A Grade 7 class from KVR Middle School is on a mission to inspire kindness and caring throughout Penticton. The group made a virtual presentation to City Council on Tuesday, resulting with Mayor John Vassilaki proclaiming Feb. 13-29, 2022, as ‘Real Acts of Caring’ (RAC) week in Penticton.
The students took turns presenting to Council, speaking about the importance of spreading kindness, while expecting nothing in return. This is the third year Penticton has declared Real Acts of Caring week, which KVR teacher Melissa Burdock introduced to the city after bringing the concept here from Coquitlam School District.
The Grade 7 students hope their efforts will inspire others throughout the community. Their projects so far have included:
- Supporting Keep the Cold Off Penticton by donating warm clothes, backpacks, toques, scarves, gloves and food items that they could hand out during outreach like juice boxes and granola bars.
- Calling SOWINS to ask how they can support the organization. The students filled backpacks with items that would be useful to someone in a time of need.
- Partnering with a non-profit organization called The Fabric Bag Solution to hand out 100 fabric bags outside a local grocery store, keeping plastic bags out of the landfill.
- Phoning a local seniors centre to ask for the names of residents, sending them personalized cards.
- Building Joy Boxes for OneSky to distribute to community members over the holidays.
- Gathering donations of used candles and made them into Hope Stoves for the vulnerable population to use on a cold night.
This month, the class will be hosting a virtual assembly for other kindergarten to Grade 5 students throughout the district, hoping to inspire others to do intentional acts of kindness.
“I really appreciate your thoughtfulness,” said Mayor John Vassilaki told the class. “By recognizing these daily acts of caring and kindness during this week, all citizens of Penticton will become more aware of being kind to others throughout the year… I encourage everyone to participate in spreading and practicing generosity, patience and consideration of others at all times in order to create a better, kinder safer and more peaceful City.”
Hear it from the Kids
What kindness means to these KVR students:
Kaitlyn: “To me, RAC is when someone comes up to you and does something nice for you without asking anything in return.”
Ayla: “To me, RAC is a bunch of kind, selfless people that do intentional acts of kindness and caring without expecting anything in return to make the world a better place.”
Sophia: “To me, RAC means doing kind things to make people happy out of the goodness of your heart and expecting nothing in return. Even a kind smile can go a long way.”
Hasini: “To me, RAC means to be nice to everyone and be kind to them without expecting anything back.”
Brad: “It's people coming together to help others to make our community a better place.”
Liam: “It makes the world a better place and it makes people feel happy and cared for.”
Miller: “It is doing something from your heart to make others feel good, without making them feel like they need to give anything back to you.”
Tessa: “It's being kind to everyone, every day. Everyone deserves kindness.”
Aareeba: “To me RAC is a selfless and honourable act to help the community to make it a better, happier place for all of us.”
Jono: “It means to me that we need do more acts of kindness in our world, especially acts of kindness towards those in need.”
Learn more! Visit realactsofcaring.org.