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SOUTH OKANAGAN - Doesn’t it feel great when someone goes out of their way to help you, hold the door open for you, or even say ‘thank you’? Not only does it feel awesome to be the recipient of a good deed, but it also feels rewarding to ‘pay it forward’ and do something nice for someone else. The Community Foundation of the South Okanagan | Similkameen challenges you to perform a random act of kindness (RAK) Nov. 6.

A RAK can be something as simple as picking up litter in your neighbourhood, pumping gas for someone at a self-serve gas station, or letting someone go ahead of you in a line up. In 2014, during the first annual ‘Random Act of Kindness Day’, a local organization gave out free pizza during lunch on Main Street, someone taped dollars to shopping carts, and others prepaid coffee for the next person in line. Last year there were approximately 10,000 acts of kindness recorded on RAY Day in the South Okanagan | Similkameen; this year the goal is 15,000 RAK’s.

“We live in an amazing community where so much kindness happens every day. Let’s take a moment to not only recognize when someone does something nice for us, but to also do something nice in return and pay it forward,” says Aaron McRann, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan | Similkameen. The purpose of ‘Random Act of Kindness Day’ is to boost community spirit, increase connectedness between citizens, celebrate “being nice”, increase feelings of gratitude among citizens, and especially to have a great time.

Community members and businesses are encouraged to perform ‘kind deeds’ throughout the day and hand out RAK cards after each ‘kind act’.  RAK cards will encourage the cardholder to perform a simple act of kindness for someone — a neighbour, a friend, a co-worker, or someone they don’t even know — and hand the card over to that person — encouraging that person to do the same.

RAK cards will be distributed throughout the community at local businesses for people to pick up in advance. If you are not able to pick up your RAK Cards in advance, you can head down to the Penticton Lakeside Resort and Casino Nov. 6, to pick up RAK Cards as well as RAK Balloons for those who promote their participation in RAK Day. There will also be coffee and cookies compliments of the Penticton Lakeside Resort and Casino.

There are countless ways to get involved with RAK Day; for instance, you could put posters up in your building or place of work, challenge other community members and local businesses to see who can perform the most ‘acts of kindness’ and help spread awareness of the event on social media. 

To help keep track of how many RAK’s are performed, people are encouraged to post to social media with the hashtag #RAKDAYSOS, and to go to the CFSOS’ website (www.rakdaysos.com) to record their acts of kindness. Those who register their ‘kind deeds’ on the website will be entered to win a grand prize from Melt Mineral Spa that includes a Salt Glow Scrub, Aromatherapy Massage, Essential Facial, Body Scrub and Butter, and a spa candle.

To view a list of local businesses that have RAK Cards or to print your own RAK Cards please visit www.rakdaysos.com.

News from © iNFOnews, 2015