Leo The Kindhearted Lion

Barry K. Weinhold

Meet Leo, The Kind-Hearted Lion -- the Mascot of the Kindness Campaign

When we started the Kindness Campaign back in 1994, it began to grow a number of schools adopted the program. Because we initially focused most of our attention at elementary schools, we looked for ways to convey the main ideas of the Campaign to children. We began thinking about a mascot that could help us when we went to visit schools.

Someone involved with the Campaign suggested we talk to the people who ran the Robot Factory, a business in a neighboring community, that had produced mascots such as McGruff, the Crime Dog, Smokey the Bear for the Forest Service and a Dalmatian Dog for Fire Departments. I visited their facility and they demonstrated how they could create life-like mascots on remote-controlled tricycles. Their technology allowed someone to talk with the children though the mascot while standing in the back of the room using a remote built-in microphone. They were even able to install a tape recorder in the mascot tht allowed it to sing a theme song to the kids.

At the time, the Lion-King was a popular children’s movie, so I thought maybe a Lion, usually seen as fierce, could also be a kind Lion-King. The Robot Factor agreed to create a remote controlled robot for the Campaign that rode on a tricycle. We dubbed him Leo, The Kind-Hearted Lion. His head sits on a spring and bobs from side to side as he moves, making him look almost lifelike. In fact, many adults first thought that there might a live person inside the lion costume and riding around on the tricycle. As you can see from the picture, Leo has a personality of his own. His winning ways open the hearts and minds of children and adults alike about the importance of being kind to each other.

We weren’t able to afford to buy Leo outright, as he cost over $10,000. However, the owners of the Robot Factory were so excited about how Leo could help children, they agreed to rent him to us and deduct the rental fees from the his purchase price. Eventually we were able to pay for Leo and he became the official mascot of the Kindness Campaign.

I became Leo’s voice in conversations with children about kindness. I eventually realized that Leo was sort of an alter ego for me. When I spoke to the kids through Leo, it was as though the professor or psychologist disappeared and my own inner child came out to play with them. I had great fun talking to young children about being kind and watching them give Leo hugs and kisses. Over time the children actually “loved” all of his whiskers off and eventually we had to take him back to the Robot Factory to get a new set for him.

I also trained others to be Leo’s voice. They also loved speaking to the children through Leo feeling the creative energy that made him come alive. Once an elementary school principal asked me to bring Leo to her school and talk to a group of three fifth grade boys who had been bullying and taunting kids on the playground. In a stroke of genius, she invited these three boys to head up the Kindness Campaign in her school. During my visit to this school, I showed these boys how to work with Leo and they took to him immediately. I still remember the day they were on stage with Leo and announced that Leo would be helping them lead the Kindness Campaign at their school.

Later I took Leo to community gatherings, to the mall and other places where he could talk to children and adults about the importance of being kind to others. Leo loved being on television! He often was interviewed about the Kindness Campaign and he spoke to the viewing audience about the importance of kindness. Leo lives on in the hearts of those thousands of children who listened intently to a Lion on a tricycle talk about being kind to each other and sing the Kindness Campaign theme song to them.