There are many (impactful + easy) ways to celebrate with us!

Will you share your stories? What does kindness look like to you? Is it a simple, random act of generosity? Have you witnessed kindness in your community? Do you have a friend or colleague who has a story to share? Send your stories HERE, or email to kindnessweek@SPARKKindness.org 

Saturday, October 28th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Connect with SPARK team members at the Natick Farmers Market where we will share resources and inspiration for Kindness Week. Come say hi as we connect in community. We will be outside the Common Street Spiritual Center collecting pantry items for the Common Good Mini Pantry Click here for items frequently needed for the Common Good Mini-Pantry.

November 4th is Common Kindness Day and Kindness Week Kick-off! Help us chalk the walks of Natick and beyond with inspirational (and multicultural/multilingual!) messages and symbols of love, and inclusion, starting on Saturday, Nov. 4! Help SPARK Kindness "chalk the walk" with kindness messages from the Natick Common to all the Natick neighborhoods ... and beyond! Share your creations KindnessWeek@SPARKKindness.org or tag us online: #KindnessConnectsUs, #SPARKKindnessNatick, #SPARKKindnessWeek

November 5th from 9 a.m. to 12:00 for the annual Big Leaf Rake Please join neighbors and friends from Keep Natick Beautiful, Natick Rotary, Natick Housing Authority, and SPARK Kindness for an intergenerational Big Leaf Rake service project at Cedar Gardens in honor of Veterans Day and to Kick off SPARK Kindness Week! Sign up HERE. 

November 5th from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. is our Community Connecting & Mindfulness Walk Join the SPARK Kindness team and neighbors for a walk along the rail trail. We will connect with each other, and in nature, for this special community walk.Meeting location AMVETS (79 Superior Drive, Natick). Please note, this is not a public parking lot but we have special permission from our AMVETS friends to park here for our connection walk!

November 6th from 4:30 - 7:30 p.m. for an Open Door Dinner Connect and serve dinner to and with our neighbors! Interested in either donating funds, making food, or serving? Please sign up HERE.

Community Partners in Kindness Week are celebrating too! Join us in these special programs and activities and check back often to learn more about this growing list of celebrations.

Depolarizing Within: A Braver Angels Workshop with Common Street Spiritual Center (CSSC) on Saturday, November 4 from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. Facilitated by Rick Frazier

Build skills to help you decrease polarization in political conversations, build self-awareness, and express disagreement without condemning or ridiculing others. This workshop is provided by Braver Angels, a nonprofit organization committed to strengthening our nation by bridging the partisan divide. A second workshop, Skills for Bridging the Divide, will be held at the same time on Sat 11/11. Register for both here. 

Workshop #1: Depolarizing Within, Nov 4 from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Workshop #2: Skills for Bridging the Divide, Nov 11 from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.

 Restoring and Revitalizing Relationships with Common Street Spiritual Center (CSSC) on Thursday, November 9 from 7:00 PM – 9:00 p.m. Facilitator: Anne Lafleur

RSVP/invite friends on Facebook (optional) : https://fb.me/e/6JJPrWuv9

Skills for Bridging the Divide Workshop with Common Street Spiritual Center (CSSC) on Saturday, November 11 from 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Facilitated by Rick Frazier

Register here.

A full listing of all the free CSSC programs and activities is available HERE. There are many more programs offered through the week by our CSSC Community Partners in Kindness Week.

Little Free Food Pantry

Thank you for filling the pantry and let's help collect items all year long. The Little Free Food Pantry, located outside the Common Street Spiritual Center, Natick Common. Check HERE for a list of items most needed by our neighbors. 

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. The Kindness Connects Us Coloring Page asks children to think of a time they showed, saw, or received kindness!  Kindness Connects Us is all over town! Download your own copy of our Kindness Connects Us coloring sheet HERE (available in English, Spanish and Portuguese). Write or draw in the hearts how you showed kindness, saw kindness or received kindness. Take a pic of your finished art to share with us @SPARKKIND and tag #KindnessConnectsUs, or bring your artwork back to our partners locations for the whole town to enjoy!

Display the Kindness Connects Us Seal! Kindness Connects Us is a message that not only centers us on how to be with each other, and in community, but affirms the community we are, and our shared value of kindness. Download your seal HERE.Since we know kindness isn't just about any one week, we hope that you feel free to keep the seal displayed throughout the year!

A SPARK Kindness GUIDE with resources to continue the kindness all year.

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/

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

And practicing 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!

• Resilience Recharge with Christine Fortune Guthery

• Self Compassion Meditation from Laura McCarthy 

• Meditation for Grounding and Belonging with 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."

Join SPARK to celebrate our Partners in Kindness who support and collaborate with us throughout the year!