One million acts of kindness
Fifty acts of kindness a day, over the course of 55 years, will total one million acts of kindness. Those same acts don’t have to be cumbersome; waving someone ahead in traffic or holding a door open would certainly suffice. Making a habit of kindness has the potential to reshape an individual and over time, create a better world.And that very message is what Bob Votruba spread to College of Wooster students on Wednesday, Sept. 23. About a month ago, he left in a blue school bus with statements encouraging constant kindness plastered around it. His dog, Bogart, rides along with him, and together they plan to travel the country promoting the message to colleges for the next 10 years. According to Votruba, his single mission has already exploded into dozens of mini projects with plenty of people inspired to be kind.
“It started six years ago; I started a campaign called Sew only Seeds of Love. It was just a sticker program…and I noticed that mostly kids were taking these stickers,” said Votruba.
After about six years of people appreciating his message, he decided to take it a step further.
“From that I thought, maybe it’s more than just kids liking the message, maybe it’s all of us needing the message.”
He decided the concept needed more action and development, and thus the school bus, or as Votruba put it, the “kindness bus.”
And it’s the bus and the dog that serve as ice breakers. People often use the dog as a means to approach the bus, and end up talking with Votruba about his mission. He said he’s been approached at coffee shops and in parking lots from people who are curious about his project.
“It’s very rewarding. The reward for me is talking to kids and seeing the looks on some of their faces. You can just tell they’re going to do something. I’m trying to talk to the kids about the importance of finding that passion; looking inside themselves with respect to a charity or a foundation, whether it is animals at a shelter or visiting seniors.”
Moreover, it’s the mind-set of becoming kinder and more selfless that Votruba is promoting, and college students really do have the chance to create one million acts of kindness over the course of their lifetime. He said the project has already become much larger than him, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’ll feed this thing as long as it takes to get this message out. I don’t think there’s anything more important in this world. I think you combat hatred and coldness with kindness. You keep trying and trying and working at it. I have three kids in college, so this is very important to me, that this world’s a safer place and a kinder place. I literally either gave away or sold everything I own. I really have nothing to go home to as far as materials go. I made it that way. No house, no car, no furniture,” said Votruba.
He is originally from Chagrin Falls, so the project began in northeastern Ohio at Kent State. He has recently visited the University of Akron, Ashland University and Baldwin Wallace College.
“I can talk to almost 4,000 kids a week, and it’s so awesome that I can do that…and I know kids have already started doing things. And over 10 years, that’s two and a quarter million people,” Votruba concluded. “This is all a guy and a dog, just trying to say ‘hey guys, you have a chance at meeting this goal.’”
For more information about the cause, visit his Web site at www.onemil lionactsofkindness.com.