The days just keep getting better on The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes. The past couple of days, it felt more like a warm autumn day than a cool summer day. The seasons are slowly changing.
This morning I took the early morning ferry and the train to the southern tip of Staten Island. My day-long ride began at the 123rd Precinct in Tottenville. “This is really cool,” was the comment I was met with as I pulled up to their front door. “What a great way to promote Heroes,” was another. NYPD deserves good press and they can always get it here.
Engine 151 and Ladder 76 was my first stop of the five Firehouses I visited today. What a fun visit as we talked in the kitchen about lunch and what sort of momento of my visit they could give me. They insisted I take a lapel pin and a great looking “151” hat, which I wore in today’s photo.
My favorite story of the day was about Zio (Uncle) Angelo from Italy. When the Rossville Firefighter was a young boy, he went to Italy with his dad. His Zio Angelo would treat the children in his village to ice cream and other treats every day. It was guessed by the boy that Zio Angelo was a millionaire. When dad and son went to visit Zio Angelo at his house, the entire inside of the house was burned-out and there was only a mattress on the floor. Zio Angelo used all his resources to make the children in his village happy. It is what brought him joy. To me Zio Angelo was a millionaire, a kindness millionaire.
At day’s end in Manhattan, I had the pleasure to meet Angela G. Carr, Ph.D., NYC Department of Education Director of Division of Students with Disabilities & English Language Learners. She and I had a wonderful chat about The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes and the students in the NYC schools. With one stroke of the pen, 1.3 million children can learn about taking a lifetime pledge of One Million Acts Of Kindness. I’m keeping my fingers crossed on this one, big time!
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.