I packed up the winter clothes and left the warmth of south Florida for the warmth of family and friends. This one week, whirlwind visit to northeast Ohio is barely enough time to see everyone.
Making 4 stops once I arrived in Cleveland, is going to be the norm for the next 7 days. Today’s photo is of me and Toot’s, my son Peter’s dog. She is not a lap dog, but took the time to pose with me for a few moments.
The Kindness Bicycle will get a break, but an interview or two, while here, will bring word of the Ring Our Country with Kindness tour to locals from my hometown.

I met a very caring Dr. Donna Daisy who had heard that The Kindness Bus was in her hometown. She has started a community initiative to make Naples as kind as the small nation of Bhutan, a nation that places value on kindness and compassion toward others. She and a prominent group of individuals are challenging the community to take a 30 day pledge to commit to kindness, with the hopes that a habit of paying attention to be kind becomes a lifestyle for everyone.
I love efforts like Dr, Daisy’s, as I am convinced lives are changed due to the diligence of hard working people such as she.
The website, www.Be-The-Change-Challenge.com is worth a visit.

The Kindness Bicycle made a couple of scheduled stops to visit the great people at these two locations. Yoga teacher, Lauren Romero spotted The Kindness Bus last week and immediately knew its message would be a nice addition to her class. Lauren had me talk to the group before the class started. It was as if I was preaching to the choir. This group is involved in all kinds of goodness, they even had donation boxes in their waiting area.
The local Lululemon store invited me to visit, Kindness Bicycle and all. It was such a nice way to spend an afternoon, being able to connect with all the customers at this busy location.
Thank you to Richard and Jill for the hospitality and generosity. They have arranged for The Kindness Bus to be parked at their Unity Church when I head north for Christmas for a week.

Edie Pagoni is the driving force behind Kneads, a Fresh Vision for Special Education. She established this nonprofit organization to help mentor students with autism through social, creative and vocational opportunities.
Their program provides a variety of activities where individuals can socialize and develop their interests and hobbies. They are dedicated to guiding these young adolescents to achieve independence in their aspirations and interests, and well as involvement in their community.
Tonight was a wonderful awards banquet, she asked me to talk to the crowd to begin the evening. What an honor to be a part of such an important event.
Visit their informative website at www.kneads.org
Today, while out riding, Naples Daily News photographer, Scott McIntyre followed me throughout the town as I interacted with people. Earlier in the day, Kristine Gill, a reporter, contacted me for an upcoming story in the paper.
Thanks for helping me spread word of the mission of One Million Acts Of Kindness.

Lulu from House of Gaia invited me to a memorial for the children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Parents and young children from the community took part in this wonderful evening. Lulu asked me to come by to present a short program to this group. It was a night of healing for all of us. Most of the talks focused on kindness and love and the importance of having these values embraced by everyone, no matter the age. Having a conversation with most of the families after the program, while walking around The Kindness Bus, helped many in the crowd learn from talking about many of its sayings. Every message on The Kindness Bus is a lesson to learn at an early age.

I love meeting with old friends as I travel the country. Most friends are very interested in the day to day operation of One Million Acts Of Kindness, some, I haven’t seen for years and have no idea what I have been up to the past 4 years. It is fun to bring them up to speed, so to speak.
While out in this community I met with Jim and Carole, two friends from northeast, Ohio. The three of us met over breakfast and talked about riding to raise awareness about Bullying and Adolescent Suicide.
I have an upcoming appointment from a kind hearted Jim, to perform some work on The Kindness Bus at his auto dealership, a welcome to south Florida party from Francesca for The Kindness Bus Tour and a future article in a local magazine. All of this in a day’s time and all of it before the crowds from the north, head to south Florida.

• Stay calm. This situation is literally a nightmare for parents—I know. Kids don’t need you to telegraph your fears on to them. Turn the TV off when young children are present. Repeated news reports can make kids anxious.
• Give them a chance to voice their fears and answer their questions honestly and patiently. These may seem like small things, but they’re very important for kids struggling to process a disturbing experience or terrifying disruption in their lives.
• Be direct but also developmentally appropriate in your conversations. And remember, it is always a series of conversations, not a single sit-down. Expect a child to come back again and again with questions as they build a narrative about what happened; with your help it can be a healthy one, even if it is a very difficult subject. Make kids feel safe with love and continued routines. Security gives children confidence at the same time that it lets them be kids while they need to be.
• Finally, it’s important to keep an eye on kids and be alert to signs that they might not be recovering in a healthy way—changes in their patterns of sleep and eating, unusual irritability or trouble focusing, obsessive or pervasive worry.