Week Twenty One: Thank You Call to Kids Help Phone Line (Jeunesse J’écoute).

This week, I decided to call Kids Help Phone Line to thank them for their services. They’re a great confidential resource for youth who are seeking for anonymous support and advice on life struggles and obstacles.  

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I feel like these organizations are key to help youth grow as individuals and to make them feel like they are not alone in this journey called life. I thanked them for the time and effort that they dedicate to helping these kids grow stronger and more confident.

Every little bit counts.

G. 

Week Twenty: Leaving Bus Tickets at the Bus Station.

This week, after dashing to the bus stop in fear of missing my bus, I found myself ticketless in front of the driver. Thankfully, I had change on me so I was able to hop on without a problem. Then I wondered, how many times a day does this happen to people at this particular bus stop?

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The next day, I decided to leave some bus tickets behind at the stop in hope of relieving stress from one person who couldn’t originally get from point A to B successfully.

G. 

Week Nineteen: Mother’s Day Card by Mail.

This week’s gesture is small and common, yet very meaningful: sending love to my maman by mail for Mother’s Day. Mothers everywhere deserve to be celebrated for the length of a lifetime, and then some. I hope that every mother felt the appreciation that they merit on this special day and on every other day of the year.

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Happy Mother’s Day!

G.

Week Eighteen: Picking Up Trash and Recyclable Materials During Lunch.

A couple of weeks ago, I went home to visit my family in Northern Ontario. On the drive back to the greyhound station, my mom and I noticed this man picking up trash on the side of the highway. She was saying how this man was very well known in the community and how his daily routine consisted of walking from village to village in the area to pick up litter by the side of the road in order to make it a better and cleaner place to live. I thought this was a great deed and it got me thinking that I should do the same too. 

When I was taking a walk during my lunch break at work on Friday, I noticed that there was this field full of trash nearby. I went in the closest store and asked for a garbage bag. The nice man, after chuckling to my unusual request, handed me one and expressed  support and gratitude towards what I was doing. In 15 minutes, I managed to pick up a full garbage bag of trash and some recyclable materials.

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Fifteen minutes is all it took to make a healthy green field a bit more pleasing to the eye.

G.    

Special Skype Call with Students from New Brunswick.

Today, I had the opportunity to have a Skype call with students from River Valley Middle School, situated in Grand Bay-Westfield, New Brunswick. I had been in contact with the folks from Pay It Forward Saint John for a while now, who are also mostly teachers, and they thought that it would be a great idea for me to have a conversation with their students. Topic: Kindness. Goal: Inspire and Encourage. I introduced myself and talked about my little project to the students and they, in return talked about all the great things that they have been up to as well. I don’t think I’ve ever met a group of kids as motivated and selfless as this bunch.

Class from River Valley Middle School, Grand Bay-Westfield, NB.

Amongst a million other things, they organized lasagna cooking sessions and brought the dishes to their local shelter and planned clothing drives and brought the piles of clothes to people in need. They also had students who took the initiative to do personal deeds. I’ll never forget the girl who decided to ask all her friends and family to give her money for her birthday instead of gifts so she could put the money towards cancer research, or the girl who coordinated a teddy bear drive and gave away all of her old bears to a children’s hospital. These stories were truly touching.

Students talking about their projects.

It was great to witness the enthusiasm that these 12 to 14 year old kids had for helping others. I also loved that the teachers found a way to incorporate kindness into their education, which also allowed them to be creative and have fun with it at the same time. I haven’t felt this inspired in a while and I have these students to thank for that.

Picture taken by @psweeze from the other side!

Let the domino effect continue!

G.

Week Seventeen: Leaving a Book Behind for Someone Else's Enjoyment.

It’s Global Pay It Forward Day. What have YOU done to contribute to the ripple effect of Kindness?

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For this special day, I had been asked by the Pay It Forward Saint John crew to fly down to New Brunswick and take part in their 24 hours of Kindness inauguration event. Political people, teachers, elementary students and people in the community all came together on this day to present and celebrate acts of kindness that were being done in their city. They also wanted me to present my project in order to "spread and inspire kindness." Unfortunately, as it fell on a Thursday, I couldn’t attend the event. However, thanks to #Twitter, I was still able to connect with these people and wish them luck on their first year of participating in Pay It Forward. Who knows, I may just go pay them a visit at some point throughout the year… 

G.

Week Sixteen: Clothing Collection from Friends for Donation Drop Off. (# 2)

To follow-up the clothing drive I did back in February, I decided to organize a second one since a lot of friends had reached out saying that they also had pieces that they wanted to give away. I’m glad to know that a total of eight people’s closets are now less packed, and that the clothes will now be put to good use by some less fortunate folks at The Ottawa Mission. A big thanks to my friend Sébastien who lent his car and chauffeur services for an afternoon to make this happen this time around. 

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Two simple trips which helped two different parties. That’s what I call an efficient double whammy.

G.