Celebrating World Kindness Day

Hot doubles, snacks, drinks, Subway and KFC were just some of the goodies that members of the public were treated to today as Ross Rethink and Band of Support celebrated World Kindness Day. Agency Manager of Ross Rethink and Resource Lead for Band of Support, Chester Parris, explained the idea behind the event. "World Kindness Day being celebrated, obviously, across the world, we thought, look, why not champion what it represents right here in Trinidad and Tobago? The idea of spreading kindness, spreading positivity, sharing a positive message with the nation, with each other that, hey, we can make life better, we can make a difference." Mr. Parris noted that the inspiration for giving back goes way beyond World Kindness Day. "We thought one day, look, we can't just be having a business and doing work for our clients without there being some purpose behind what we're about and what we're doing. And they let us ask ourselves three questions: 'Who am I?' 'What is my purpose?' and 'How will I be remembered?' And when you apply that to almost everything you do, then you realise, look, there's a lot much more that's happening in our daily lives that we need to pay attention to and that could bring change in anyone's life, our lives." He challenged everyone to display an act of kindness. "With just one small gesture, it could be a smile, it could be giving somebody a free cup of coffee, it could be paying for somebody's taxi fare, it could be anything, it could be grander than that. Whatever you could afford, whatever you can, whatever resource you have, it doesn't have to be money. As I said, it could be a gesture, it could be a smile, it could be saying good day, having a little patience, a little tolerance. All these things add up in terms of making someone's day better, your day better, and everything better." A part of today's celebrations featured the display of small local businesses. "So you can see how kindness goes just beyond giving somebody something free or a smile. It's also how we could help our young people to build their own business, build their own future, and have a solid foundation moving forward." World Kindness Day is observed annually on November 13th.