Contact

Email us at KindnessWeek@SPARKKindness.org

Please feel free to send us your questions and to share your your stories from this Kindness Week! We love receiving updates and pictures.


 

4th Annual Kindness Week -- 2021 

SPARK Kindness is celebrating the fourth annual Kindness Week from November 13 - 19!

Kindness has never been more important and Kindness Week is a time to shine a spotlight on the good that happens every day in our communities, and to inspire people to SPARK Kindness through simple but powerful actions. We invite community members, organizations, and businesses to all come together to help us celebrate this week and beyond! 

Members of the SPARK team will be on the common at the Farmers Market on November 13th to Kick off Kindness Week, which is also World Kindness Day! We invite everyone to join us as we share free resources, activities, and inspirations. 

Download a printable copy of our Kindness Week Flyer HERE!

 

Join us online and in person for our Kindness Week Activities!

Throughout the week.....

Kindness Connects Us! – Look for our Kindness Connects Us seal at local businesses and community offices. How many can you find? Do you have a business or location for a Kindness Connects Us seal? Please let us know (email kindnessweek@SPARKKindness.org). We’re happy to send one to you and/or you can download a seal HERE. We know kindness isn’t just about one day or moment, rather something we practice all year long. The message centers us in our interactions with ourselves (because we know, kindness start with being kind to yourself!) and in community – the places we live, work, learn and play.


Bethany Shaw illustrator artist designer – Artist Statement: This design is inspired by Kindness Week and our vision to celebrate a connected community. The individual dots represent each authentic member of our community and when we put all the dots together we create a beautiful shape that does not exist without the representation of many. This logo recognizes that we are all unique members of a connected community, and when we as individuals overlap in between the two hearts, we influence and enhance each other to create something new and beautiful. https://www.instagram.com/bethanyschlegel/  bethany@bethanyschlegel.com

Kindness Connects Us is all over town! – Download your own copy of our Kindness Connects Us coloring sheet HERE, or pick one up from our friends at Roche Bros Natick, Sweetwaters, the Morse Institute Library or BAHA Mexican Restaurant! Write or draw in the hearts how you showed kindness, saw kindess or received kindness. Take a pic of your finished art to shre with us @SPARKKIND and tag #KindnessConnectsUs, or bring your artwork back to our partners locations for the whole community to enjoy! 

FLAG - Free Little Art Gallery – Share your own kindness inspired small art projects in Natick's First FLAG, located outside the entrance to the Morse Institute Library. Help SPARK fill the FLAG during Kindness Week by making, and encouraging others to make, small works of art in any medium (drawing, clay, poetry, photography, beading, etc.), inspired by kindness, love, connection, community.  The FLAG - Make Art, Leave Art, Take Art -  brings joy and purpose to the maker and receiver! Check out the FLAG facebook page HERE to learn more!


Neighbors in Need - Service Project @ the Morse Institute Library – We will be collecting nonperishable food and personal care items for the Natick Service Council and Dignity Matters, and new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots during Kindness Week. Your donations can be dropped off at the Morse Institute Library 14 E. Central Street, Natick (A list of items most needed can be found HERE). Our friends at the Morse also have a Kindness Week Table with books and resources. Be sure to check it out, and pick up a Kindness Connects Us coloring sheet! You can also download the coloring sheet HERE.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random Acts of Kindness –  Share the ways you have connected through kindness -  as the giver, the receiver and the observer of kindness all around you. Email your photos or written story or inspiration to kindnessweek@SPARKKidnenss.org and/ or tag us on social media #KindnessConnectsUs #SPARKKindnessNatick #SPARKKindnessWeek

Follow SPARK Kindness – Look out for SPARK newsletters and videos with inspirational messages and ideas about the 7 Pillars of Kindness every day during Kindness Week (and all year long!) - You can follow us on Facebook @SPARKKIND and SPARK Kindness + Positive News @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/sparkpositive and on Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/sparkkindness/

Update your Facebook profile pic using the Kindness Connects Us frame – Link HERE! You can find the frame by clicking on your profile, then selecting update profile pic, then selecting add frame, then searching for "Kindness Connects Us".

Wearing and Sharing Kindness – Check out CauseTeam, and their unique SPARK Kindness inspired wearable art and more – great gifts for you, or someone in your life! 40% of each purchase made through the SPARK page supports our free and accessible programs and resources! https://www.causeteam.com/causepages/detail/spark-kindness

Kindness Week Special Programs….

Saturday, Nov. 13 from 9am-1pm – Common Kindness Day/World Kindness Day, at the Natick Farmers' Market outside the Common Street Spiritual Center (in person) – Connect with the SPARK team, grab Kindness Week resources, and help us chalk the walks with inspirational messages of kindness, love and inclusion from the Common to your neighborhood! We'll also have fun take-and-make art projects for kids of all ages.

Be a Kindness Detective (download your Kindness Detective sheet HERE and HERE or pick up a special kit at the Farmers' Market on Saturday!)
See the good - Start simple: look for kindness around you!
Be the good - Commit random acts of kindness!
Receive the good - Give the gift of allowing someone to help you!
And, help us collect items for the Little Free Food Pantry, located at the Common Street Spiritual Center/Natick Common. Check HERE for a list of items most needed by our neighbors. 

Sunday, Nov. 14 from 11am – 1pm Community Connecting & Mindfulness Walk (in person), meeting location AMVET (79 Superior Drive, Natick). Please note, this is not a public parking lot but we have special permission from our AMVET friends to park here for our Kindness Week connection walk! Join the SPARK Kindness team and neighbors for a walk along the newly opened rail trail. We’ll connect with each other, and in nature, for this special community walk. A map of this wonderful and growing network of trails can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/crtrail/photos/2919179028331577 and HERE.


Mindfulness + Meditation: Here is one of our team's favorite FREE meditation apps, Insight Timer - https://insighttimer.com/. Also check out guided mindfulness recordings from Christine Guthery and Laura McCarthy of SPARK Kindness! And a special meditation offered by one of SPARK's recent Resilient Community speakers, Sebene Selassie!

  • Being Kinder To Yourself with Greater Good Science Center ...Put your hands over your heart and say, "May I be kind to myself. May I learn to accept myself as I am."

Tuesday, Nov. 16 from 7– 8pm via Zoom Resilient Community Program “How to Have Difficult Conversations with Kindness” (virtual) with Dr. Roxy Manning – For parents, caregivers, educators, and community members of all ages. Though conflict is part of life, many of us struggle with how to communicate during challenging situations. In this program, Roxy Manning, PhD, psychologist and expert in Nonviolent Communication, will offer strategies to address conflict (and standup for ourselves and others) with a compassionate approach. ASL interpretation will be provided at this event. More info and registration HERE.


Kindness Week Community Partner Events in Natick & Westborough!

Saturday, Nov. 13 from 1-4pm at Westborough High School and online, and all week long! SPARK partner Westborough Connects celebrates Kindness Week with an afternoon of free, fun and inspiration, featuring a keynote speaker presentation by New York Times best-selling author and yoga & mindfulness instructor Susan Verde. Susan’s children’s books include her “I am” series, illustrated by Peter Reynolds, which focus on the elements of social emotional learning commonly integrated into education curriculum for children.  Pre-registration for this event is requested. Click HERE for more informatioin, and to register. Masks are required for attendees.Those unable to make it to the in-person event will be able to access the keynote presentation virtually through Westborough TV cable and YouTube channels. Click HERE for more info about Westborough Connects and their week-long celebration.


Saturday, Nov. 13 from 2:30 – 4pm Diwali Celebration (in person) at the Morse Institute Library Lawn, 14 E. Central Street, Natick – Join Natick Center Cultural District and the Morse Institute Library for this special celebration with festive interactive art, light, dance and more. Diwali or Deepavali, the annual Festival of Lights in the Hindu calendar, is India's biggest and most important holiday of the year. The festival gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that Indians light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects them from spiritual darkness. It signifies the triumph of light over darkness, truth over falsehood, and good over evil. More info HERE. Online resource about Diwali HERE. All are welcome!

Saturday, Nov. 13 – 10am – 2pm Kindness Day at Eddie’s Dog Park, 109 W. Central St., Natick FIDO invites you to celebrate Kindness Day by participating in a pet needs drive for A Place to Turn, creating Kindness Rocks for the Park gardens, and more. Check out event details on the FIDO facebook page HERE. All are welcome to participate! And bring your pup!

Saturday, Nov. 13 from 12-1:45 pm at NCCD, 8 Court St. - Painting for Kids with Amy Adams! In the spirit of sharing love and gratitude, Amy Adams, Artist in Residence in Natick, will run a FREE “Paint Party” event for our young community members AGES 8-11. Seats are limited, first come, first served. Register at:  http://ow.ly/WaV250GJBAu 

Sunday, Nov. 14 from 2-3pm Court Street, Natick - Celebrating Community and History and the newest mosaic of artist, Carol Krentzman.  All ages welcome for this special dedicatoin ceremony. Information HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

THANK YOU SPARK "PARTNERS in KINDNESS"

Special thanks to the Sudbury Foundation for their program support, and to all of SPARK's Kindness Week "Partners In Kindness", including MutualOne, DACON, Patrick's Promise Foundation, Natick Center Cultural District, and Middlesex Savings Bank. 


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