The following is reprinted from dogreatstuff.com
Perform random acts that make the world a better place.
Make someone happy ... Give someone a hand ... Share your time with people who need it ... Do a favor just for the sake of it. There are a million and one ways for each one of us to contribute to our community every day. You have the power to make the world better! Use your imagination!
- Give a lottery ticket to a stranger.
- Compliment a stranger sincerely.
- Handwrite more letters or cards.
- Return shopping carts to the store.
- Write a thank you note to someone.
- Buy biscuits for your neighbor's dog.
- Treat your local police officer to coffee.
- Drive a neighbor without a car to the market.
- Take someone to the mountains for the day.
- Treat someone to a movie and buy the popcorn.
- Include a note or joke in your child's backpack.
- Shovel your neighbor's sidewalk or mow their lawn.
- Hug your dog, stroke your cat and feed your fish.
- Put a quarter in a parking meter that has expired.
- Send someone a small gift anonymously.
- Buy a subscription to your favorite magazine for a friend.
- Write something nice about the waiter or waitress on the back of your bill.
- Hold the door of the train or bus for someone rushing to catch it.
- Give your parking spot to someone weekends when you aren't using it.
- When you see something that is perfect for someone you know, buy it for them, even if it isn't Christmas or their birthday.
- Pass on to someone else an article or a book that really touched you.
- Help someone start their car when it has stalled.
- Recommend someone whom you may perceive as a competitor.
- Write a note of appreciation to your mailman or milkman.
- Put little notes in someone's dresser drawers that will brighten up their day
- Help someone find something they have lost.
- Give up your place in line at the grocery store to the person with just one item.
- Donate one hour of your time if you offer a service for a living, or one product, or one seminar, or one class, or just one of whatever it is that you do as a gift to someone else.
- Invite someone who is alone over for Easter or Thanksgiving or just Sunday dinner.
- Pass on information you receive in the mail for things or events that you think another person might be able to use, instead of throwing them away.
- Share a comic strip or something funny with someone else.
- Put a chocolate on someone's pillow.
- When visiting in a hospital, spend a few minutes with someone who has no visitors.
- Write someone who has just received sad news, a note of encouragement.
- Adopt a senior citizen or grandparent.
- Make copies of this page and give to all your friends.
- Bring your pet to a nursing home for a visit
- Leave a muffin or handmade note of thanks for your garbage collection person or newspaper delivery person
- Help people load their groceries into their cars or, if it's raining, hold their umbrella
- Tell your boss that he or she does a great job
- Plant some wildflowers along the roadside
- Pick up trash or pull some weeds in your neighborhood
- Tell your wife or husband, mom or dad, how much you appreciate their driving
- Give another driver your parking spot
- Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper about random kindness and your own experiences.
- Give family and friends "kindness coupons" they can cash-in for special favors.
- Write a thank-you note to a person from your past who has made a difference in your life.
- Visit a retirement or nursing home and spend the afternoon talking with the residents.
- Thank your boss or co-worker for all the wonderful things they do for you
- Drop off a plant, flowers or apple pie at the police department or your neighbors house
- Offer to help your neighbor do some yard work
- Take a minute to think about what random kindness means
- Write notes or bring flowers or goodies to your teachers and to remember the people who don't normally receive any recognition, like the cleaning people in your residence hall or the secretary in your department
- Make a batch of cookies for your housemates
- Send someone an animated greeting card on the internet
- Leave a muffin or a handmade note of thanks for your mail delivery person
- Clean graffiti off of neighborhood walls and buildings
- Bring home-cooked meals, blankets and socks to the homeless
- Offer a ride (to people you know) when you see them walking alone
- Cook a nice dinner for all your housemates
- Get an extra ticket to a basketball game and bring a kid
- Spend time with a person that no one knows very well
- Remind a friend or family member that he or she is very important in your life
- Write a note to the boss of someone who has helped you, praising the employee
- Give another driver your parking spot
- Make someone laugh who is stressed out
- Leave a bouquet of flowers on the desk of someone on your floor or in your house that you don't normally get along with
- Give flowers for meal trays to the Senior Resource Connection that delivers meals to shut-ins
- Collect Teddy bears for police to give to traumatized children
- Do the dishes even though it's your roommate's turn
- Take a friend home with you for a weekend just to get away
- Write a thank you note to a person from your past who has made a difference in your life
- Praise the work or attitude of someone you work with
- Bring a cup of coffee or tea to a colleague
- Talk to a colleague about committing "random acts of kindness"
- Put an anonymous supportive note on a colleague's desk
- Buy a box of popsicles to share with the staff on a hot day
- Hold a "honoring diversity" potluck lunch and have everyone bring ethnic foods
- Say "good morning" to everyone you work with today
- Extend a friendly invite to an introverted or shy colleague
- Drive a colleague home from work
- Share in the 'not so' pleasant tasks at work
- Buy flowers and place one on the desk of all your colleagues
- Give a compliment
- Walk a colleague to their car or bus at night time for safety purposes
- Bake a cake for a colleague's birthday and share it at work
- Create and celebrate annually a "colleagues day"
- Pay attention to positive news and pass it on
- Put copies of inspirational poems or stories on your counter for everyone to enjoy
- Put a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work in the lunchroom or other inspirational easy reading books
- Seek out a new employee and volunteer to be their 'buddy' for their first month on the job
- Practice etiquette and good manners in the workplace
- Leave a kind note on the water cooler or on your counter with suggestions like: "Take a deep breath and move gently through your day"
- Raise money for a colleague's favorite charity or volunteer to assist with your time
- Treat a colleague to lunch
- Mentor someone and share your skills, knowledge and abilities with them
- When mowing the nature strip, mow the neighbor's strip as well.
- If there is a new neighbor in the street or unit block, knock on their door and introduce yourself
- You might also like to make up a list of such things as what night the garbage bin goes out, the phone number of a good electrician and plumber, the service station with the lowest petrol prices, the local volunteer organizations, your name and telephone number, and so on. This will give your new neighbor a pleasant 'welcome' message.
- Drop a few coins in an area where children play, where they can easily find them.
- Spend a few minutes going through your old photos, and send whatever you can part with to the people in the photos.
- Donate blood, and encourage others to do so.
- When you ring any establishment and the person who picks up the phone sounds happy, or has a nice voice, speaks clearly, and so on, compliment them about it. If they have been helpful in any way, tell them how much you appreciate their help. If they have gone out of their way to be helpful, ask their name and write a letter to the company, advising them what an asset that person is.
- Encourage kind behavior, and praise anyone you encounter being kind.
- If you have any surplus books in good condition, consider offering them to your local library or a senior citizen's center.
- Write letters of appreciation to groups who are helping the community, the environment, etc.
- Tell someone you love and appreciate them - and do it often.
- Give surplus clothing, toys, etc. to charities.
- Send a card to a friend or relative you haven't seen for some time. Include a photo of yourself and/or your family.
- When a child talks to you, given them your full attention.
- Be gentle with planet Earth.
- In any disagreement, always act fairly.
- Be considerate of other people's feelings.
- Wave and smile at children in school busses, and at children or dogs in the car next to you at the traffic lights, or if they are looking out the back window of the car in front of you. However, remember to keep your attention on the road while doing so!
- Go to the assistance of anyone who appears to be in trouble.
- Play with your children.
- Buy local goods from local merchants.
- Send an anonymous scratch card, lottery or theatre ticket to someone you know - or a gift voucher, a funny card, a chocolate bar, or whatever you feel they would enjoy.
- If you know someone who is having a hard time financially, pop a $5, $10 or $20 note in an envelope, disguise your writing or type the envelope, and mail it to them. They will talk about it for weeks, remember it forever, and wonder who it was that sent it.
- Help an out of work person find a job.
- When talking on the phone, smile. The smile will come through in your voice.
- Give a friend or business associate a kind word, a small gift, or make them a cup of coffee, when they are on a downer.
- If you make a mistake, the best thing to do is own it, and take appropriate action.
- Feed an expired parking meter if there is a parking officer in the vicinity.
- If the person behind you in the shopping queue only has a few items, consider asking them if they would like to go ahead of you.
- Take some cake, chocolates, flowers etc. to the neighbors, or a senior citizen nearby. Be sure that the neighbor is aware you are not trying to romance their partner!
- Volunteer for some community work.
- Be romantic.
- If you have the choice to be right or to be kind, choose kind.
- Pay for the next one or more cups of coffee or tea of fellow diners when you are settling your bill.
- Plant trees to help offset the destruction of our forests.
- Give small tokens of your love to family, friends, children and the elderly for no particular reason - for example: flowers or a flower, a card (particularly home made cards), a fruit basket, a poem, a handkerchief, a hug.
- Offer to baby sit so parents/guardians can have time alone or away.
- Donate magazines/literature to medical services, aged care facilities, schools or kindergartens.
- Wash someone's car as a surprise.
- If you are well off, consider putting some of it to use in helping others while you are still alive. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction. And do it without fanfare - let the action be from your heart, rather than from your ego.
- Give people the benefit of the doubt.
- Donate to the needy - money, clothes, food.
- At the onset of colder weather, donate warm clothing, blankets, etc. for the homeless.
- Clean someone's home.
- Acknowledge every person you encounter.
- Advertise locally to help with odd jobs on a volunteer basis, for aged or handicapped people.
- Offer to baby sit for a few days during your holidays.
- Stop to give a lift home to an elderly person laden with shopping at a bus stop.
- Enter someone in a competition - they may win a prize!
- If someone has a dog, and the person is temporarily incapacitated due to an illness or injury, offer to take the dog for a walk.
- Go to opportunity shops and purchase toys in good condition and donate them to charities for children.
- Surprise somebody with a small gift that they may be unable to afford.
- Get involved with a youth group.
- Send a phone card with a letter.
- Be courteous in traffic and in parking lots.
- Stop to take a lost animal to its owner or to an animal shelter.
- Make up the difference if somebody in the line in front of you doesn't have enough money.
- Volunteer for 'Meals on Wheels'.
- Treat someone a movie or a meal.
- Step aside to allow a frail or elderly person to go ahead of you in a line.
- When traveling on public transport, offer your seat to someone.
- Make a list of all the things that bring you enjoyment. Try not to let a day go by without doing at least one of them.
- If someone is home bound through sickness or injury, ask them if they would like you to buy some groceries for them when you go shopping, or post a letter for them, or buy some stamps.
- Tell people you are there for them, to love and support them.
- Say "Thank you" when you leave the check out, the bus, when someone holds open a door for you, at the theatre when you are given the ticket, and so on.
- Give someone 100 bucks (could be any denomination of money, but at least 10 bucks) to do something for someone else. Ask before giving the money what they would do if given and then determine whether or not to give it to them.
- Order someone a dessert anonymously at a restaurant.
- Pay for someone's gas anonymously at the gas station or put X dollars on a pump for the next person.
- Get a gift certificate for a massage, movie, dinner, etc. and leave it anonymously with someone's stuff at the grocery store, shopping mall, etc.
- Open the phone book, pick a name, and send them something (movie tickets, thank you card, you are appreciated card, book, etc.) anonymously.
- Smile and laugh more often.
- Never throw out food. Take the last 2 pieces from a loaf of bread, make a sandwich and give it to a homeless person.
- Leave food in a box that you're gonna' toss out anyway, and put it on the sidewalk or on top of a dumpster so the homeless can find it.
- Just say "hello" to a stranger
- Pay the bridge toll for the car behind you
- Compost – it’s an act of kindness to your local landfill and your yard!
- Collect trash along a country road. Recycle the cans and bottles, and use the proceeds to fund another random act.
- Plant a group of daffodil bulbs somewhere they will surprise and cheer people in the spring.
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