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“Kindness is doing what you can, where you are, with what you have.”
2026 KINDNESS CAMPAIGN
FEBRUARY 16-20 IS KINDNESS WEEK!
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Kindness begins with appreciation by showing love through our words, actions, and care for others.
At-Home Activities:
Draw or write a thank-you note for a family member, teacher, or helper
Share one way students show love through actions (helping, listening, sharing)
Read a book about kindness or gratitude
Daily Challenge:
Do one kind thing for someone at home without being asked. -
Kindness grows when we look beyond ourselves.
Suggested Activities:
Learn about a local organization, helper, or cause
Create a Kindness Stone with an encouraging message
Discuss how middle school students can contribute to their community
Daily Challenge:
Identify one small way you can help make your community kinder.🪨 Kindness Stones Callout:
Kindness Stones are a suggested activity for Monday, but may be completed any day during Kindness Week.📘 Check out our Kindness Stones How-To Guide.
🎥 Here is a short video tutorial on how to make Kindness Rocks. -
Even small acts of kindness can have a meaningful impact.
Suggested Activities:Wear Red or your Be Kind. Gear
Complete a random act of kindness without expecting recognition
Leave an encouraging note for a peer or staff member
Notice and acknowledge a kind act done by someone else
Daily Challenge:
Complete at least one random act of kindness today. -
Kindness includes caring for your mental and emotional well-being.
Suggested Activities:
Take a short pause to reset (deep breathing, journaling, quiet time)
Identify one healthy way you manage stress
Check in with a friend and ask how they’re really doing
Daily Challenge:
Do one thing today that supports your well-being. -
The way we speak and act matters — kindness helps build friendships and makes everyone feel safe.
Suggested Activities:
Use words to encourage or uplift someone
Reflect on how language impacts school culture
Discuss how to respond if someone is being excluded or targeted
Daily Challenge:
Say three kind things to three different people.
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Our differences make us stronger, and everyone deserves to feel welcomed.
Suggested Activities:
Sit with or talk to someone new
Help create a more welcoming classroom, school, or work environment
Reflect on what helps people feel they belong
Celebrate differences and perspectives
Daily Challenge:
Help someone feel seen, valued, or included today.
🎉 Spread kindness like confetti by sharing your daily acts of kindness with us on social media!
Just tag us @SusquehannaValleyUW with the hashtag #BeKind2026, and we’ll feature your stories on our newsfeed!
Get your Kindness Toolkit below in our Kindness Resources section and find out all the ways you can get involved this year!
KINDNESS NOMINATIONS
Do you know someone who goes above and beyond to spread kindness and make a difference in their community? Now is your chance to honor them! Nominate a teacher, student, neighbor, friend, or community leader for our Annual Kindness Awards.
Prizes for the winners include $50 gift cards to local small businesses and Be Kind. merchandise. Award winners are announced daily throughout Kindness Week (Feb 16-20) across our social media channels @SusquehannaValleyUW. One Grand Prize Winner will be announced LIVE on 94KX radio station, on Friday, February 20th, 2026, and will receive a $100 Gift Card.
KINDNESS RESOURCES
Searching for inspiration and ideas for spreading kindness? Look no further!
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Be Kind to Your Community
Find a Volunteer Opportunitynear you.
Kindness Rocks… create a kindness rock and leave it in the community. One message at the right moment can change a person’s whole day! You can also join a local group committed to spreading kindness around our community! Join their Facebook Group to learn more!
You can also watch a video tutorial on YouTube here!
You can also check out The Kindness Rock Project online for more inspiration and ideas.
Community Helpers For Kids… Review the important jobs that adults do to keep our community safe.
8 Ways To Thank Frontline Workers… Different ways you can show your appreciation for essential workers.
Kind is the New Cool
Start a Kindness Club at your School… Every school could use a little more kindness! A great way to spread the joy of kindness is to start your very own Kindness Club!
Grab and Go Games and Icebreakers… 14 fun and easy games to foster a positive classroom climate!
2026 Kindness Calendar… Each day has a Kindness challenge for you to do.
Be Kind to All Kinds
Volunteer at a local animal shelter… You can donate old blankets, offer to help clean their pens, or even spend time with the animals themselves. This is a great alternative to enjoying animals if you aren’t able to own one yourself.
Plant a pollinator-friendly garden… Diversity is the key to a good pollinator garden. Because each pollinator has its own techniques for sourcing nectar and pollen, flowers should be as varied as the pollinators that visit them.
Host a Heritage Potluck… Invite friends to a potluck dinner where they each bring a dish that represents something from their heritage.
Create a Suggestion Box… Allow employees to share their ideas for improving workplace culture! This is a great way to maintain an inclusive culture beyond a single month.
Be Kind to Your Mind
Kindness Meditation Guide… this meditation is for Kids and based on the book, Have you filled your bucket today?
At Home Yoga for Kids… Join the Paw Patrol crew, Bubble Guppies, and Team Umizoomi for a beginner’s yoga class.
10-Minute Meditation for Anxiety… Unwind and de-stress in this short video walking you through each step of guided meditation.
How to Journal: Start Here… Everything you need to know to start journaling to better your mental health.
Be Kind to your Peers and Co-workers
Simple Acts of Kindness… A video highlighting the intrinsic value of reaching out a helping hand to others.
The Power of Deliberate Listening… Newspaper columnist, Ronnie Polaneczky, illustrates the power of listening to understand, not judge.
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Kindness Rocks are a creative way to share encouragement beyond the classroom and connect kindness to the broader community.
📘 How-To Guide
A Kindness Rocks How-To-Guide can be found below to support classrooms, families, and groups participating in the activity.🎥 Video Tutorial
Here is a short video tutorial to help you better understand and see the process of making Kindness Rocks.Supply List:
Rocks: Smooth, flat stones approximately 1 ½” to 3" in size work the best. You can find rocks in nature (not from private property), your yard, or check out your local craft store or garden center.
Paint: Acrylic paints and paint pens (like Sharpies) work well.
Sealant: Mod Podge or an acrylic sealer to make them waterproof.
Tools: Paintbrushes and/or sponge brushes; paper towels; paper for tracing/planning your design, possibly stencils or Post-it notes.
Suggested Messages:
“You matter” • “You belong” • “Be kind” • “You are loved” • “Kindness Rocks”
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Below are resources and worksheets we have compiled to help inspire and encourage your kiddos to Be Kind!
The Skittles Game… How to use Skittles to encourage your Kids to be kinder.
Kindness Vocabulary Word Searches… a fun activity for any age!
Teen Meditation Guide… a guided relaxation exercise on kindness and helpfulness.
Kindness Meditation Guide… this meditation is for kids and is based on the book Have You Filled Your Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud.
[Video] Bucket Filling from A to Z: The Key to Being Happy by Carol McCloud, read by Kendra Aucker, President and CEO of Evangelical Community Hospital.
We encourage you to visit the Random Acts of Kindness website for resources and ideas. They also offer a highly effective, evidence-based social-emotional learning curriculum for Pre-K through 12th Grade!
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Below are resources and worksheets compiled to help inspire and encourage you to spread kindness where you work!
We encourage you to visit the Random Acts of Kindness website for even more resources and ideas.
Remember to share the kindness activities and challenges you complete by tagging us @SusquehannaValleyUW on social media using the #BeKind2026 hashtag, and we will feature it on our social media!
BE KIND. SWAG
FREE Yard signs, bumpers stickers, and laptop stickers!
Visit your local library to pick up your FREE Be Kind. swag. Contact them directly for hours of operation and any questions about pick-up you may have.
Purchase your Be Kind. Merchandise here!
Purchase your Be Kind. Merchandise here!
T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts, hoodies, mugs, and tote bags are available for purchase below.
Celebrate Kindness All Year Long
Being kind doesn’t end in February! Join us throughout the year to keep spreading kindness like confetti!
Share your acts of kindness all year long. Just tag us @SusquehannaValleyUW on Social Media with the hashtag #BeKind2026, and we’ll feature your stories on our newsfeed!
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This year, Kindness Week begins with an optional Valentine’s Day at-home kindness activity, inviting families to start the celebration early by sharing love, gratitude, and appreciation.
Then, starting February 16th, we will host a week of kindness with daily themes, awards, kindness activities, and challenges.
Be sure to like and follow us at @SusquehannaValleyUW and share your stories of kindness with the #BeKind2026 hashtag. Tag us and we will feature you on our page and highlight reel.
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Spread kindness in our community by volunteering! On April 24th, United Way provides opportunities for individuals and groups across the Susquehanna Valley to improve our community by volunteering through our Day of Action.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, complete our online registration form.
Not available on April 24th? Not to worry, many of our area’s nonprofits have ongoing needs for volunteers all year long. Visit our Volunteer page to learn more!
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National Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day was founded in 2009 by Starr Valentino. He believed that good things happen only when people come together as a community and help each other during good times and bad. It is day is dedicated to helping, kindness, and chance for all of us to express love and gratitude toward each other. It is celebrated in neighborhoods by acts of compassion, sharing, and caring.
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Be Kind To Humankind Week is an annual worldwide celebration of kindness that is observed from August 25 to August 31. It is a time for us to reflect on what we can do to make this world a better place.
You don’t have to do anything elaborate to be kind — just set aside a few hours every day to do something nice for others.
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Kindness can be the norm. Join the movement and help pass on kindness in your home, school, or workplace. Watch the latest Random Acts of Kindness Foundation video and pass it on.
Thank you to our Sponsors.
Susquehanna Valley United Way thanks Evangelical Community Hospital for helping us bring the 2024 Kindness Campaign to schools and businesses in our community. We also thank Sunbury Broadcasting Corporation for being our media sponsor.
