I have been to over fifty colleges during the six months of The Kindness Bus Tour. Virginia Tech should be on the list of every prospective student. Everyone is so engaging, from the student body to the professors. Friendly is an understatement, when it comes to describing the mood on campus. Even in the most inclement weather, everyone went out of the way to help one another. Virginia Tech is one of the leading institutions of learning, for creating an awareness of service towards others. These students are involved in so many great endeavors.

Today I interacted with over 700 students and faculty. It was a big day to say the least. Many of the students remembered me from the two previous trips to this beautiful campus. It was a very cold, windy day and being parked in front of the student center gave me the option of getting warm inside the building as needed. Even in the bitter cold, students took the time to stop and talk. As my day began, Casey, a student from NoVa, came to the rescue with a large hot coffee. We had some caffeine- fueled conversation. Sarah showed up with a hot chocolate twenty minutes later. Thank you for helping to keep me going guys. Sophia, who is a member of the Students for Non-Violence Club, loved the idea of One Million Acts of Kindness. She took a stack of stickers on her way to their meeting. She loved the fact that this movement started because of the tragedy of three years ago, and the positive impact it is now having. I had such a great response from everyone I met today. It was a very good day. Thank you to everyone.

Somebody up there must like Bogart. Everywhere we go, the Red Carpet keeps rolling out. We arrived on the Virginia Tech campus Tuesday evening with an invite to stay at the Lancaster House, from the good people at the YMCA at Virginia Tech. This beautiful house sits across from most of the campus and is in easy walking distance to everywhere I plan to visit. My initial contact was with Justin Graves who volunteers with the organization. He and I have been in contact with each other since December. It is during those conversations that the idea for One Million Acts of Kindness Week was formed. Justin has been contacting everyone he knows about spreading the message of kindness long before he and I met. A big thank you goes out to Sandy Wirt and Jen Pollard for their expertise in getting parking passes, securing our accommodations as the only tenants at the Lancaster House, taking me to dinner, and organizing a talk to students. The YMCA at Virginia Tech is as efficient and caring as an organization can be. The volunteers are as friendly and insightful as anyone I have met on this journey. Everyone involved with the YMCA is a true professional. Jen even shoveled the snow to the stairs as I arrived. That was huge. Thank you!!

For twenty-eight years, Mildred Lisette Norman, Peace Pilgrim, walked across the nation several times to promote peace throughout the world. She began her campaign during the Korean War and her travels ended tragically in a car wreck in 1981, as she was being driven to a speaking engagement. Peace Pilgrim’s only possessions were the clothes she wore and the few items, which fit in her pockets. Her convictions of making a better world ran deep. What a role model she is for the world.

I received an email from Bruce Nichols of The Friends of Peace Pilgrim. Bruce was enthusiastic about The Kindness Bus Tour and its mission of traveling across the US, to promote kindness. It was an extreme honor to read in the email that there will now be a One Million Acts of Kindness link on the www.peacepilgrim.org website. Thank you from a fan of Peace Pilgrim.

I am traveling to Virginia Tech to kick off the start of One Million Acts of Kindness Week. The interest in this week has exceeded my wildest expectations. Thank you to all schools, businesses, churches, groups, and families for taking part in this week. We are already planning next year’s weeklong event. Next year we will have an education tie-in for all ages. Next year’s dates are February 14-20, 2011. It is never too soon to register your school or group, our goal is 2,000 schools and groups taking part in this important week. To register, just email me at [email protected] 

How can one guy be so lucky in one lifetime? Fifty-four years of having eight sisters (seven older, one younger) always be there for me, throughout my life. Granted, it may have been a little cramped with all of us living in a four bedroom, one bathroom home growing up, but it had and still has, benefits too numerous to mention. Having such a large family in a small home, makes it nearly impossible not to be close. All of my sisters have left their personal mark on me. Lessons of core values, lessons of respect for others. A lifetime of kindness from their hearts, bestowed upon me. A large part of this movement is owed to the many lessons learned from my sisters over the years. I’ll post many inspiring stories in future blogs.

One Million Acts of Kindness Week begins Monday, a weeklong event, when tens of thousands of you, will decide if you want to make performing one million acts of kindness, your personal lifetime goal. The Kindness Bus Tour will be in Virginia Tech next week, we then head to southern Florida and then head north to Maine by June

I have a friend who seems to have been dealt a bad hand of cards all of her life. Just when life would start looking up she would be dealt another one of life’s jokers. She would  be “all in” when it looked like better luck might come her way. She realized several years ago that the hand she was hoping to be dealt, that in fact, she was dealing to others. She now lives her life, knowing that she is in as good of a place as she can be, by putting the needs of others “all in”.

Ninety two and still volunteering!  You gotta love this guy. Clarence Haynes is this proud man’s name. He lives a few hours north of the Canadian border in Ontario, alone but not alone. He has 45,000 people he inspires each and every day. Fellow diabetics. This is his family. He is able to get through his day knowing that another person, someone quite a bit younger, no doubt is counting on him as a role model. He and I talked for over a half hour about partnering One Million Acts of Kindness with his acts of bravery. As if being a role model for others as an Amigo wasn’t enough, he is also leading an effort to build a camp for children with diabetes. Every time I feel like slacking off, when I should be doing for others, Clarence is going to become my role model. I wonder how many miles the Kindness Bus will have when I am ninety-two.

One Million Acts of Kindness Week begins Monday. Thank you to all participating schools.