Last fall, Chuck Wall, a Bakersfield College professor assigned his students to commit one random act of senseless kindness. He was listening to a radio report of yet another act of senseless violence and decided to change the wording a little. This assignment was taken seriously and has turned into a movement, applicable to all of our institutions. These are an effective add-on to formal "cultural improvement" efforts and here are some examples - feel free to add some and do them!

Neighborhoods: Neighborhood meetings, free little libraries, and art projects, helping an ill neighbor with yard maintenance
Government: Community policing, addressing homelessness, human rights, access to libraries, and community gardens.
Schools: Offer opportunities to students, teachers and families to perform acts of kindness to fellow students, teachers, and family.
Workplace: Buy coffee for someone at work, treat a colleague to lunch, use humor with a colleague who’s having a rough morning, make a promise not to speak negatively about a colleague. Resist the urge to gossip, write a thank-you note to a coworker, let selected colleagues know how much you appreciate them, clean up a common area at your workplace, re-engage with a coworker, get to know someone at work you have not talked to in a while, introduce yourself to a new person at your organization, eat lunch with someone new and take this opportunity to learn about what they are like outside of the workplace.

Here are the benefits if we do one act of kindness every day:

Building community among colleagues
Helping colleagues work together
Eliminating negativity in the workplace
Improving attitudes and overall communication
Improving morale
Assisting associates in taking pride in their work
Encouraging other positive habits
Improving the quality and output of work