Random Acts of Kindness

December 03, 2015 at 9:00 AM

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In August 2014, New Zealand police officer Peter van't Wout featured on TV One News ‘Good Sorts’ segment after challenging himself to carry out a random act of kindness every week for a year.

 

His acts of kindness included giving a supermarket shopper a gift card, sanding a house exterior for a pregnant woman, teaching a young person to drive, and giving a cake to a hard-working group of nurses. Click here to watch the video.

 

These simple yet welcomed deeds inspired us to follow in van’t Wout’s footsteps, and we are now at the end of our one year Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK) project. We were grateful to receive a letter from van’t Wout earlier this year acknowledging our efforts.

 

We have aimed to give to many different types of causes, organisations and individuals and have only chosen to write about our weekly RAOK to help raise awareness of the many of  causes that require ongoing public support. Please visit the website links below to find out how you can carry out your own random acts of kindness.

 

While C1 South regularly supports a number of causes in the disability sector (see our Community page), Random Acts of Kindness gave us the opportunity to give to other causes that we felt were particularly meaningful or close to the heart.

 

After a year, we now boast a message board full of thank you cards and letters from the recipients of our Random Acts of Kindness, serving as a daily reminder to give back and help others in need.

 

 

WEEK 1 / 24 October 2014

WEEK 2 / 31 October 2014

WEEK 3 / 7 November 2014

WEEK 4 / 14 November 2014

WEEK 5 / 21 November 2014

WEEK 6 / 28 November 2014

WEEK 7 / 5 December 2014

  • Recipient: Arthritis New Zealand Hamilton 
  • Act of Kindness: Donated Great Grips Door Knob Covers to the organisation that represents the interests of those with arthritis
  • About: http://www.arthritis.org.nz

WEEK 8 / 12 December 2014

  • Recipient: McKenzie Centre
  • Act of Kindness: Donated Wheelchair Pals to the centre who provides early intervention for children with special needs
  • About: http://www.mckenziecentre.nzl.org

WEEK 9 / 19 December 2014

WEEK 10 / 16 January 2015

  • Recipient: Think! The Head Injury Network for Kiwis
  • Act of Kindness: Gave the office staff a stationery voucher and chocolate
  • About: http://www.thinknz.org.nz  

WEEK 11 / 23 January 2015

WEEK 12 / 30 January 2015

WEEK 13 / 6 February 2015

WEEK 14 / 13 February 2015

WEEK 15 / 21 February 2015

WEEK 16 / 6 March 2015

WEEK 17 / 13 March 2015

WEEK 18 / 20 March 2015

  • Recipient: Arabella
  • Act of Kindness: Donated a mobility scooter to a local 16 year old who was unable to get funding for a mobility scooter

WEEK 19 / 27 March 2015

  • Recipient: A supermarket customer
  • Act of Kindness: Gave away a supermarket gift voucher and easter eggs to a customer at random, which according to the recipient "couldnt have come at a better time"

WEEK 20 / 3 April 2015

  • Recipient: Visitors at the Hamilton Gardens
  • Act of Kindness: Gave away easter eggs

WEEK 21 / 10 April 2015

  • Recipient: 2015 Halberg Junior Disability Games
  • Act of Kindness: Staff member Gil volunteered her time to help with the games held at St Peter's School in Cambridge
  • About: http://www.juniordisabilitygames.co.nz

WEEK 22 / 17 April 2015

WEEK 23 / 24 April 2015

  • Recipient: RSA - Te Awamutu
  • Act of Kindness: Donated a gift basket to be given away for the ANZAC Day raffle
  • About: http://www.rsa.org.nz

WEEK 24 / 1 May 2015

  • Recipient: Paralympics NZ / Seating To Go Hamilton
  • Act of Kindness: Donated $250 to Paralympics New Zealand on behalf of Seating To Go Hamilton
  • About: http://www.paralympics.org.nz

WEEK 25 / 8 May 2015

  • Recipient: Random shoppers at a Hamilton shopping centre
  • Act of Kindness: Gave away 100 free pairs of Ugly Ducks Moisturising Slippers for Mothers Day worth $850

WEEK 26 / 15 May 2015

  • Recipient: A supermarket customer
  • Act of Kindness: Gave away a Pak N Save gift card to a customer chosen at random

WEEK 27 / 22 May 2015

WEEK 28 / 29 May 2015

WEEK 29 / 5 June 2015

  • Recipient: The Going Bananas Show
  • Act of Kindness: Donated $200 to the show for disadvantaged children, which is also supporting the Brain Injured Children Trust
  • About: http://www.braininjuredchildrentrust.co.nz

WEEK 30 / 12 June 2015

  • Recipient: Steve and Sharyn Taylor
  • Act of Kindness: Gave away a gift basket to Steve and Sharyn, the parents of two sons with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  They also have an active role in the disability community, promoting awareness of accessibility with various organisations
  • About: http://tayloredaccessibilitysolutions.vpweb.co.nz

WEEK 31 / 19 June 2015

  • Recipient: Vicky
  • Act of Kindness: Gave away a gift basket to Vicky, the deserving mother of a special needs child

WEEK 32 / 26 June 2015

  • Recipient: Kim Marie Morwood 
  • Act of Kindness: Kim featured on Fair Go over the issue whether her insurance policy will replace her carpet after numerous 'accidents' caused by fostered SPCA cats. We thought Urine Off would help her deal with any existing and future accidents. 
  • About: http://tvnz.co.nz/fair-go/cats-22-video-6345695

WEEK 33 / 3 July 2015

  • Recipient: Parent To Parent  
  • Act of Kindness: Donated Handi-Hooks to the Waikato office to distribute to the families who use their services. Parent To Parent provides information and support to the families of people disabilities and health impairments.  
  • About: http://www.parent2parent.org.nz

WEEK 34 / 10 July 2015

WEEK 35 / 17 July 2015

WEEK 36 / 24 July 2015

  • Recipient: Cerebral Palsy Society
  • Act of Kindness: Made a donation to charitable organisation that aims to enhance the lives of people with Cerebral Palsy in New Zealand
  • About: http://www.cerebralpalsy.org.nz

WEEK 37 / 31 July 2015

  • Recipient: Immune Deficiencies foundation of New Zealand / Kids Foundation
  • Act of Kindness: Made a donation to the charitable organisation that supports children, teenages and adults diagnosed with immune deficiencies in New Zealand
  • About: http://www.idfnz.org.nz

WEEK 38 / 7 August 2015

  • Recipient: Volunteering Waikato
  • Act of Kindness: Donated movie gift cards and boxes of chocolate fish to the  staff at Volunteering Waikato
  • About: http://www.volunteeringwaikato.org.nz 

WEEK 39 / 14 August 2015

WEEK 40 / 21 August 2015

  • Recipient: Cystic Fibrosis NZ
  • Act of Kindness: Made a donation to CFNZ during 'Bubbles Week'. CFNZ aim to optimise quality of life for people with Cystic Fibrosis and their families
  • About: http://www.cfnz.org.nz

WEEK 41 / 28 August 2015

  • Recipient: Cancer Society Daffodil Day
  • Act of Kindness: Made a donation to the annual appeal by the Cancer Society that symbolises hope for 1 in 3 New Zealander's affected by cancer.
  • About: http://www.daffodilday.org.nz/

WEEK 42 / 16 October 2015

  • Recipient: National Osteoporosis Foundation
  • Act of Kindness: Made a donation to the foundation during the Serve Up Bone Strength campaign in their efforts to prevent osteoporosis and promote strong bones.
  • About: http://www.nof.org

WEEK 43 / 23 October 2015

WEEK 44 / 30 October 2015

  • Recipient: Fostering Kids NZ
  • Act of Kindness: Fostering Kids provides encouragement, support and education to fostering families. We have sponsored four children to attend to their Family Fun Day in Hamilton.
  • About: http://www.fosteringkids.org.nz

WEEK 45 / 6 November 2015

WEEK 46 / 13 November 2015

WEEK 47 / 20 November 2015

  • Recipient: The Lions Club Chartwell
  • Act of Kindness: We have sponsored four children and their families through the Lions Club to attend the World Festival of Magic NZ, a show performed for children who are disadvantaged or have special needs.
  • About: http://www.lionsclubs.org.nz 

WEEK 48 / 27 November 2015

  • Recipient: Adoptable
  • Act of Kindness: Donated Urine Off and an ongoing discount to the charitable animal shelter in Hamilton that helps abandoned, unwanted and stray cats find their forever homes.
  • About: https://givealittle.co.nz/org/adoptable

WEEK 49 / 4 December 2015

WEEK 50 / 11 December 2015

  • Recipient: Music Moves Me Trust
  • Act of Kindness: Made a donation to the organisation that helps provides people living with dementia with music therapy to help them maintain function, access memory and connect with those around them.
  • About: http://www.musicmovesmetrust.co.nz

WEEK 51 / 18 December 2015

  • Recipient: 100 people in the Hamilton CBD
  • Act of Kindness: Paid money into 100 parking meters on Victoria Street in Hamilton

WEEK 52 / 26 December 2015

  • Recipient: The Stroke Foundation
  • Act of Kindness: Donated $500. This donation was given in lieu of sending gifts to the therapists and agencies we work with

  • About: http://www.stroke.org.nz