We’re Teaming Up with Staples to Bring More Positivity to Classrooms Nationwide
We are thrilled to announce that we’re partnering with Staples to empower students and teachers alike to foster more positive and welcoming environments in our schools. As part of the incredible “Staples for Students” program, we’ll be working with Staples and the phenomenal DonorsChoose.org to help ensure that every child can learn in a classroom that supports their needs and sparks their imagination.
In the words of our Co-Founder Lady Gaga, “Classrooms that are positive and welcoming are classrooms where students can discover their passions and unlock their full potential…Kindness is one of the most important and most impactful values we can instill in students, and I look forward to working with Staples to foster positive classroom environments where every student feels safe, heard, and empowered.”
Stay tuned for more exciting details – including how you can help support this partnership AND enter to win a $50,000 scholarship and a chance to see Lady Gaga in concert. In the meantime, please join us in thanking Staples for their generous support. Together, we can create kinder, more positive environments for young people across the country.
In 2017, together with our co-founder Lady Gaga, we launched the #CupsOfKindness Collection with Starbucks. We hoped our four drinks would encourage everyone to start their day with a little extra kindness.
And the results couldn’t be more inspiring!
Thousands of you joined us in spreading love and joy through #CupsOfKindness. We saw #CupsOfKindness photos from around the country, from hundreds of different Starbucks. With your help, we raised over $250,000 – wow.
It means so much to us to see our community rise up for kindness. Every act of kindness, no matter how small, makes a difference to someone. Whether it’s finding a moment of self-care in a busy day or surprising the stranger in line behind you with a cup of coffee, the world gets a little brighter when you make time for kindness.
Thank you to Starbucks for working with us to make this amazing collection come to life. And thank you to everyone who supported us with a #CupsOfKindness purchase.
Below are just some of our favorite moments from the last week! Did you try #CupsOfKindness? Which one was your favorite? Tell us in the comments!
This week, we hosted a #KindnessChat on Twitter to recognize and celebrate May as Mental Health Awareness Month. Dr. Sue Swearer and Cynthia Germanotta discussed the initial results of Phase III of our Born Brave Experiences survey. We also took questions on how to support friends struggling with mental health problems and we talked about why mental health is just as important as physical health.
If you couldn’t join us, here are 5 of our favorite moments. And we hope you’ll join our next #KindnessChat!
The Cast of the Hit Broadway Musical “Dear Evan Hansen” on Kindness, Acceptance, + Mental Health
Last year, we announced that Born This Way Foundation would be launching a new program: Channel Kindness. It’s a platform to give youth a voice in a media landscape that too often ignores or misrepresents young people. It’s a platform to report on the kind, compassionate, and brave individuals and events that shape our communities. And it’s a platform to counterbalance the negative narratives that dominate the media and inspire hope that progress is possible.
Visit ChannelKindness.org today and be sure to follow Channel Kindness on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“Dear Evan Hansen” is a hit Broadway musical exploring the lives of a group of high school students as they deal with social anxiety, the pressures of communicating (online and offline), and honesty – with yourself, with your parents and with your community. The cast and crew deliver a brilliant, heartfelt, and altogether extraordinary performance aimed at teens, parents and anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.
Our very own Shadille Estepan and Laura Wilson met up with some of the cast and crew at the opening night and asked them about kindness, acceptance, and mental wellness. Here’s what they had to say:
Ben Platt – “Evan Hansen”
Q: What do you hope the audience takes away from this show?
A: “It’s a particularly scary time in the world at the moment and I think that there is something very powerful about sitting in a room and having a moment with the audience that feels very human, raw, and imperfect and flawed. It sort of reminds people that it may be very terrifying to be seen, to feel really truly seen by people, but that it’s the only way we are ever going to find common ground, is if we are not afraid to see the person beneath the ticks or sort of behavioral strangeness like Evan has. To reach beyond that and see that to see the human being that he is.”
Will Roland – “Jared Kleinman”
Q: “Dear Evan Hansen” focuses on the beautiful themes of mental health, acceptance, and kindness. Why do you feel that this is an important story to tell?
A: “We live in an age where mental wellness and mental health have been brought into the spotlight in a way that perhaps they haven’t in the ages of our forbearers (jokingly) and I think what “Dear Evan Hansen” does is that. It really, sort of, delicately explores that mental health and wellness are multifaceted things. It’s not just about chemicals in your brain, what you’re getting from your mom, or what you’re getting from your friends. It’s all of those things combined and the ways in which you can heal and get better aren’t similarly myriad.”
Kristolyn LLoyd – “Alana Beck”
Q: What does kindness mean to you?
A: “Like Alana, I’d say that I myself also exhibit moments of wanting to be a part and be a help to somebody. And so, I think kindness is that. Kindness is reaching out. Kindness is asking, “How are you?” Kindness is turning to your neighbor and saying, “How can I be of service?” I wouldn’t go as far as Alana does but I think that’s where we all should fall in the middle of. It’s understanding that you have an ability to make a change and an ability to make a difference. “
Laura Dreyfuss – “Zoe Murphy”
Q: What advice would you give to people to be kind even when it’s not returned?
A: “The most important thing is putting yourself in other people’s shoes. I think that that’s probably the hardest thing for a lot of people to do. Mainly, because some people might have never had to. Given where you’ve grown up. It think that’s the key to understanding anybody and to be kind to anybody, it’s by really seeing what it’s like being in their lives and if they are having a bad day, there is probably a reason for it. Everybody is truly doing the best that they can and having grace and forgiveness for that.”
Q: Speaking of grace and forgiveness, how forgiving are you with yourself and the courage it take to be up on stage?
A: “I think that as actors and artists we tend to be really hard on ourselves and be our own worst critics. At the end of the day all you have is you, so you want to hold yourself responsible as much as possible. That’s a constant everyday struggle. Is learning to forgive yourself when you feel like you aren’t doing enough or aren’t good enough. Not good in the sense of talent, but good in the sense of how you’re affecting everybody around you in a positive way.”
Michael Park – “Larry Murphy”
Q: “Dear Evan Hansen” does an incredible job of showing the perspectives of both the kids and the adults in the show – and how surprisingly both feel the same way: lost. Do you think we ever grow out of that, and how do we combat that feeling of isolation?
A: “I’m sorry, I’m getting a little bit emotional because I have three kids and one of my children probably about a year ago was having a really tough time in school and I sat them down and I said, “What is going on? Crying. What is happening?” And I would go through the list of things I thought it might be and they go, “No. Sometimes I just, I feel like Connor.” And I immediately was “trust fallen” and explained to them that you’re not by yourself in feeling this way.”
Mike Faist – Connor Murphy
Q: Born This Way Foundation focuses on the mental health and wellness of young people as does “Dear Evan Hansen,” there is so much synergy there. Why is this an important story to tell?
A: “I feel that it’s an important story to tell because we all deal with it. When I was doing research, if you will, for this. I was talking to a group of people who had attempted to commit suicide, failed, lived and are going through rehab and some of them are diagnosed with bipolar disorder and other things. In talking to them you realize that it’s a spectrum and that we are all on that spectrum and we all have moments of feeling depressed or feeling vulnerable in ways. It’s important because we are all in it together and we all feel this way. I feel like the sooner we can accept that and realize that the sooner we can get on with healing and loving one another.”
Our Born This Way Foundation team is so excited to announce that the winners of our Kick Off for Kindness campaign have been selected! We received so many amazing entries and we want to sincerely thank each and every one of you for your amazing acts of kindness!
Our five winning Watch Party hosts went above and beyond in using the Big Game as an opportunity to spread kindness in their communities! In New Jersey, one winner hosted a “Souper” Bowl Party where party goers collected over 150 pounds of food for homeless people in their community. Another in Massachusetts collected blankets as well as clothing items such as hats, coats, and gloves, so that the homeless in their community can stay warm.
One winner and their guests spent time before the Big Game volunteering at animal and homeless shelters, and then came together on game day to write letters to those who they met while another party spent the day creating snack packs and hygiene bags for their local shelters.
We were blown away by ALL of the acts of kindness that were submitted and love how many people turned out to help us make the Super Bowl so kind! But just because the parties are over doesn’t mean the acts of kindness need to stop!
Please continue to share your every day acts of kindness with us on Twitter and Instagram by using #YearOfKindness, so we can make 2017 the kindest year yet!