All throughout The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes, but primarily in New York City, I have been hearing about an organization named, Friends of Firefighters. Based in Brooklyn, New York, this organization, founded by Nancy Carbone, is a godsend. I will be visiting the in the upcoming week. The following information is taken from their website www.friendsoffirefighters.org Friends of Firefighters is dedicated to addressing the physical, mental health, and wellness needs of New York City’s firefighters and their families. Our ongoing mission is to provide long-term support and services through confidential counseling, wellness services, and other assistance required by firefighters and their families.
Thousands of active and retired firefighters responded to the alarm and 343 members of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) perished in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001. Friends of Firefighters was born within days of this catastrophic event through the performance of several unobtrusive acts of kindness offered by the local community. These ranged from making dinners for exhausted rescue workers, to coordinating and facilitating “behind the scenes” in a variety of ways for funerals and memorials, to sitting and listening to firefighters talk over a cup of coffee.
Friends of Firefighters was born out of necessity after the 9/11 attacks. Offering therapeutic and mental health resources to active and retired firefighters and their families in the days following, we quickly realized this issue would need to be addressed for years to come. Over the past 10 years, Friends of Firefighters has expanded to meet the growing needs of the FDNY community.
The organization offers confidential, individual, marriage, and family counseling; peer support programs; acupuncture, massage therapy, and training in the Bio Feedback mPod; financial and budget guidance; and referrals to many other resources.
Please help us spread our message of a Goal of Kindness to schoolchildren across the country. Your donations are crucial to making this a reality.
Mail donations to:
One Million Acts Of Kindness
PO Box 770054
Lakewood, OH 44107
You can also donate through PayPal:
Bogart is my travel companion on The Kindness Bus Tour for the next ten years. We will be on the road traveling to campuses across the country. Bogart is a eight year old Boston Terrier. He is a great people dog... he loves meeting new people. I am Bogart's fourth owner in his short 8 years of life... Not because of him but because his three previous owner's lifestyles changed after they took him in... Lucky for me!! Bogart is the luckiest, most spoiled dog on the face of the earth. He loves the bus and he loves to travel. Please come and visit him when we are on your campus.
The Blue Bird Corporation donated this amazing bus to One Million Acts of Kindness, allowing us the continue this initiative. It has been painted to closely resemble the original Kindness Bus. It will last well beyond the ten years of this mission. A very big thank you to Blue Bird from Bob Votruba and Bogart too!!
The original Kindness bus has been donated to a professor at Virginia Tech who will use it on campus and at schools in the Blacksburg area. The Kindness Bus will continue to inspire and comfort residents, students and visitors in that area for years to come.
One Million Acts Of Kindness is a goal. A goal for each person to individually perform One Million Acts Of Kindness in their life. Can you imagine a greater goal for one's life? It is a constant mind-set of kindness every day of your life for the next fifty-five years. Doing for others and kindness in your heart for everyone. It is my wish that you will dedicate your life to a charity... finding the passion in your heart for something or someone in need.
As a father of three college age kids I am concerned for the world in which all kids will live. A great way to create a safer, more caring world is for everyone to start their lifetime goal of One Million Acts Of Kindness. So I bought a bus, had about sixty family members, friends and neighbors help paint it and began a ten year journey with my Boston Terrier, Bogart, to college campuses across the country hoping to convince as many of you as possible about this much needed movement for this world. I love you guys too much to sit back and not do anything about this. Let's start a kindness movement in this country today to change the direction this world is headed!! You are the change that this world needs.