“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”  – Aesop

You’ve probably learned a lot about our new program, Channel Kindness, in recent weeks.  Everyone on team Born This Way Foundation is truly pumped for this program.  We feel that we’ll be able to harness the power and passion of young people to spread kindness and bravery in an incredible new way.

You may also remember me from when I shared my story shortly before the Emotion Revolution.  Accepting myself was a huge part of my own personal journey and sometimes, when I’m having a rough day, I simply have to stay away from the negativity in our world and realize that there are countless hearts that want to make the world a better place.

Case in point: living as a disabled person, I ask others for help on a daily basis.  This ranges from getting things out of a bag for my college classes, to opening doors on campus, to turning in assignments on the other side of the room.  Sometimes, I feel bad for asking – like I’m being a pain to others.  But the beautiful thing is, nearly every time–friends, and sometimes people who I don’t even know–find it in their hearts to help me.  Sometimes, I apologize for bothering them.  The conversation usually follows with a no problem and a friendly smile.  I smile back.

In return, I do everything I can to reciprocate that kindness.  Although I can’t physically help others in the way that they help me, I find it in my heart to donate small amounts of money to the homeless, hospitals doing important work, or other charities that are important to me.  Just like the friends who help me, I always help others the same way – with a smile.  In the spirit of these acts of kindness, we need young people ages 16 to 24 to help us #ChannelKindness.  The program is designed to equip youth reporters with the skills they need to have their eyes, ears and hearts open to kind and heroic acts – just like the ones that happen on my college campus every single day.

Apply now for Channel Kindness.  Youths can apply themselves or nominate others.  Applications end October 21.

Bravely Yours,

Emma

Never in a million years did I think that I would be sitting on the South Lawn of the White House, surrounded by the hundreds of people working towards creating positive social change in our country, listening to the President of the United States talking with Leonardo DiCaprio. However, that is exactly where I found myself on Monday October 3rd, when I was fortunate enough to represent Born This Way Foundation at the South X South Lawn festival.

Along with great music, dance parties, temporary tattoo artists, and not to mention a great view, there were inspiring speakers and panels. From CEOs to nonprofit leaders, everyone was focused on how we can all work together to use our knowledge and resources to ensure a bright future for both ourselves and the generations after us. With the incredible group of people that were gathered it was no surprise that each person we talked to asked the same question “How can we help support your work?” Our team could not have been more excited to tell them about Channel Kindness. We were blown away by the response. Everyone we told wanted to apply themselves, nominate a young person in their lives, or were offering up a tool or resource to help us grow the program.

It is days that this, where I leave an event excited to go back to work despite how tired I am, that remind me how important the work we are doing really is.

The beauty of the work we are doing is that you do not have to travel anywhere to make a difference. You can recognize and amplify every day acts of kindness in your own schools and communities. Your actions can create a ripple effect and we hope that, eventually we can drown out the negativity that we have become so numb to.

On behalf of Born This Way Foundation, I would like to thank the White House for including us in this amazing event. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to meet and share our work with so many wonderful people!

And to all the amazing innovators and change-makers we met, thank you for all the work you do. Thank you for making the world a better place. And thank you for joining us in our mission to amplify kindness.

Even if you weren’t at SXSL, you can still be a part of Channel Kindness! Apply to be a reporter here. Or do you know someone who would be a great voice for compassion in your community? Nominate them to be a Channel Kindness reporter! 

Yesterday, I was walking out of the grocery store with my two small children and we walked by a homeless family. The father was holding a sign that read “I lost my job. We all need help sometimes.” I read the sign as I passed and smiled at him. I was in a rush, hurrying to pick up dinner and make it home in time for bath time, bed time and one last conference call. We picked up dinner and walked towards the man and his family again and my son paused in front of the sign and asked, “Mama, what does this say?”

Three Pennies Can Make A Difference

I read him the sign and watched his face as he thought about what it meant for this man to be asking for help, and his own ability to help him. We walked another couple of steps towards the car and my son stopped. “I’d like to give him my pennies.” I knelt down next to him and asked him to repeat himself, though I knew exactly what he was asking for. He had found three pennies on the floor in Chipotle and he was clutching them inside the pocket of his Carmel hoodie, so excited to go home and put them in his piggy bank. I told him that if he gave that family his pennies, I’d add my dollars. He ran happily back to the man and gave him all the money in his little hands.

In my son yesterday, and in each of you every day at Born This Way Foundation, I see people whose decisions and conversations are driven by kindness, acceptance, and compassion. I see organizations and groups of people that are committed to crossing boundaries and working together to solve problems. I see passion and commitment to building a kinder, braver and better world and I am honored to do this work alongside you.

Kindness and Compassion Outweigh Hate

Today, Born This Way Foundation is launching Channel Kindness. The work of Channel Kindness will be to identify, train and equip a corps of 50 youth reporters in communities across the country to train their eyes, ears, and hearts to find, recognize and report the acts of kindness that fill our daily lives. The goal of our new program is simple; to channel kindness. The stories of kindness, compassion, and bravery will be told on a new platform and across the foundation’s social channels, shared by our partners and distributed by traditional media. Our hope is that the narrative of an engaged, empowered, collaborative and compassion generation and society will outweigh the divisive, depressing, sensationalist stories that floor our minds every day.

We are not naïve, we know that our country is facing crises on many levels, but we also know that in order to stand together to through today’s crises as well as tomorrow’s, we must not only believe but prove that the good outweighs the bad, that our strength outweighs our weakness and that love outweighs hate. We need to read the signs, hear the words and watch the actions of people asking for kindness, for support, and for community, and do our part to Channel Kindness.

If you’re a young person between the ages of 16 – 24, please apply here and if you know a passionate young person with a story to tell, please nominate them here.