Kindness Campaign

The Kindness Campaign ™

A Project of the Carolina Institute For Conflict Resolution and Creative Leadership

The motto of The Kindness Campaign is "Spread Kindness -- It's Contagious." © Its goals are (1) to restore a sense of community and neighborliness that we seem to have forgotten and (2) to prevent the spread of violence that has taken hold in many parts of our community, state and nation. Spreading kindness is up to everyone and it can be fun and rewarding. You can participate in this Campaign to stop the spread of violence, hatred and unkindness. You just have to remember to do some small daily acts of kindness for yourself, your family, friends, neighbors, school mates, work mates, strangers, those who are sick or in need, and anyone else you meet.

The Kind and Safe Schools Initiative (KASSI), the school portion of the Kindness Campaign, was created in 2001 to combat the alarming increase in the rate of peer violence in schools. Research on the intervention strategies in KASSI has showed them to be very effective in significantly reducing peer violence in schools. There is additional information is available below on KASSI including some of the research findings. The three KASSI Manuals are available for sale to schools from the Bookstore on this website.

This Campaign reconfirms the important understanding that we are all interconnected. We all have a duty to act kindly towards ourselves as well as others. The attitude of kindness has to start with being kind to your self. It is difficult to be kind to others, if your heart is empty of kindness. True kindness comes from having a compassionate heart. It takes countless small daily acts of kindness to create an atmosphere of compassion necessary to transform a mass of separate individuals into a kind, caring community.

The Kindness Campaign provides simple recognition for daily acts of kindness. Many acts of kindness go unrecognized, while acts of violence are quickly recognized and maybe even are over-recognized by the media. If you want to eliminate violence, you have to place your attention on its opposite: kindness. By signing a pledge card you get a button that says, "Spread Kindness -- It's Contagious," and when you witness an act of kindness, give that person your button to recognize what they did and ask them to pass on the button when they witness another act of kindness. In this way, you can spread kindness and help build a kind, caring community.

KASSI has operated in over 700 schools and communities nationwide. Some of these schools experienced an immediate 30% drop in discipline referrals and a drop of 90% in put-downs after they started the Campaign. Churches created Interfaith Celebrations of Kindness to mark the presence of kindness in all religious traditions. Neighborhood organizations promoted kind acts among the residents of their neighborhoods. Small and large businesses received kindness awards for promoting kindness among their employees and customers. Some companies sponsored the Campaign in schools. Individuals who helped promote a community of kindness received special recognition. Children participated in art contests around the theme of kindness and peace.

Click Here for Bookstore with Kindness Campaign Materials...

:: Kindness Campaign Publications - This section contains detailed information regarding the Kindness Campaign Publications including an archive of past newsletters for download.

How You Can Contribute to The Kindness Campaign:
The Kindness Campaign are supported by contributions from organizations, businesses or individuals and do not receive any funds from CICRCL. If you wish to make a tax-deductible contribution to The Kindness Campaign, please make your check payable to CICRCL and designate it for The Kindness Campaign. For further information about the Kindness Campaign write to:

The Kindness Campaign
C/O Barry K. Weinhold
117 Lady Slipper Trail
Swannanoa, NC 28778

Phone: 828.686-1890; Email: cicrcl@weinholds.org

The following are some suggestions of how you might spread kindness:
• Make a list of things that you can do to bring more kindness to your self, your family, neighborhood, school, workplace or community.
• Put your shopping cart back in its appointed space in the parking lot.
• As you walk through your neighborhood, pick up any trash on the sidewalk or gutter.
• Send a letter to a teacher or minister letting them know what a difference their acts of kindness made in your life.
• Make an anonymous donation to a local charity that is actively helping young people or start a fund-raising drive in your office for such organizations.
• Organize your friends or work mates to gather used clothing and give it to homeless shelters.
• Ask your children to go through their toys and donate some of them to children who are less fortunate.
• Offer to baby-sit for a neighbor's children so they can take a break from parenting.
• When someone new moves into your neighborhood, bake some cookies and go over and welcome them to the neighborhood.