70 Acts Of Kindness Our Residents Can Do For Others

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links

When I asked my readers to suggest topics for future blog posts, one reader requested service project ideas she can share with her residents. The timing seems perfect since Random Acts of Kindness Day is coming up on February 17.

Back in 2019, I put together a list of 70 acts of kindness your residents can do for others. I realize some of them might not be doable during the pandemic. However, I know you’ll find several projects your residents can do right away.

If your residents have done other service projects, I would love to see you share them in the comment section!

1.  Create beautiful greeting cards for residents at a nearby nursing home. Drop off the cards with a request to distribute them to any residents who could use a bit of encouragement.

2.  Collect coupon inserts from Sunday newspapers. Clip the coupons, then leave them in the break room for staff who live on tight budgets.

3.  Remember this idea the next time you take a group of residents on an outing (to a restaurant, for example) and they have a terrific time. Afterward, sit down with the group and write a positive online review on the company’s website.

4.  Give sincere compliments to strangers. So often we think something positive, but we don’t say it out loud. A comment as simple as “Your shoes are so pretty” could make someone’s day.

5.  Write notes of appreciation to people who made a positive difference in your life. It could be a former co-worker, neighbor, teacher, minister, or someone else. (Use tools like Facebook to help track down the person if a resident isn’t sure of their current location.)

6.  Do you have a childcare center at your nursing home? Ask the children to draw cheerful pictures, then write a brief, encouraging note on the back of each one. Drop them off at a women’s shelter and add a bit of sunshine to someone’s day.

7.  Color pictures for Color A Smile. They’ll distribute the pictures to nursing homes and also to military personnel. You can also request pictures for residents at your nursing home who could use a smile.

8.  Host a school supply drive in the middle of the winter. There are tons of supply drives in the summer before school starts. But by this time of year, many supplies are used up or worn out. Check with a nearby elementary school and find out what the students need now.

9.  Bake a big batch of monster cookies. Contact a local college and arrange for a group of residents to pass out the cookies in the student union. This makes for great intergenerational conversations!

10. Make valentines for the service people who support your nursing home. Examples might include the person who delivers medications from the pharmacy, garbage collectors, mail carriers, or medical providers who make rounds at the nursing home.

11. Invite families to come in on a special day to help residents declutter their rooms. Collect unwanted items for a charity (Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc.) pre-selected by the residents. Provide cookies and beverages for everyone who helps.

12. Write brief, encouraging notes. Then, with permission, have someone tuck them inside popular books at your local library. Include an email address so people can let your residents know when they find a note.13. When you go out as a group to eat at a restaurant, leave a cheerful note on the table for the server along with the tip. You can also leave notes for others who helped with your meal such as the chef, the person who clears tables, or the dishwasher.

14. Host a sock drive for Warm Feet For Warriors. Every year from February 1 to April 30, Soldier’s Angels collects comfortable socks of all sizes (adult) and colors. They distribute the socks to vets in VA hospitals and also include them in care packages shipped to deployed service members.

15. Keep a big supply of cute stickers on hand that residents can give to children who visit the nursing home.

16. Contact a jail chaplain and offer to write encouraging notes to inmates. (Of course, you’ll want to keep the residents’ names and other personal information confidential.)

17. Create warm winter scarves, then have someone hang them in bus stop shelters. Leave a note inviting anyone who needs a scarf to take one.

18. Next time a resident uses a transportation service, send along a candy bar or other treat to give to the bus driver.

19. Request donations of cloth bags from local businesses, then pass them out to shoppers in your gift shop (whether or not they buy anything). Besides providing a marvellous opportunity for residents to interact with guests, you’re also helping the environment.

20. Does your city have a community garden? Make row markers for people in the program. You’ll find lots of fun ideas on this site.

21. Decorate and laminate cheery placemats for Meals on Wheels.

22. Make birthday cards for children in foster care through the Cards of Hope program.

23. Host a teddy bear drive. Many police and fire departments give teddy bears to children to provide comfort during emergencies.24. Create pretty hair bows, then donate them to children at a local homeless shelter. You can find many fun patterns on Pinterest.

25. Host an ink cartridge drive and send the cartridges to Empties For Cash. (They’ll send you a pre-paid shipping label.) You can request a check and donate the money to the charity of your residents’ choice. Or residents can donate to a charity listed on the website.

26. Plant a vegetable garden and donate the produce to a local food pantry.

27. Make tissue paper flowers and give them to the nursing home staff, along with a thank-you for their hard work. You’ll find oodles of pretty flower patterns on Pinterest.

28. Do you live in a community that’s prone to flooding? You can help in the flood fight by writing colorful, encouraging notes on empty sandbags. These will uplift the volunteers who fill and place the sandbags.

29. Volunteer to listen to children read during the summer months. This helps kids maintain or improve their reading skills over their school break. Check with local elementary schools for suggestions.

30. Write encouraging poems on pretty cards. Then send someone out to place the cards on the windshields of employees’ cars in the parking lot.

31. Did you know you can turn plastic bags into sleeping mats for homeless folks? Residents at Three Pillars are experts at this project, so you can contact them for more information and instructions.

32. Call your local Ronald McDonald House and ask if they take part in the Cookies From The Heart program. Then send a little group of residents to the house to bake cookies for families who are staying there.

33. Most animal shelters need old, thick towels. Check with your local shelters, then host a week-long donation drive.

34. Make sandwiches for people who go hungry. Here’s an example from a program in Minnesota.35. Help residents arrange a blood drive at your nursing home. Donations go down during the summer and over holidays, so they especially need donors at these times.

36. Many children go into emergency foster care with few possessions from home. Contact your local social services agency. Find out if your residents can host a donation drive for items to put in comfort bags (toys, pajamas, etc.).

37. Get a group of residents together and surprise caregivers with a flash mob song of appreciation.

38. Contact your local Habitat For Humanity office. Find out if residents can help by baking cookies or preparing lunches for volunteers. Some offices also need help stuffing envelopes for mailings.

39. Make pretty signs that feature encouraging quotes. Post them in public restrooms at your nursing home. (Where else can you find such a captive audience?)

40. Encourage residents to read to other elders unable to do so because of disability or visual impairment.

41. Write notes of appreciation to staff on a large banner, then hang it in the employee break room.

42. For residents who enjoy computer games, check out FreeRice.com. This program enables people to support the World Food Programme while having fun and exercising their brains at the same time.

43. Do you like to knit or crochet? Offer to make comfort shawls for your local hospice. You’ll find lots of patterns on Pinterest.

44. Contact a homeless shelter and ask about their most urgent needs. Then host a month-long supply drive.

45. When you’re out for a scenic drive, carry a case of cold bottles of water in a cooler. Hand them out to people you see working outdoors in hot weather.

46. Find a spot near your nursing home where you can plant a patch of milkweed to help Monarch butterflies survive.47. When a resident has a clinic appointment, send along a plate of homemade cookies for the clinic staff.

48. Pair up residents with kids from your childcare center and host an Alex’s Lemonade Stand. You’ll help find cures for childhood cancers.

49. Offer to inspect or sort donated items at your local food pantry.

50. Ask the community to donate items, then make care packages for deployed troops.

51. Invite a group of residents to a local Special Olympics event to cheer for the athletes.

52. Collect gently used coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. Donate them to a homeless shelter for the cold winter months.

53. Contact your local hospital to see if residents can volunteer to rock babies who need extra attention.

54. Become Angel Bakers and bake treats for deployed military personnel.

55. Make and send cards to hospitalized children through the Cardz For Kidz program.

56. Collect used eyeglasses and donate them to the Lions Club for distribution. You can drop off the glasses at optical shops in most communities.

57. If you don’t already have one, encourage residents to form a hospitality team to welcome newcomers to the nursing home.

58. Pass out note cards and invite residents to write positive comments about their caregivers. Give the cards to the employee’s supervisors to deliver.

59. Most cities hold community Thanksgiving dinners. Find out how residents can help. One option might involve making centerpieces for the tables.

60. Set up a Little Free Library in or near your nursing home. Residents can keep it stocked and maintained.

61. Paint Kindness Rocks, then spread them around your community.

62. After Thanksgiving, put up a little tree in a public area. Invite visitors and staff to hang kitchen utensils on it, then donate the items to an organization that helps people with transitional housing.

63. Decorate a large banner and write notes of thanks to your volunteers. Hang it in a high-traffic, public area during National Volunteer Week in April.

64. Write letters to deployed troops, vets, new military recruits, and first responders through Seniors and Soldiers. Your residents can also sign up to receive letters through this program.

65. Decorate holiday ornaments and donate them to a hospice program or Meals on Wheels.

66. Recruit a group of residents to address Christmas cards for residents who can no longer do this on their own.

67. Surprise your delivery drivers (UPS, FedEx, etc.) with a container of cookies freshly baked by your residents.

68. Residents who like to crochet can make yarn wigs for children undergoing cancer treatment through the Magic Yarn Project. Those who don’t know how to crochet can still help by making flowers or decorating envelopes for the organization.

69. Residents who enjoy knitting can create Twiddle Mitts. Donate them to a local hospital for patients living with dementia.

70. Choose a day to post a couple of residents at the time clock to thank employees as they leave at the end of their shift. They could also pass out a little treat, like a Hershey’s kiss.

Please share! By working together and spreading the word, I’m confident we can make this a year of kindness.