Random Acts of Kindness Week

Over the holidays, some “secret santas” that paid off the layaway bills of random strangers made the news, but there’s an actual Random Acts of Kindness week, which happens to be this week in 2012.

Random Acts of Kindness Week’s history is not entirely clear, but mentions of Random Acts of Kindness Week (or RAK week) on the web go back well into the last decade- interestingly, it seems people are more into actually putting the practice of random acts of kindness into play that taking credit for popularizing the kindness-palooza. There is a site set up to celebrate general Random Acts of Kindness, but the group behind it does acknowledge the benefit of promoting the concept through a whole week of focusing on creating RAKs for your fellow man. RandomActsofKindness.org explains:

“RAK Week is February 14-20, 2011, and the second full week of February each year. Random Acts of Kindness Week is designed to give those who are either not currently aware of Random Acts of Kindness or those who wish to call attention to the value of kind actions a chance to experience the joy of passing along kindness. The week’s purpose is to raise awareness about kindness and to invite people to give and receive kindness daily.”

According to the site, Random Acts of Kindness Week celebrations are variable:

“Celebrations vary widely. An individual may celebrate kindness by performing anonymous kind acts all week long. An educator may lead a discussion about kindness and involve students in a brief kindness activity. Some celebrations are school wide. Some celebrations are community-based rather than school-based. The choice is up to you. For hundreds of ideas, consult our Kindness Ideas resource, or the Educators and Community sections on this website.”

Are you planning to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week 2012? Do you try to engage in RAKs all year round?