Nine years ago today, thirty-two individuals’ lives were ended at Virginia Tech. I began One Million Acts of Kindness because of that event. Three days after the shooting in 2007, I drove from Cleveland, Ohio to Blacksburg, Virginia. I was there for four days and witnessed tens of thousands of individuals visit the memorial on the drill field on the VT campus: parents, brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors and relatives with their hearts torn, a loved one taken from them and in many cases, many loved ones taken from them. My thought was how much hate and hurt would have to be in a person’s heart to do such an act. It was on my drive back home to Cleveland Ohio that I prayed for an answer. What could I do as an individual? The other end of the spectrum from all that hate and hurt is all that love and kindness. What came through me was having kindness as a life-long goal.
This small, one man and his dog on a bus and a bicycle traveling the country is having a profound effect on many individuals across the world.
It began as a 10 year dedication but honestly, there is no way I would ever stop. I will do this till my last breath with the hope in my heart that billions of people across the globe embrace kindness in their heart.
Kindness always.
Hokies forever!
