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Help us make Eugene and Springfield Cities of Kindness in Oregon

Resources to Create a City of Kindness

Grassroots Resources to Create a

City of Kindness

*Please note that this page is under construction. View the updated PDF here.*

WHERE TO BEGIN: The first step in the grassroots process to become a city of kindness is to create a Spreading Kindness Campaign Committee. This committee would take responsibility for sharing some of the information listed below with the citizens of your city. The Campaign Committee requires leadership from respected members of the community: a coordinator(s) to lead the effort and a leader for each sector to be included in the campaign (e.g. civic and faith groups, public schools and universities, government agencies, businesses, and nonprofit organizations). The committee for Eugene and Springfield, Oregon was made up of volunteers, many retirees, and a part time paid staff person for helping produce kindness resources and organize kindness events.

The Campaign Committee would start by reviewing the first three menu items below, which are designed to provide information and to build enthusiasm for the campaign. The remaining three menu items are ways to work with schools and other organizations in the community.

The Campaign Committee decides which of the menu items to share with their community. Almost all the resources listed below are available now. None of the menu items require payment to any organization. Members of the Eugene/Springfield Spreading Kindness steering committee will be available to answer questions, make and assist with presentations, and serve as a general resource.

Note that another complementary approach to becoming a city of kindness is for the mayor to take the lead, as Tom Tait did in making Anaheim, CA a city of kindness. On November 3rd, 2019 Tom Tait made a keynote address at the Choose Kindness celebration in Eugene along with Mayor Lucy Vinis. These keynote addresses gave a significant boost to our campaign.

MENU OF RESOURCES

1.

Rationale for the campaign. Make available the one sheet handout on the personal and organizational benefits of increasing kindness. Distribute to stores, offices, and workplaces that are interested in the Spreading Kindness Campaign.

Share keynote video from Tom Tait, National Cities of Kindness leader.

Provide a thirty-second elevator speech to interested citizens that they can use with friends, neighbors, and co-workers to explain the value of increasing kindness.

2.

Messaging. Right away, begin messaging kindness by distributing signs (outdoor lawn signs or indoor window signs), button pins, bumper stickers, cards, and window clings. We also have window clings with logos related to local current events such as the Olympic Trials in 2020 and the World Championship Games in 2021. 

The Eugene/Springfield campaign would provide an unlimited number of buttons and cards for free, as well as 20 yard signs, bumper stickers (in English or Spanish), and your choice of window clings for free. Additional yard signs, bumper stickers, and window clings can be purchased and distributed at cost. Your kindness campaign committee would need to find a place to store and distribute them.

3.

Community organizations. Give introductory presentations to community organizations. There are three foundational kindness PowerPoints available:

1) Personal benefits
2) Organizational benefits
3) Community involvement

Please email us if you are interested in receiving one of the presentations.

4.

Schools. Make schools a priority. Provide both information resources (e.g., explanations of the importance of teaching kindness) and action resources (e.g., specific ways to inspire and teach kindness). An extensive array of resources is under development. One example is the event to honor high school students by having them give a public talk about kindness and their community. Another example is the Everyone Belongs grant and award program.

5.

Civic and faith groups. Suggest ways faith communities and service clubs can message the importance of kindness, both inside and outside their group; e.g., act on this kindness motto: See it, Say it, Spread it!

Rotary clubs also have their own version of an Everyone Belongs grant and award program. way to reach out to schools with an Everyone Belongs project. Email us for details about the Rotary version.

Other ways to bring a community together around kindness include:

a.

Religious Community Information Exchange (government leaders and faith communities share information about serving those in the community with great needs).
Anaheim’s Religious Community Council.

b.

Meetings to bridge the political divide (blues and reds come together for a structured discussion about finding common ground).
National organization for bridging the divide. 

c.

Civic and Faith Based PowerPoints

1) Service clubs (Rotary example)
2) Overview of Kindness Campaign (United Way example)
3) Professional Women’s Group
4) Political Parties

Please email us if you are interested in receiving one of the presentations.

6.

Profit, nonprofit and government organizations. Offer them resources below for increasing kindness that benefits the organizations and the employees.

a.

Present the rationale for increasing kindness in the workplace using the one page handout from item 1  that can be augmented with these PowerPoints:

1) Overview: Kindness is a key to organizational effectiveness
2) Health providers
3) Government: Public Works
4) Protectors: Police and fire fighters
5) County commissioners and city council
6) Educational Service District
7) University

Please email us if you are interested in receiving one of the presentations.

b.

Integrate kindness throughout the organizations using the U. S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s steps in developing a kindness program.

c.

Create a staff kindness challenge: Set a goal for a number of new acts of kindness, count the acts, and celebrate progress.

d.

For e and f below, customize content to fit the organization by:

  • having a planning group revise the structured discussion questions to align with the goals of the organization
  • presenting the PowerPoint already developed for that type of organization, and
  • providing appropriate handouts; for example, handouts for health providers and wellness programs from the Blue Zones and the University of Michigan.

e.

Schedule a time for employees to meet in small groups to discuss ideas based on this Harvard Business Review article and make suggestions for increasing kindness. The meeting can end with employees making a kindness commitment.

f.

Offer the manager/owner the set of ideas from the Harvard Business Review on how managers can create a kinder, more positive workplace. In a larger organization with multiple managers, schedule a time for managers to meet in small groups to discuss the set of ideas and to make suggestions for increasing kindness. The meeting can end with managers making individual kindness commitments
A research study from the Harvard Business Review has managers carry out five acts of self-kindness each day. 

g.

Integrate kindness into the personnel evaluation process, e.g. the employee exceeds, meets, or needs improvement on kindness expectations. Also provide self-evaluation questions for an employee to prepare for the kindness evaluation.

h.

Adjust focus of customer service: Being polite is essential; being kind is more.

i.

Measure the amount of kindness in the workplace, choosing from three measures: Surveys on kindness by employees, on kindness support by managers, and on unkind/negative workplace behaviors.