By: Zaynab W., Halton Youth Initiative Volunteer
May 21, 2021
During this unprecedented time, where almost all physical social interactions have ceased to exist, the world is moving online and the Halton Youth Initiative has taken the lead in the community. As part of National Youth Week at the beginning of May, the HYI has been dedicated to showcasing the initiatives and strength of youth. As a result, we created the Acts of Kindness Bingo to bring attention to kindness and gratitude, which are part of our everyday lives.
During National Youth Week, from May 1st to May 7th, volunteers from our Creative Spaces team organized and managed an online campaign that focused on empowering youth in our community and beyond to share the happiness of kindness. The Acts of Kindness Bingo encouraged participants to be kind towards their family, environment, friends, and towards themselves.
National Youth Week is an incredibly important time for us to celebrate all the efforts of youth, and we wanted to empower ourselves by encouraging people our age to reflect on expressing care in our community and how we can brighten the world through simple acts of Kindness.
As a form of encouragement, we created the Acts of Kindness Bingo to celebrate youth, their active participation in their community and to show the greatness we can achieve when working together. The bingo card had several prompts, all of which pertained to the idea of being kind and grateful. As passionate advocates for mental well-being and the environment, we also decided to include some prompts where participants needed to reflect on their mental health and environmental stewardship.
We launched the bingo card on May 1st and received many responses to our Instagram posts and emails. By the end of the online campaign, we received quite a few completed bingo cards. The winner of our campaign was decided at random and rewarded a $15 Amazon Gift Card.
While working on the Acts of Kindness Bingo, we reflected on the power of kindness and how it can empower all of us. As Robert Ingsoll once said, “We rise by lifting others”.