The vignette, captured on video and posted on a public forum, is hard to watch without cracking a smile: five women packing flower baskets, knocking on doors at a local seniors complex.
The doors open. Eyebrows raise under white and gray and dyed coifs. Hands reach to accept the gift as uncertain smiles crack lined faces.
It’s just another random act of kindness mission accomplished in Ladysmith.
Launched last summer, the Ladysmith Random Act of Kindness movement is kicking into high gear again this spring with a series of videos on its Facebook page.
Random Acts of Kindness Ladysmith promotes the practice of paying it forward: buying a coffee for the car behind you at the drive-through; telling the restaurant server scrubbing someone else’s table she is doing a good job; complimenting the stranger beside you at the cash register on his nice coat.
These are the unexpected, thoughtful actions that make a surprising amount of difference in people’s lives.
“One of my personal missions in life is to put a smile on somebody’s face every day,” Ron Dale said.”It’s being aware of some of the needs around you and remembering why Ladysmith is a wonderful place to live.”
Dale and Kim Judson launched the local movement last June after a presentation to town council. Marketed with stickers posted in a variety of locations, organizers also pushed the campaign at schools and churches through tip sheets and bulletin board forms where people could make note of the random acts of kindness experienced in their personal lives.
Dale said the initiative has caught on simply because people like it and it makes sense. He just wants to remind them of how easy it can be to make a difference.
“It’s happening. I just want to refresh your memories,” he said. “There are so many benefits to it. We just want to keep it front-and-centre.”
Thus the new video series. In the video described above, the second in the series, members of the Ladysmith Dragon Boat team prepared flower baskets and delivered them to random seniors.
It is the second of nine clips that will be posted to the Random Acts of Kindness Ladysmith page in the coming weeks in order to inspire people into similar acts. In the first; Jesse Winter and his family hand out balloons to strangers along First Avenue.
The suggestions are endless: from the effortless old staple of holding a door open, to buying someone an ice cream cone, to writing a letter of appreciation for a favourite service worker and sending it to his or her boss.
Dale’s message is simple: try it, you’ll like it.
“It also makes the day of the person who did it,” he said.
Post any random acts of kindness you’ve received to the movement’s facebook site, or email them to the Chronicle at editor@ladysmithchronicle.com. We’ll publish our favourites.
