risk of excellence."

You can read the entire article from the Los Angeles Times here.

Day 15 of 31 (yes I am pretending that I have not missed any postings)

Trick or Treat!

This post is like Halloween, full of goodies. I have pictures, newspaper articles and messages from parents who attended the Cinderella Event with their daughters. I have to admit to some hording, thinking that I have a virtual vault of blog posts with all this material, but truth is I'm having a hard time finding time to unlock the vault :) So I'm going back to my original analogy and dumping all the goodies into the trick-or-treat bag. (that way the vault is empty and I don't feel guilty! - there is method to my madness)

First of all I want to share a wonderful article that appeared in the Oakville Beaver a few days before our event. Kara is on the right, I am on the left. (I'm not sure why we both look like we have double chins - cause we don't - really).

Next, I've created another slide show with pictures that Sandy Middleton provided (Sandy was one of our jewelry managers - note all the pictures of the beautiful jewelry that was donated!).




Finally I've saved the best for last - it's kind of like digging into that trick-or treat bag and finding one more Kit Kat bar (or in this case TWO because there are two very special notes to share!!) Last week a friend dropped off the Letters to the Editor page from The Toronto Sun. I've been meaning to scan it and post it to our site, but I'm glad I never got around to it because yesterday a friend forwarded this email to me (which was forwarded to her from someone else......you get the idea....)

Subject: Cinderella Story - success...

Just read this letter in today's paper! Sounds like this Cinderella Story was a success based on this thank you note?! Brings to mind that these acts of kindness not only help and impress the girl who receives the outfit, but their entire family...No doubt understanding how meaningful this is, these folks who received the gift will 'pass it (the attitude) forward' when they have the opportunity...   Ann


WONDERFUL GENEROSITY

Last week, my daughter brought home a notice from school about an event called "A Cinderella Story," where young girls who could not necessarily afford a dress could find something to wear for their upcoming grads. My daughter is in Grade 8 and I was wondering how to afford the cost of a new dress, etc., with all the other day to day expenses already weighing me down. This notice was welcome news. On arrival and as we got to the front of the line, I was advised the dresses were not just reduced in cost, but were free. Not only that, but each young lady had a personal shopper to help her find the right dress, and they were also able to get shoes, a purse, some jewelry, a wrap/shawl and some make-up as well, all free. My daughter was overwhelmed, as was I, by the generosity of the donors of these items, and the time and effort involved by all those volunteers who made it possible. I want to thank everyone involved in this endeavour and all the people involved in "Random Acts of Kindness". It is comforting to know that in times of financial hardship, there are people and companies so willing to give. My daughter is ecstatic about the outfit she chose and I am grateful beyond words.

Andrew Jackson Brampton

THANKS ANDREW! We really appreciate that you took the time to acknowledge how the event touched you and your daughter. She looked like a princess!!

THANKS ANNE for that insight - that is EXACTLY our hope!!

Then today I received this note, also forwarded to me.........Trick-or-Treat. (You'll have to come back to see this note, I'm waiting for the individual's permission before posting it)

Permission granted:

My daughter and I recently attended your dress giveaway for girls who needed prom or graduation dresses. After spending an absolutely delightful afternoon finding a dress, we enjoyed watching the pleasure on other girls faces as they left with their treasures. The dress my daughter found was exactly what she wanted but was a little too small but I felt someone could alter it. My mother in law has never been very close to our family for a variety of reason but she a whiz with a needle and thread. The joy on my childs face as the dress was transformed into perfect fit is priceless. However the ultimate prize was the fact that my daughter asked her grandmother to alter the dress and has showed such thankfullness that the relationship with my husbands mother has permantly changed for the better. Not bad for one little dress that cost so little but has had huge rewards.
Thank you for organizing this event and please know the dress will be return to you next year along with half a dozen others looking for a new home.

WOW - THANK-YOU for sharing the story of your family's healing. Kindness is always the first step to peace!


Kara and I know from our volunteers how moved they were by the experience, but I really hope that letters and notes such as these affirm the power of kindness to change lives and build community!

Banana Bread and Kindness

Yesterday I spent most of my morning with a grade 7 class at Bowmore P.S. in Toronto. A student contacted me a few months ago, following my interview on CBC Radio (see podcasts). She told me about an audio documentary that she was working on and asked if she could interview me. I was flattered and very curious about her project.

With my own personal videographer in tow (my brother-in-law) - I wanted to capture this interview, and the class presentation I offered to do, for posterity (and with some artful editing a YouTube video perhaps!). Tim and I made the drive from Burlington to Toronto under sunny skies, that hinted at today's warmth, in record time because the QEW traffic gods must have been happy about the weather as well - I can't find any other reason to explain the absence of traffic at 9:00 am on a weekday! Both of us were curious about the young woman, the project and her classmates response to dakbands. Let me just say that even if the traffic gods had been truculent it would have been worth the trip.

Young Emily was articulate, informed, self confident and courteous. The interview was professional and fun. Her teacher was gracious, enthusiastic and encouraging, while all her classmates impressed us with their attentiveness and enthusiasm. During the presentation to the class I happened to mention that I have not received a dakband from someone and I am very much looking forward to the day when I do receive my first band. I left the school with eight dakbands, some great video and a grateful heart.

I don't want to give away any details about Emily's project because I have invited her to write a post about it in her own words. But I'll give you hint.....it involves banana bread and kindness.

WOW, Schools!

My lack of posting last week was as much due to my busy dak event schedule as it was to the nasty virus that ravaged my entire body. I'll spare you the details of the viral war and wow you with the scoop on all the school activities.

I am so thrilled with the momentum of the dakband project within the school system. This past, November 17th to 21st, was National Bullying Awareness Week in Canada. Elementary and secondary schools within the Halton Catholic School Board recognized the importance of this occasion with a variety of activities and events designed to increase awareness and empathy of students, teachers and families. We are proud to share that two local secondary schools, Notre Dame and St. Ignatius of Layola, distributed dakbands to their prefects and students as part of their anti-bullying campaigns! I was invited to both schools to talk with the prefects about the bands and how by simply wearing them we are reminded of a higher purpose and the conscious choices we make in response to others. I believe it is wiser and more effective to encourage kindness, than to spend our energy trying to 'prevent' bullying.

Finally at the end of week the Halton Catholic School Board hosted it's second annual 'Be the Change' conference. Two student leaders from each school were invited to the conference. Throughout the day, in groups of 12/13, the students rotated through 6 stations. Each station featured activities that taught them the importance and significance of their roles within their school and community in relationship to aspects of bullying prevention. Kara and I hosted one of these stations, and spoke to the students and teachers about the ability of kindness to change how we live in our communities. It was absolutely amazing to see their reactions to the dakbands, students and teachers alike. We had some administrators who told us that this was the most awesome project they had EVER seen. All the schools left with information on how to implement the dakband project into their school community.

As the person who approves stories before they are posted to the site I can say with great delight and pride that the students at these schools have used the bands with integrity and empathy! I have listed below some band numbers for you to look up, so you can see the simplicity and value and meaning behind the deliberate acts of kindness that these students have shared.

Please go to our track your dak page:

#29636 (WOW)
#29798 (teacher appreciation)
#31306 (friendship)
By clicking on the 'organization' tab on the track your dak page and choosing either of these schools, you can see all the stories they have registered.

I am so encouraged by the vision of a kinder, more humane, community these students and schools have!

More to come, the next few days are filled with exciting events!!

Teacher Interview

Today we have an interview with Linda Kiefer, a Montessori teacher from Illinois. Although Linda and I have never met face to face, I feel like we know each other very well. We have a 'virtual' friendship kindled by the dakband project but anchored in Linda's complete absence of technical expertise (she contacted me initially to tell me she could not register the bands she had purchased - and she purchased a ton of them!), and my obsessive need to ensure that every band and story is in fact registered! There were a few evenings when I was tempted to jump on a plane and fly down to Illinois to register all the bands myself.

Through all this I have been moved by Linda's perseverance and commitment to the project. Despite the difficulties, she had a vision that was bigger than the problems. Here is what she has to share with us:

Interview Questions:

1. Linda can you tell me a little about yourself: what grade you teach, how long you’ve been a teacher, where you teach, children, interests....
I'm one of those people who's always going to be in school. I have a Master's in Speech and Language Pathology, a year of post-grad work (which would only have made it easier to work grant to grant), worked in California for a few years was a long-term sub at Michigan School for the Blind, and then switched totally to Medicine for about 8 years. I worked as a Surgical Physician's Assistant for many years in Baltimore, MD until after the birth of my second child, when I decided to be a full-time Mom.I still dream of another Master's that marries Montessori with Special Ed. As it stands, I'm Montessori certified for grades 1-6 (with non-readers to those at the 10th grade level, and those doing rudimentary addition all the way to algebra).

As life would have it, times changed and I found myself going back to school and being a single Mom. I had one multiply impaired son, and another with ADD; it was time to see what I could do that used my backgrounds, but kept me close to the boys. Thus I found Montessori, and all it entails, including allowing children to do everything that they're able to do, and encouraging a life of peace and conflict resolution.


2. How did you learn about the dakbands, and what was your initial impression?
In my continuous studying, I came across TRIBES, recalled that one of my sons had been in it quite successfully, and I was off and looking for more information. Last Spring, as I was planning for my class for this year, I came across dakbands and the whole concept of changing the way children see their world by changing how they live it. I was psyched and wanted to start it then, but decided to wait until this fall.

3. Who did you buy the bands for and why?
Initially, I decided to use our class (one of two first to third grade classes), and the newly established Middle School (4 kids), along with all Elementary Staff and the Middle School Teacher. I chose to kick it off with a food drive for the local food pantry, rewarding children who brought something in, with their first pair of dakbands. First I had to explain the difference between "random" acts of kindness and sincerely directed "deliberate" acts of kindness. What I thought was going to be a hard and even impossible task, the children took to as though they always knew it deep down, and simply needed to have it brought to the surface. I'm so proud of them! These children, aged 6-9, knew more about kindness than many adults that I know.

4.Can you tell me why you feel the dakbands are an important tool for kids/families?
No longer do I find the "tattling" or looking for differences, but I find the bands have brought us closer together as a team and as classes (it's spilled over to adults and other Elementary classes!), and made teaching so much more pleasant. Sometimes it's been my roughest gems that have the more tender hearts and are willing to share their bands and tell others what they saw. We meet several times during the day, reviewing the schedules, but also reviewing good times and positive behaviors. I'm so very proud of these young people, carrying forward their new-found ways of Being, which is what it's become.


5. How have the children in your class responded to the bands.
They were taught how to register their bands, and a letter went out to parents explaining the concept, but these children actually couldn't *wait* to hand off their bands when they saw good things happening. They knew that they could follow their bands if they registered them, but excitement overcame all and I was amazed at the things they wanted to recognize in another

6. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I gave a set to my youngest son this weekend as he helped a grocery store stock boy with some runaway carts, not expecting anything in return, just knowing it was the right thing to do. He stood stock still for a moment, then asked quietly,"These are for *me*?". I smiled and hugged him and said they most certainly were--and they were his to pass on to other people that he saw doing genuine acts of kindness, with nothing expected in return. He stared at me, then excitedly returned an "Oh!", as though a light bulb had just gone off. What a grand sight to see.

That's what keeps me going on tough days; I know that we're making a difference in the way these children see their world now, thanks to a few wristbands and kindness from fellow students. I hope that this goes on all year--I'll buy more if I need to! If we can't change the children, how in the world can we change what we want our future to be?

Thanks for helping to get it moving in all of our classes, Elaine. I really think this is going to create a change in our future.

Talk about touching a life by teaching....


Please remember to share a story for our giveaway.

Please see the story attached to band #38738.

School Projects

When Kara and I began this project we each had a vision for specific aspects of community and how the dakband project could be adopted and influence different areas of our lives. Given our backgrounds it isn't surprising that Kara has a great understanding and passion for the corporate and special event world, with her advertising expertise. While I have a real devotion to the school and sport domains because of my history with Justplay. It has been amazing to work with people in all of these areas and to see the enthusiasm and support that the dakbands receive in such different environments. Although, I think it's important to mention that the great thing about dakbands is that they connect different social spheres.

So far for the month of November we have two very awesome school projects that involve the dakbands. One is an anti bullying project hosted by the Halton Catholic School Board called, 'Be the Change'. Kara and I will be working with groups of students throughout the day teaching them about the dakbands and the importance of deliberate acts of kindness. The other exciting news is that a local high school has purchased bands for all their students - WOW! We can't wait to see the ripples of change, and the stories from all these bands as they spread from the school, into homes and our community, and eventually around the world. We'll be inviting students and teachers from the school to write some posts for us, so stay tuned. Some time this week we should also have our first interview posted. It is with a teacher from Illinois, who bought bands for her entire class and has been so moved by the response of her students and their families that she emailed me to share her story. Now I want to share it with you.

Before I forget PLEASE go to our track your dak page and check out our new filters. Click on the orange 'Click for Advanced Selectors'. By choosing one of the selectors you can track bands by how far they've traveled, how many communities they've through and how many stories are attached to them - Can you say geography lesson all you school teachers out there!

Check out band #83494, and make sure you zoom the map almost all the way out so you can see where this band started and where it traveled to!

This week we are inviting you to tell us who we should send some dakbands to, on your behalf. And why. We'll feature the winning story/comments on a future blog, perhaps even do an interview. Contest will close at midnight Friday.