Hello! 😊
I hope this Kindness News
finds you doing well. If not, here’s is hug for you x
We have Thank You Thursday event on this week…
that I’d like to tell you about (more on that later)- it’s a bit late I know, but we’ve had several health issues happening this month, so I’m a bit behind.
Sometimes looking after yourself is the kindest thing you can do. But when you’re feeling a little better, being kind to others can really lift your spirits too. And the good news is, that just hearing about kindness can also make you feel better, both physically and emotionally.
I found an article describing how watching Kindness Media (e.g. short, uplifting films) in stressful health settings like hospitals can reduce stress in both patients and staff and increase their feelings of wellbeing and connection, which in turn significantly improves both their physical and mental health outcomes. It even suggested that kindness media could be used as a tool in health care settings. (I’ve included the article title and a quote at the end of this email)
Did you know that there is a newspaper called ‘The Happy Newspaper’ with nothing but happy news- how awesome is that?!
So, what kindness has been happening here?
We donated some Pick me Up Packs to…
North Townsville Community Hub to share within their community (thank you to those Pay it Forward donors). These are like hugs in a box with every item designed to brighten someone’s day. I hope they lift someone’s spirits and remind them that they’re not alone.
We gratefully accepted some beautiful little Scrunchie Packs…
to add to the kits and hand out during kindness activities. These gorgeous bundles include a beautifully packaged, handmade scrunchie, lollies and a little uplifting sticker- all put together by a beautiful mother-daughter team who make these to hand out locally as Random Acts of Kindness. Doesn’t that make your heart happy?!
Last month we enjoyed a Food Share Day…
at Missy Moos Coffee. We brought along some long-life food to donate to ADRA Community Pantry, which supports large local crowds every Friday. And we played some ‘food games’ and had a laugh. Then I showed everyone our new Townsville Food Share Directory.
Since starting The Kindness Catalyst, I have been asked multiple times where people can donate
- Leftover Event Food
- Fresh Garden Produce
- Long Life Food
- Sanitary Products
So I’ve consulted with local services and created an online Townsville Food Share Directory…
on our webpage www.thekindnesscatalyst.com.au
Because we know community organisations are super-busy, we’ve tailored the listings to include details about what donations the organisation has the capacity to accept and the best way to deliver them.
Here is a list of current Donation Locations (by suburb)
- The Women’s Centre
- City Libraries Aitkenvale Community Pantry
- The Salvation Army
- Missy Moos Coffee Community Pantry
- North Townsville Community Hub
- Ronald McDonald House
- Community Gro Garbutt
- Northreach Baptist Church
- Althea Projects Wee Care Residential
- Community Gro Upper Ross
- Althea Community Hub
- City Libraries Riverway Community Pantry
- City Libraries Flinders Street Community Pantry
- ADRA Food Pantry
You can find the Townsville Food Share Directory page here…
https://thekindnesscatalyst.com.au/townsville-food-share-directory/
You can register your Food Share Organisation/ Community Pantry here…
https://thekindnesscatalyst.com.au/food-share-directory-registration/
And if you or someone you know needs assistance, they can find it here…
https://www.cictownsville.com.au/services-and-publications/
So what are we up to this week?
This Thursday is Thank You Thursday for Paramedics at Missy Moos Coffee.
Our beautiful local Paramedics work selflessly, with crazy long hours and really tough, traumatic conditions to look after us all. And we are very grateful.
To say Thank You our super-generous sponsor is shouting all paramedics a FREE COFFEE from 8 til 10 at Missy Moos Coffee!!!! How awesome is that?! Please spread the word…
Then from 10.30-12 we have a Community Kindness Event at Missy Moos Coffee. I have created some adult colouring in style Thank You cards for you to colour in/ write on to express your gratitude to our paramedics. And I invite you to bring along a long-life morning tea item (like Tim Tams) to donate to make a Tea Room Gift Hamper that I’ll deliver to the paramedics. (if you can’t make it on Thursday, you are welcome to drop in your donation beforehand to Missy Moos Coffee (open 8-1 weekdays at 410 Ross River Road Cranbrook)
Here’s the web event link… https://thekindnesscatalyst.com.au/events/
Or the Facebook link… https://www.facebook.com/share/15spJPaZLt/
This is a FREE event thanks to our generous sponsor Donna Glass from Helen Munro Property and Missy Moos Coffee.
Here’s some more local Random Acts of Kindness to brighten your day…
I know for a fact that one of you beautiful people has been the beneficiary of a Random Act of Kindness. J was recently getting their nails done and went to pay, only to find that a stranger had already paid for them. J is not a person who has much money or normally spends it on themselves and she was crying tears of happiness and shared the good news on their social media so we all got the joy of hearing about it too.
I recently saw on our neighbourhood social media page how a girl around 6 was dropping little Random Acts of Kindness letters off, including hand drawn pics and some of her special collector tokens. How beautiful.
I hope you have a lovely day x
Fiona
P.S. Here’s that article:
Kindness as a Stress Reduction–Health Promotion Intervention: A Review of the Psychobiology of Caring
David A Fryburg 1,✉
Epidemiologic and clinical observations reveal the potential impact of kindness and connection on health and longevity, which are mechanistically underpinned by specific biomarkers suggesting that they effect changes opposite to those of stress. Simply seeing kindness and caring activates the neuropsychology of kindness, elevating the viewer and promoting generosity, interpersonal connection, and inclusion.
