Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.
—Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Repairing the world, or tikkun olam, is a core value of our movement. Encourage your JCC participants and staff to share what they’re doing to make a difference in the world as they engage in gemilut hasadim, or acts of loving-kindness.
- Hold the door open for someone.
- Share your snack.
- Do a chore for someone.
- Tell a joke.
- Leave kind note for someone.
- Feed the birds.
- Collect recycling.
- Call your grandparents.
- Pick up litter.
- Let someone go ahead of you in line.
- Compliment a friend.
- Wash someone’s car.
- Write a thank you note for your mail carrier.
- Plant something.
- Start a coin jar and pick a charity to donate to.
- Walk dogs at the animal shelter.
- Check in on an elderly neighbor.
- Set up a lemonade stand and donate the profits.
- Send a card to a service member.
- Visit or write letters to a VA hospital.
- Bury treasure at the playground.
- Set the table for dinner.
- Leave bubbles on someone’s doorstep.
- Tell someone why they are special to you.
- Donate outgrown clothes.
- Buy a coffee for a stranger.
- Pass out stickers to kids waiting in line.
- Talk to someone new at camp.
- Write chalk messages on the sidewalk.
- Start a garden.
- Donate food to the food pantry.
- Bring flowers to your counselor.
- Tell your unit head that you like them.
- Make us kindness songs.
- Thank your swim instructor.
- Donate socks and supplies to the homeless shelter.
- Call a friend you haven’t seen in a while to say hello.
- Talk to someone you haven’t spoken to before.
- Take treats to the fire station.
- Read a book to someone.
- Leave heads up pennies on the sidewalk.
- Donate a book to a doctor’s office waiting room.
- Tell someone how much you love them.
- Say hello to everyone you see.
- Make someone else’s bed.
- Straighten up someone’s cubby/locker.
- Hold the door open for someone.
- Wave at kids on school buses.
- Leave happy notes around camp.
- Sing songs at a nursing home.
- Invite someone to play on the playground.
- Tell the camp director how great your counselor is.
- Words are powerful tell someone what they want to (or need to) hear.
- Turn off the water while brushing your teeth.
- Say thank you when you see service members.
- Fill a kindness jar with candy for another bunk/group.
- Thank the custodians at you JCC/camp.
- Make a busy bag for a family with young children.
- Bring cookies to the custodian.
- Help make dinner.
- Make a get well card for someone.
- Bring your neighbors’ garbage cans up for them.
- Take care of someone’s pet while they’re away.
- Share a special toy with a friend.
- Clean up your room without being asked.
- Tape a video message for faraway friends.
- Paint kindness rocks.
- Give a candy bar to the bus driver.
- Send dessert to another family at a restaurant.
- Give spare change to the food pantry.
- Buy extra school/art supplies to the JCC/camp.
- Thank the camp nurse.
- Teach someone something new.
- Reuse paper when you are drawing.
- Thank the lifeguards.
- Give someone a hug coupon.
- Volunteer to do something you don’t usually do.
- Write a note for someone’s lunch.
- Collect money or items for your favorite charity.
- Donate coloring books and crayons to the children’s hospital.
- Write a poem for a friend.
- Ask for donations instead of birthday gifts.
- Help someone unload groceries at the store.
- Write kindness notes to the police department.
- Write a letter to a friend highlighting their strengths.
- Decorate tissue boxes and hand sanitizer for nursing stations.
- Make a homemade gift for someone.
- Clean up your toys without being asked.
- Deliver water bottles to the homeless shelter.
- Create activity bags for families of deployed soldiers.
- Give high fives to a friend.
- Make a thank you card for your local librarian.
- Dry the slides at the park with a towel after it rains.
- Help the little kids.
- Send a postcard to a friend.
- Collect travel-size soaps and shampoos and donate to a homeless shelter.
- Make up kindness cheers.
- Tell someone they are special.
- Create a calendar to do Acts of Kindness all year long.
- Smile at everybody. It’s contagious.