Random acts of crochet kindness – Time for giving

In my last post, I was talking about Gratitude. The ˝Thank you˝  part of Thanksgiving. Today I want to talk about giving. The best way to feel better is to do something for someone else. We can make the world a better place.

The positive energy is contagious. With just one act of kindness, you can inspire others to go out and plant seeds of happiness through giving, too.

Your greatest gift is the ability to share your blessings; it’s what makes life meaningful.

Sometimes you just need one little thing to think that maybe your day is not so bad after all. And making another person happy is a beautiful thing.

“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

I wanted to make a post about crochet charity organizations, and I discovered so many of them that I decided to make more than one post.

Today I will talk about random acts of kindness. I love it because everyone can do it. You don’t have to be a part of any organization, you don’t have to mail your creations anywhere, you just leave it where you go. All you have to do is to put a note next to the item.

The note is nice so that people who find the crochet item know that it is not lost and that they can take it. You can also include inspirational thoughts. Like: Always find reasons to smile.

Recently I have come across Facebook group called Random acts of crochet kindness. I loved it at first sight. Today this group has more than 4300 members, and it is only two months since it was created. This is fascinating! There are so many crocheters that want to give to strangers and make them smile.

It all began with 22-year-old woman. Olivia has decided to crochet flowers with notes attached and leave them at random places 100 days in a row. She suffers from depression, and she needed a distraction. The crocheting was perfect, because she had to concentrate on different colors and structures, and it was really soothing to her.

You can check out her Facebook group, and look for inspiration. You can crochet what ever you want, not just flowers. I made this cute little octopus keychain. I hope it will make somebody smile.

I was searching different Crochet charities, and I have discovered three more Random acts of kindness projects. I feel so much love for the people around me right now, there really is a lot of kindness in the world.

Have you heard about The Peyton heart project?

A lot of children are bullied, and parents watch it change their personality, make them hate school, and turn them into something less than they could be.

Peyton James was bullied to the point of committing suicide at the age of 13. This charity’s goal is to raise awareness of bullying, and it’s effects by spreading positivity through the release of yarn hearts into the world so that people can find them.

The Peyton Heart Project was inspired by several stories, including that of a 13-year-old boy named Peyton James, who died by suicide in 2014. During Peyton’s young life, he had experienced a tremendous amount of bullying by his peers.

Many of us know far too well what the harmful effects of bullying are on a child and how difficult it can be to believe that it will ever get better. Far too often, bullying leads to depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. Sometimes these issues can increase the likelihood of suicide.

The delicate hearts, each one made by hand and each one representing the fragile heart of a life lost to suicide, have various inspiring quotes attached to them, along with their social media information.

The hearts are placed in public places around the world for people to find during their everyday lives. They hope the hearts cause people to stop for a moment and reflect on a life lost to suicide, on bullying, and on the fact that everyone’s life matters. 

They want to leave people with a feeling that there is still good out there in the world, and would like to inspire others to join them on this mission of kindness.

If you would like to help spread the Peyton Heart Project and its message in your town, you can go to their webpage.

They accept donations of crocheted, knitted, or wrapped hearts that they will distribute, or you can distribute hearts in your own neighborhood – you just need to download the file of their uplifting messages to be attached to each heart.

Check out their Social media to see where their hearts have been found and how people react to finding them.

Before I introduce the next project, I want to share another quote:

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” – Charles Dickens

The Little Yellow Duck Project

The Little Yellow Duck Project is a global initiative highlighting the life-saving donation of blood, bone marrow, and organ and tissue.

While every random act of kindness can brighten someone’s day, these donations can literally save or transform someone’s entire life.

The Little Yellow Duck Project involves people around the world handcrafting little yellow duck gifts as random acts of kindness that are left in public places for others to find. A special tag on each one invites the finder to take their gift home to brighten their day and to visit this website to register where they found their gift.

They hope that the stories and information found there will encourage them to pledge their own random act of kindness by registering to donate blood, bone marrow, organ and tissues.

The Little Yellow Duck Project was created by Emma Harris in memory of her best friend, Clare Cruickshank, a kind and fun-loving person who lived life to the full. Clare loved being creative and was also crazy about little yellow rubber ducks. She had a huge collection of them in all shapes and sizes.

Clare was born with the genetic lung disease, cystic fibrosis, and by the age of 24, her lungs were so damaged that a transplant was her only hope of survival. Sadly a matching donor was never found, and despite a long fight, she passed away in 2013, aged 26.

Clare asked her Mum, to donate any organs or tissues that she could after her death. Although a matching donor hadn’t been found in time for her, she wanted to give someone else that chance and hope. As a result, the sight of two young adults has now been restored by receiving her corneas.

Each handcrafted little yellow duck gift aims to spread a little happiness to its recipient and awareness of how we can each follow Clare’s example in saving or transforming the lives of others through blood, bone marrow, organ or tissue donation.

11,861 Ducks were found so far in 104 countries. You can see the world map on their site. That is just amazing! And so inspirational! My country (Slovenia) is on the list. How about yours?

“Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give.” – Ben Carson

The last Random act for crochet kindness for today is:

The (Secret) Toy Society

The Secret Toy Society is a worldwide collective of toymakers (of varying skill levels) who make toys and leave them as gifts for perfect strangers.

The project was started in Australia in June 2008 by a local crafter, Bianca, as an attempt to create a ‘something for nothing’ experience for anyone who discovered a toy.

What started as a small personal project has now spread around the world and became known as a Random Act of Craft.

There are more than 3200 members throughout the world who have collectively gifted more than 1800 lovingly handmade toys to perfect strangers since the project began.

When a member leaves a toy gift, it’s called a “Toy Drop” and is posted on the blog and assigned a drop number. Each toy is safely sealed in a bag, with a tag attached inviting the finder to “Take Me Home I’m Yours” and left to be found.

Finders are invited, but not expected, to let The Toy Society know they have found a toy, and these notes are also posted on the blog. But it’s not expected to hear back from finders; The Toy Society is about giving someone something and expecting absolutely nothing in return.

Crafters of all levels are welcome to participate – even beginners and kids.

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” ―Pablo Picasso

I hope you are inspired to make a flower, heart, yellow duck, or a toy and leave it somewhere in your town. What will you make?

Together we can make a word a beautiful place, one simple act at the time. Even if you don’t crochet anything, you can just be nice and smile to someone or wave to a child. If you see somebody without a smile give them one of yours.

“Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.” – John D. Rockefeller Jr.

Do you know about any other Random act of crochet kindness group? You can share it with me in the comments, and I will add it to the post.

Thank you for reading.

Enjoy crocheting and have a beautiful day.

Katja