Tens of millions of kids across the country have a summer to celebrate being out of school in the very near future. What a great opportunity to play, travel or just relax. Three months of paradise for a child! Oftentimes, after a week or two of summer, children will be looking for structure to their daily routine.
There are opportunities for children, to round out their celebration of summer: volunteering.
Many of these opportunities can be great fun for your child, all of them are rewarding.
It’s up to you to inspire your children to spend part or all of their summer involving themselves in helping others. Make it fun! Help them find their passion at a young age. Have them get their friends involved or have parents of friends or classmates of your child help you to put together a team of kids. Great good will come to the child who pours his or her heart into a charity. This sort of activity will have long term benefit to every child who gives of them self. It is up to you to further inspire your child in creative ways, one of the best ways is to volunteer. It is also a great way for you to take stock of your own life and volunteer on your own or alongside your child. There is no greater role model for a child to witness, then a parent doing such beautiful service for others.
Check out www.compassionatekids.com for volunteer opportunities in your area.

Sitting on campuses across the country this year, anxiously awaiting their degrees, were nearly 1.8 million college students dressed in cap and gown.
A new beginning was ahead for all of them. A lifetime of opportunity for them, to help themselves and to help others.
The best time to start a new undertaking is when there is a defining juncture in one’s life. Partnering service along with a new career for these graduates can make huge impact in the lives of everyone concerned.
Congratulations to all of the individuals who are now headed out into the world to do great work.
A wonderful resource to find organizations in need of your expertise is, www.serve.gov

Good things are in the works for the mission of One Million Acts Of Kindness being in the national spotlight once again. CNN videographer, Evelio Contreras is nearly finished putting together a piece on this mission of kindness. Filmed and interviewed over the last 8 months, and just recently, this piece will be spread to over 5 million daily viewers. It is sure to have a big impact.
I will, well in advance, announce the date the piece is featured on this website and other social media.

What would it take for you to be the kindest person on earth?
The answer is quite simple but it is truly your actions which count. We can all be the kindest person in every moment of our lives, it is a choice all of us can make in every situation. It is an action we can adopt in our lives going forward from this very moment.
We can all be tied for 1st place as the kindest person on earth…that’s how we make this world the best place possible.

There are many people involved in helping to find a suitable replacement bus and others who want to lend a kind hand in repairing The Kindness Bus. Joe, my friend from Advance Auto Clinic in Chesterland, Ohio has been a big help in the past and is using his resources to help find a suitable replacement. I have the luxury of time and terrain, having The Kindness Bus on the relative flat west coast of California. The Kindness Bus has no problem doing quick climbs over short hills, it has major engine issues on the long grades and will quit if I try to push it over the Rockies to the east or the ranges to the north.
I do have a contingency plan, to buy a couple months of time to find a new bus or repair The Kindness Bus. I will talk about that next week.

Being in Pepper Pike, Ohio to pay a short visit to counselors at Orange High School, I just had to stop at the Suicide Prevention Education Alliance (SPEA).
Executive Director, Pat Lyden and some of her staff went out of the way to take a break from their work to visit with me on short notice.
SPEA has been educating students in schools about the need to understand the warning signs of suicide in order to help those who are suffering seek help from a mental health professional. This “first line of defense” is one of the best ways to save a life.
SPEA’s programs have spread locally here in Northeast Ohio and are now having an impact across the nation, testimony to the the importance of the work of this fine organization.

What a nice invite, to be able talk to some of the Trustees in Chesterland, Ohio. On the invite from Kay Holland, a local businesswoman, I didn’t have to think too long about accepting this invite. I really like this format, talking for 15 minutes while the lunch was being prepared and then answering questions during lunch. From the amount of questions, it was easy to see the interest in wanting to put an end to Bullying and Adolescent Suicide.
Maureen Mooney of the Chesterland News conducted an interview about my travels and the Trustees luncheon. It will certainly help to spread the word to the community. Thank you to everyone for making this a big day.