Published in the November 17, 2017 edition
MELROSE — On November 20, Melrose will celebrate the second annual Random Acts of Kindness Day. The concept is very simple: Do something kind for someone — a friend, family member, or total stranger.
That’s all it takes. Last year, Melrosians donated socks for the homeless, gave rides to neighbors, raked leaves, bought coffee, gave up their parking spots, and more.
To get more ideas, check out the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/319369455139172/.
100 ideas for individuals:
1. Hold the door
2. Buy someone coffee
3. Cook a meal for a family in your neighborhood
4. Leave quarters in the laudromat
5. Donate old towels to A Better Companion for doggy baths
6. Buy groceries for the person behind you in line
7. Compliment your waitperson
8. Leave a funny note on a random car
9. Add notes of kindness to Melrose Library’s “Wonder Wall”
10. Leave flowers on someone’s doorstep
11. Shop local
12. Drag your neighbors’ trash/recycling bins back to their house
13. Give a ride to someone who needs one
14. Participate in a fundraiser
15. Donate to the Melrose Symphony
16. Visit a store you have not been to before and purchase something, regardless of how small
17. Run an errand for someone
18. Visit the Milano Senior Center (with your kids!)
19. Write a thank you to someone who has helped you or touched you in some way
20. Deliver coats to City Mission Society to stock their annual Christmas Shop. Contact Jen_Crain@hotmail.com for more info
21. Compliment a teacher or administrator or secretary
22. Donate your talent
23. Write a letter to the editor about something great in our city
24. Put your phone away
25. Introduce yourself to someone new
26. Compliment a stranger
27. Leave the biggest tip you can afford
28. Write a thank you note to the awesome Melrose librarians! Or stop by to say “thanks!”
29. Let someone in the check out line go ahead of you
30. Tell whomever is helping you to take his or her time, you’re in no hurry
31. Give someone a book you think they’d like
32. Wipe the counter at Starbucks
33. Pick up litter and dispose of it
34. Put a sticky note with positive words on a bathroom mirror
35. Drop off some treats for our public safety officials working long hours/overnights/holidays
36. Give blood
37. Give your T seat up to elderly, impaired, pregnant people
38. Send dessert to another table
39. Tell your siblings how much you appreciate them
40. Hug your mother or someone else’s mother
41. Carpool
42. Walk
43. Say yes when the cashier asks you if you’d like to donate to a cause
44. Commit to using fewer plastic bags
45. Clean someone’s windshield
46. Do the dishes, even if it isn’t your turn
47. Tell someone how great s/he looks
48. Don’t say one negative thing all day long
49. Have a clean up party at The Melrose Common
50. Give things away that you no longer need
51. Play basketball with your kids, or your neighbor’s kids
52. Write someone a real letter on paper and mail it
53. Call your father or a father figure and tell him your favorite memory of him
54. Let them have the parking space
55. Pay the toll for the person behind you
56. Donate to A Servant Heart’s Food Pantry or Pantry of Hope
57. Write your partner a list of things you love about him or her
58. Give your favorite book to a friend
59. Drive slowly on Howard Street
60. Donate socks to the homeless (Scott Forbes, 41 Mystic Ave, Melrose)
61. Be a Santa to a Senior by collecting an ornament at Shaw’s
62. Donate your maternity or baby clothes to Mothers Helping Mothers
63. Bring dog (and cat) food to the Health Dept in City Hall to help pet owners who are struggling financially
64. Donate your old eyeglasses to the Lions Club for distribution to those in need in developing countries
65. Contact the Melrose Emergency Fund to see how you can help Melrose families this holiday season
66. Contact Scott Macaulay of Macaulay’s House of Vacuum Cleaners in Melrose to offer to help with his community Thanksgiving dinner
67. Relay an overheard compliment
68. Donate new socks, underwear and warm Pjs for the ECC Community Giving Tree. Email franklinecc.pto@gmail.com for info
69. Text an old friend just to say hello
70. Encourage someone in an unexpected way
71. Commit to making kindness a habit
72. Sing
73. Don’t interrupt when someone is speaking
74. Be kind on social media
75. Be the person who only has nice things to say
76. Fold the wash, put it away
77. Smile at the homeless and give them that extra dollar in your pocket or buy them a meal
78. Call a parent and tell him or her how great their kid is
79. Give your dog, or someone else’s dog, a belly scratch
80. Give a hug, receive a hug
81. Thank your teacher, or your child’s teacher, or your retired teacher
82. Send anonymous flowers to someone who won’t expect it
83. Return the shopping cart
84. Visit your elderly neighbors
85. Tell your kids they are super heroes with the power to do good
86. Be kind to the customer service rep on the phone
87. Give someone the rest of your pack of gum
88. Say yes when you really want to say no
89. Put change in a vending machine
90. Do a chore for someone without their knowledge
91. Call that friend you disagreed with long ago, make up
92. Thank a police officer and give him a smile
93. Send a card to a soldier
94. Be good to you
95. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth
96. Volunteer to serve a meal at Bread of Life in Malden
97. Buy tissue and hand sanitizer for a teacher
98. Give a lottery ticket to a stranger
99. Leave heads up pennies on the sidewalk
100. Smile, it’s contagious