June 22, 2023 • 16 mins
Aired June 18, 2023: Lisa Foxx chats with 'Kindness Is Free' Founder Lori Milgard and Josue Arias of the Boys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley and Eastside about how their Kindness program is having a HUGE IMPACT on young people everywhere. Go to kindnessisfree.org for more about how to get involved OR call 1-866-7-BE-KIND and SPREAD THAT LOVE!
There’s a new movement sweeping the Southland and its called KINDNESS! Thanks to philanthropist Lori Milgard...and Boys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley and Eastside CEO Jr. Dzubak, they launched an official Kindness Program! It comes complete with a kindness curriculum for youth, teaching young people the importance of being kind and doing acts of service in the community, followed by the kindness pledge.
Right hand up – "I pledge to show respect to others, I pledge to treat everyone equally and I pledge to be considerate." Pretty simple, or so it seems. That's the official pledge of the Kindness is Free campaign.
And with lofty goals to pledge students, community members and businesses across Los Angeles to the Kindness is Free campaign, they are "on tour" with pop-ups and a dedicated traveling kindness van. The hope is to pledge 23,000 LAUSD students, 23,000 Angelinos, and 23 corporations or businesses throughout Southern California by December 2023.
There’s a new movement sweeping the Southland and its called KINDNESS! Thanks to philanthropist Lori Milgard...and Boys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley and Eastside CEO Jr. Dzubak, they launched an official Kindness Program! It comes complete with a kindness curriculum for youth, teaching young people the importance of being kind and doing acts of service in the community, followed by the kindness pledge.
Right hand up – "I pledge to show respect to others, I pledge to treat everyone equally and I pledge to be considerate." Pretty simple, or so it seems. That's the official pledge of the Kindness is Free campaign.
And with lofty goals to pledge students, community members and businesses across Los Angeles to the Kindness is Free campaign, they are "on tour" with pop-ups and a dedicated traveling kindness van. The hope is to pledge 23,000 LAUSD students, 23,000 Angelinos, and 23 corporations or businesses throughout Southern California by December 2023.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Happy Father's Day. This is LisaFox and thank you so much for listening.
This is the iHeart Sokal's show.Hey, there's a new movement sweep
in the Southland and it's called Kindnessand thanks the philanthropist Lorie Millguard who's on
with us. Hi, Laurie Hi. Hi. All right, So thanks
to Lorie and her mill Guard FamilyFoundation and the CEO of the Boys and
(00:22):
Girls Club at West and Gabriel Valleyand East Side, Jr. Zoobach.
She and Jr. Are kind ofput this whole thing together and next thing
you know, there's a Kindness isFree official program, a Kindness is Free
dot org website and a hotline number. They actually put together a kindness curriculum
to teach young people about the importanceof being kind and doing acts of service
(00:45):
out in the community. There's aKindness pledge the kids are taking. So
we're going to dive into all ofit because we're just hoping that this truly
spreads to have the most positive impactpossible amongst young people, amongst all people,
just help make this gosh darn worlda better place. Okay, So
Laura, you've got the mill GuardFamily Foundation, but let's hear about you.
(01:07):
I know you're a local gal.You live here in southern California.
Tell us about you first, andthen kind of like how all this got
started. Well, several years back, we had a family business that we
sold and we decided to take abig chunk of the profit and give back
to the communities in which we lived. And my parents were really fond of
the Boys and Girls Club and hadnoticed the management team and everything, and
(01:33):
we have always been looking for waysto improve people's lives and just the communities
from which we live. And Imoved down here in two thousand and nine
and wanted to continue doing good thingsfor others. And after watching TV and
spending some time here and noticing theclimate that was out there, I decided
(01:53):
I had to do something. Andwe have philanthropic I think blood our family.
We just had always been able togive back or wanted to give back
and wanted to help people, andit's just really who we are. And
so my mother was a very philanthropicfrom a very young age, taught by
her mother, and so it's beena joy for us. We've just loved
(02:15):
it as a family. And youknow, I want to be able to
do more. It's so important togive back. But I love you know,
just the name of the program islike the loudest message. Kindness is
free, is the program. Itdoesn't cause anything. To be kind and
have a positive impact on someone else'smoment, someone else's life just takes a
(02:37):
little effort. Well, I thinkit's I think it's something that we've all
lost our way a little bit withit. When I was growing up,
everyone seemed to be more kind thanthey are today. I don't know if
it's social media. I don't knowwhat has happened since I was young,
although you know, I think thebullying really caught my attention and that's where
it started. I feel like wecan have We had some teasing and things
(03:01):
like that on the playground, butnone of this scufful kids are committing suicide,
you know, And I felt likewe need to change this and get
it back to the way it usedto be, and the best way to
do that is teachable young people.They're very receptive kids. Kids will absorb
anything, and I think our kidsthat we have started this program with are
(03:23):
finding that although they'd love to feelkindness, they're finding it's even better when
they give it, and they're youknow, they're going home to their parents
and teaching their parents, and they'regoing to different schools and teaching that their
peers at school, and so thisthing is starting to spread because we are
all so hungry for it. Yeah. Yeah, I was going to say,
(03:44):
you know, thanks to you andyour foundation. Gosh, you hosted
the and thanks for having the radiostation. We were out there so happy
to be a part of it andwitness it myself. You help sponsor the
first ever Kindness Carnival last year,and then this year we had a trip
full the size with all these boysand girls clubs coming together. Talk about
how that came to fruition because thatwas so cool to see everybody having their
(04:09):
like best day ever, free fundfor for all the kids. I mean,
they were loving it, and thetheme was kindness. Well, I
think you know, it was agreat kickoff. It was a great way
to kind of start the whole movement. You know, I think some of
us have taken for granted the experienceswe had as children. And I remember
(04:29):
in my own hometown we would driveby one of these little tiny carnivals.
My mom would pull over and we'dbe able to go and a lot of
these kids don't have that opportunity,And I thought, what a day for
them to spend the day going onrides, playing games and having fun,
fair food and having it all befree. It was to see the joy
(04:51):
on these kids' faces. They wouldnever get to experience this, you know,
without you know, us stepping upand read something like this. And
apparently they're still talking about it.They want to know when the next one
was, of course they do.Yeah, So we're going to expand it
every year. We're going to includesome of the public schools. We're trying
(05:11):
to get this thing to be bigso that we're just spreading the words.
Yeah. And again, like yousaid, you know, because of your
foundation and because of your generosity,you remove the financial barrier, and it
is you are able to make.You know, your act of being kind,
attending to the kids is all forfree. All that food they were
getting free kindness is free hats andT shirts, they were doing arts and
(05:34):
crafts. I mean they were.It was a full fun day of just
NonStop fun, right, and theroller coasters and playing games, making new
friends and it was nothing but allsmiles out there. So well, and
I think to see their expressions whenthey found out it was free, it
didn't come with money. They youknow, they might have a quarter or
(05:56):
something, and they realized that everythingthey some of them stood there and didn't
order anything because they didn't have themoney to do it. And then when
we had told them that they didn'thave to pay, I mean, it
just it just you know, theirtheir eyes lit up. Yeah. Yeah,
it's definitely a feel good thing.And you know, I had the
opportunity to see some very unprepared interviewswith these kids regarding the program, and
(06:23):
I was shocked at their answers.They had no idea they were going to
be asked. They were explaining whatkindness is. They were talking about what
they do with their friends. It'sreally really working. And that's probably the
greatest gift to me is that Iwas planning on changing you know, ten
kids' lives, but really this thingis getting, you know, it snowballing.
(06:44):
And that was the whole point ofit, that people would want to
take this fun yeah, and justkeep spreading that kindness. But for real,
on this and this program, likeyou said, it's really sticking and
the best way possible, I know, We're going to have on our friend
host sway. He's the Chief KindnessOfficer for the Boys and Girls Club West
Saint Gabriel Valley in the East Side. He helps run the Kindness's Free program.
(07:06):
Right they're getting kids officially take theKindness Pledge. They're scheduling Kindness pop
ups all over town and kind oflike on tour with a dedicated traveling Kindness
van going neighborhood to neighborhood. Oneeveryone to know about this. But Laurie,
since you kind of got the Kindnessis Free program going, I want
to talk about the importance of kidstaking the Kindness Pledge. I saw this
(07:30):
and actually we'll I seen it acouple of times now in person, and
it's so powerful and they're so excitedto promise to be kind. Well,
I think, you know, Ithink in all of our worlds are you
know that have been exposed to thisprogram, including the kids. You know,
we really set out to be kind, but there are times that,
you know, we can say itwhen we're doing when the kids are participating
(07:51):
at school, they can talk aboutdoing this, but when then they get
home they may just say, youknow, I think the Kindness Pledge it
creates a commitment. This isn't justsomething you say you aren't. This is
actually action. This is what youdo. And so we've had everybody from
the Secret Service, by the WhiteHouse, everybody, we have had anybody
and everybody that has been around theprogram and or any of the Boys and
(08:16):
Girls clubs that are running this programtake it. And it seems to take
it to a different level that weall now hold ourselves accountable to be kind
and instead of just saying we are, I love it. I love it
well. Since you are the founderand visionary of the Kindest Program with the
Boys and Girls Club at West SantGabriel Valley east Side, I think Lorie
(08:37):
Millgard needs to lead the Kindest pledge. So everyone listening, if you're listening
right now, raise your right handand we'll follow you. Laurie ready,
go okay. So I pledge toshow respect to others. I pledge the
show respect to others. I pledgeto treat others as I wish to be
treated. I pledge to treat othersas I wish to be treated. I
(09:00):
pledge to be considerate. I pledgeto be considerate. That's it. That's
it. That's so short, sweetso everybody old, all right, commitment
by all of us in our communities, and then how many and we could
just keep taking this and pass itaround, right, don't you? Guys?
Sometimes pass out a little cards withthe pledge. If we have cards,
(09:20):
we have a hotline, we havea host way can tell you more
about that. We have all sortsof options of how to get a hold
of the pledge. You can doit in your community and your schools and
your churches, wherever it is youwant to do it. It's free to
all. M Kindness is free dotorg is the website, and we'll have
a host way on and just afew Kindness is free dot org. And
(09:41):
Lorie Millgard, you're a sweetheart,and thank you for doing what you're doing.
And I'm excited to see how wecould all just try a little harder
to make the world a little bitbetter of a place just by being kind
and nicer to each other. Gottakeep this going. This is too good.
We've just got to keep it going. We'll make it a better place
for all of us, all right, Lorie mill Guard, the Kindness is
(10:03):
Free founder. We love you.Thank you, Lorie, Oh thank you
so much. I really appreciate it, of course, Thanks Lisa, And
I've got in my hair. Isthis my dear friend hosway Arias? Yes,
this is him. Hi Lisa,so good to talk to you.
The Chief Kindness Officer for the Boysand Girls Club West sent Gabriel Valley and
east Side. The best job titleever, by the way, as I've
(10:28):
told you before, is the chiefKindness Officer. You're not ever really allowed
to have a bad day, buthow could you. You're spreading kindness.
How could you have a bad day. You're spreading kindness and getting all these
kids on board with being nice toeach other. That's a good gig,
right, yep. That's what it'sabout. It's about being kind and teaching
the next generation to be kind toone another. And like you said,
(10:50):
when that's your full time job,I mean I can't complain m Right now,
as you know, we were justtalking to the lovely Lorie Millgard of
the mill Guard Family Foundation. She'sbeen kind enough to help underwrite sponsor the
Kindness is Free Program. But forpeople listening, tell us how the program
works. How do you facilitate theKindness Is Free Program with these presentations and
(11:13):
pop ups and special pledge events,you know out there with the van tell
us how you put Kindness is Freeinto action and then how we can get
involved. Yeah. So the KindnessProgram includes a ten week curriculum for our
kids, and it touches on developingan understanding of the value, impact,
and importance of kindness. And weidentify key elements of respect and we help
(11:35):
the kids understand how to show empathyand consideration for others, while we help
them recognize the importance of inclusiveness inour clubs, in our communities. Okay,
and then at the end they takethe Kindness Pledge because Laurie and I
did the pledge on the air andhoping everyone listening did the pledge along with
us. But how often are thekids of the program taking, you know,
(11:58):
the Kindness Pledge? Well, theKindness Pledge is something that we're very
excited to bring around to different schoolsand communities. Um. We when when
kids actually start the program, theystart with the pledge because it's important to
start with an understanding and and anda you know, groundwork of kindness.
And so that's what the pledge does. And then from that, from that
framework, we're able to develop andand and you know, learn deeper about
(12:22):
kindness through the ten weeks um.And so yeah, this, this Kindness
Pledge is something that is simple,but it is the start of something.
It's the start of a journey throughfor kindness. Yeah. And I heard
that the hope is to pledge twentythree plus thousand LAUSD students, twenty three
plus thousand Angelino's in general at twentythree corporations and businesses all over southern California
(12:43):
by December of this year. Ithink we can do that. We could
do that right, absolutely absolutely.If people want to get involved in our
program and take the Kindness Pledge,they can go to Kindness is three dot
org and they can take the pledgethere um. And then they can also
schedule some kindness pop ups, sowe can come out to your school,
or your your community center or yourbusiness and talk about kindness, get people
(13:07):
excited about kind to one another.Kindness is free dot org as the website
for all the information. And thenyou have the Kindness Hotline, which I
love, talk about what happens whenpeople call one eight six six seven be
kind. Yeah. So the KindnessHotline is something that we've developed so that
we're able to hear from the community. We would love to hear stories of
how kindness is impacting people's lives.So someone's been kind to you and you
(13:31):
want to share that story with us, please call the hotline and share that
story with us. There's that option, and you're also able to take the
Kindness Pledge through the hotline as wellas you know, get get us out
to you to your school or yourcommunity center through the hotline. So there's
many things you can hear on thehotline. And then as well as also
(13:52):
you can hear a kindness tip ofthe week. So if you want to
know what our tip of the weekis, call the hotline. I love
that kindness tip of the week again. It's eight six six seven be kind
and Kindness is free dot org forall the info. And then how soon
can folks kind of get their theirkindness program up and running after they reach
out to the Boys and Girls Club, we will we will be you know,
(14:13):
in contact with them as soon aspossible. The curriculum is digital,
so we're able to email it outto folks if they're interested, and you
know, we're able to help themget it, get their Kindness initiative and
Kindness to have started very quickly.All right, well, before I let
you go on this fine Father's Day, host, wish you would do the
kindness pledge again? Why not?Absolutely? Are you ready? Okay,
(14:35):
I'm ready. You lead it,I'll follow. Ready, go okay.
I pledge to show respect to others. I pledge a show respect to others.
I pledge to treat others as Iwish to be treated. I pledged
to treat others as I wish tobe treated. And I pledge to be
considerate. And I pledge to beconsiderate. Amen, every let me do
(15:00):
it, starting now, starting now. No, It's so simple, but
so powerful. And the gesture again, I always say when we talk about
this, you know, the kindnessmovement, it's taking over. It needs
to take over and truly touch eachother in a way that we're gonna take
kindness more seriously. Right, Imean, if we all do it,
if we are all kind to eachother, more kind to each other,
(15:22):
that's gonna make a difference. It'sgonna have an impact. Absolutely. Like
I always tell people that everyone hasthe opportunity to change someone's life with a
simple act of kindness. So everyonelistening today has the power to do that
to make a difference in someone's lifeby just being kind to somebody. So
I encourage everyone listening to go outand be kind. Yes, indeed,
(15:43):
and a house way on behalf ofyou and our friends Jr. And of
course Curtis and everyone there at theBoys and Villas Club at West San Gabriel
Valley and East Side. We thankyou for all that you do every day
as a Chief Kindness Officer to helpspread all this. And of course Laurie
mill Guard the kind is this freeprogram. It's happening, it's real.
We want you on board again.Find out more eight sixty six seven be
(16:06):
kind or Kindness is free dot organd start being kind right now? Do
it today? People come on askYeah, thank you so much, Lisa,
I really appreciate it. You wantto do a quick Happy Father's Day
shout out? Yeah, I wouldlove to say a Happy Father's Day to
my dad Carlos if he's listening.I love him and he's one of the
(16:27):
best. Wooo, Happy Father's Day.
Happy Father's Day. This is LisaFox and thank you so much for listening.
This is the iHeart Sokal's show.Hey, there's a new movement sweep
in the Southland and it's called Kindnessand thanks the philanthropist Lorie Millguard who's on
with us. Hi, Laurie Hi. Hi. All right, So thanks
to Lorie and her mill Guard FamilyFoundation and the CEO of the Boys and
(00:22):
Girls Club at West and Gabriel Valleyand East Side, Jr. Zoobach.
She and Jr. Are kind ofput this whole thing together and next thing
you know, there's a Kindness isFree official program, a Kindness is Free
dot org website and a hotline number. They actually put together a kindness curriculum
to teach young people about the importanceof being kind and doing acts of service
(00:45):
out in the community. There's aKindness pledge the kids are taking. So
we're going to dive into all ofit because we're just hoping that this truly
spreads to have the most positive impactpossible amongst young people, amongst all people,
just help make this gosh darn worlda better place. Okay, So
Laura, you've got the mill GuardFamily Foundation, but let's hear about you.
(01:07):
I know you're a local gal.You live here in southern California.
Tell us about you first, andthen kind of like how all this got
started. Well, several years back, we had a family business that we
sold and we decided to take abig chunk of the profit and give back
to the communities in which we lived. And my parents were really fond of
the Boys and Girls Club and hadnoticed the management team and everything, and
(01:33):
we have always been looking for waysto improve people's lives and just the communities
from which we live. And Imoved down here in two thousand and nine
and wanted to continue doing good thingsfor others. And after watching TV and
spending some time here and noticing theclimate that was out there, I decided
(01:53):
I had to do something. Andwe have philanthropic I think blood our family.
We just had always been able togive back or wanted to give back
and wanted to help people, andit's just really who we are. And
so my mother was a very philanthropicfrom a very young age, taught by
her mother, and so it's beena joy for us. We've just loved
(02:15):
it as a family. And youknow, I want to be able to
do more. It's so important togive back. But I love you know,
just the name of the program islike the loudest message. Kindness is
free, is the program. Itdoesn't cause anything. To be kind and
have a positive impact on someone else'smoment, someone else's life just takes a
(02:37):
little effort. Well, I thinkit's I think it's something that we've all
lost our way a little bit withit. When I was growing up,
everyone seemed to be more kind thanthey are today. I don't know if
it's social media. I don't knowwhat has happened since I was young,
although you know, I think thebullying really caught my attention and that's where
it started. I feel like wecan have We had some teasing and things
(03:01):
like that on the playground, butnone of this scufful kids are committing suicide,
you know, And I felt likewe need to change this and get
it back to the way it usedto be, and the best way to
do that is teachable young people.They're very receptive kids. Kids will absorb
anything, and I think our kidsthat we have started this program with are
(03:23):
finding that although they'd love to feelkindness, they're finding it's even better when
they give it, and they're youknow, they're going home to their parents
and teaching their parents, and they'regoing to different schools and teaching that their
peers at school, and so thisthing is starting to spread because we are
all so hungry for it. Yeah. Yeah, I was going to say,
(03:44):
you know, thanks to you andyour foundation. Gosh, you hosted
the and thanks for having the radiostation. We were out there so happy
to be a part of it andwitness it myself. You help sponsor the
first ever Kindness Carnival last year,and then this year we had a trip
full the size with all these boysand girls clubs coming together. Talk about
how that came to fruition because thatwas so cool to see everybody having their
(04:09):
like best day ever, free fundfor for all the kids. I mean,
they were loving it, and thetheme was kindness. Well, I
think you know, it was agreat kickoff. It was a great way
to kind of start the whole movement. You know, I think some of
us have taken for granted the experienceswe had as children. And I remember
(04:29):
in my own hometown we would driveby one of these little tiny carnivals.
My mom would pull over and we'dbe able to go and a lot of
these kids don't have that opportunity,And I thought, what a day for
them to spend the day going onrides, playing games and having fun,
fair food and having it all befree. It was to see the joy
(04:51):
on these kids' faces. They wouldnever get to experience this, you know,
without you know, us stepping upand read something like this. And
apparently they're still talking about it.They want to know when the next one
was, of course they do.Yeah, So we're going to expand it
every year. We're going to includesome of the public schools. We're trying
(05:11):
to get this thing to be bigso that we're just spreading the words.
Yeah. And again, like yousaid, you know, because of your
foundation and because of your generosity,you remove the financial barrier, and it
is you are able to make.You know, your act of being kind,
attending to the kids is all forfree. All that food they were
getting free kindness is free hats andT shirts, they were doing arts and
(05:34):
crafts. I mean they were.It was a full fun day of just
NonStop fun, right, and theroller coasters and playing games, making new
friends and it was nothing but allsmiles out there. So well, and
I think to see their expressions whenthey found out it was free, it
didn't come with money. They youknow, they might have a quarter or
(05:56):
something, and they realized that everythingthey some of them stood there and didn't
order anything because they didn't have themoney to do it. And then when
we had told them that they didn'thave to pay, I mean, it
just it just you know, theirtheir eyes lit up. Yeah. Yeah,
it's definitely a feel good thing.And you know, I had the
opportunity to see some very unprepared interviewswith these kids regarding the program, and
(06:23):
I was shocked at their answers.They had no idea they were going to
be asked. They were explaining whatkindness is. They were talking about what
they do with their friends. It'sreally really working. And that's probably the
greatest gift to me is that Iwas planning on changing you know, ten
kids' lives, but really this thingis getting, you know, it snowballing.
(06:44):
And that was the whole point ofit, that people would want to
take this fun yeah, and justkeep spreading that kindness. But for real,
on this and this program, likeyou said, it's really sticking and
the best way possible, I know, We're going to have on our friend
host sway. He's the Chief KindnessOfficer for the Boys and Girls Club West
Saint Gabriel Valley in the East Side. He helps run the Kindness's Free program.
(07:06):
Right they're getting kids officially take theKindness Pledge. They're scheduling Kindness pop
ups all over town and kind oflike on tour with a dedicated traveling Kindness
van going neighborhood to neighborhood. Oneeveryone to know about this. But Laurie,
since you kind of got the Kindnessis Free program going, I want
to talk about the importance of kidstaking the Kindness Pledge. I saw this
(07:30):
and actually we'll I seen it acouple of times now in person, and
it's so powerful and they're so excitedto promise to be kind. Well,
I think, you know, Ithink in all of our worlds are you
know that have been exposed to thisprogram, including the kids. You know,
we really set out to be kind, but there are times that,
you know, we can say itwhen we're doing when the kids are participating
(07:51):
at school, they can talk aboutdoing this, but when then they get
home they may just say, youknow, I think the Kindness Pledge it
creates a commitment. This isn't justsomething you say you aren't. This is
actually action. This is what youdo. And so we've had everybody from
the Secret Service, by the WhiteHouse, everybody, we have had anybody
and everybody that has been around theprogram and or any of the Boys and
(08:16):
Girls clubs that are running this programtake it. And it seems to take
it to a different level that weall now hold ourselves accountable to be kind
and instead of just saying we are, I love it. I love it
well. Since you are the founderand visionary of the Kindest Program with the
Boys and Girls Club at West SantGabriel Valley east Side, I think Lorie
(08:37):
Millgard needs to lead the Kindest pledge. So everyone listening, if you're listening
right now, raise your right handand we'll follow you. Laurie ready,
go okay. So I pledge toshow respect to others. I pledge the
show respect to others. I pledgeto treat others as I wish to be
treated. I pledge to treat othersas I wish to be treated. I
(09:00):
pledge to be considerate. I pledgeto be considerate. That's it. That's
it. That's so short, sweetso everybody old, all right, commitment
by all of us in our communities, and then how many and we could
just keep taking this and pass itaround, right, don't you? Guys?
Sometimes pass out a little cards withthe pledge. If we have cards,
(09:20):
we have a hotline, we havea host way can tell you more
about that. We have all sortsof options of how to get a hold
of the pledge. You can doit in your community and your schools and
your churches, wherever it is youwant to do it. It's free to
all. M Kindness is free dotorg is the website, and we'll have
a host way on and just afew Kindness is free dot org. And
(09:41):
Lorie Millgard, you're a sweetheart,and thank you for doing what you're doing.
And I'm excited to see how wecould all just try a little harder
to make the world a little bitbetter of a place just by being kind
and nicer to each other. Gottakeep this going. This is too good.
We've just got to keep it going. We'll make it a better place
for all of us, all right, Lorie mill Guard, the Kindness is
(10:03):
Free founder. We love you.Thank you, Lorie, Oh thank you
so much. I really appreciate it, of course, Thanks Lisa, And
I've got in my hair. Isthis my dear friend hosway Arias? Yes,
this is him. Hi Lisa,so good to talk to you.
The Chief Kindness Officer for the Boysand Girls Club West sent Gabriel Valley and
east Side. The best job titleever, by the way, as I've
(10:28):
told you before, is the chiefKindness Officer. You're not ever really allowed
to have a bad day, buthow could you. You're spreading kindness.
How could you have a bad day. You're spreading kindness and getting all these
kids on board with being nice toeach other. That's a good gig,
right, yep. That's what it'sabout. It's about being kind and teaching
the next generation to be kind toone another. And like you said,
(10:50):
when that's your full time job,I mean I can't complain m Right now,
as you know, we were justtalking to the lovely Lorie Millgard of
the mill Guard Family Foundation. She'sbeen kind enough to help underwrite sponsor the
Kindness is Free Program. But forpeople listening, tell us how the program
works. How do you facilitate theKindness Is Free Program with these presentations and
(11:13):
pop ups and special pledge events,you know out there with the van tell
us how you put Kindness is Freeinto action and then how we can get
involved. Yeah. So the KindnessProgram includes a ten week curriculum for our
kids, and it touches on developingan understanding of the value, impact,
and importance of kindness. And weidentify key elements of respect and we help
(11:35):
the kids understand how to show empathyand consideration for others, while we help
them recognize the importance of inclusiveness inour clubs, in our communities. Okay,
and then at the end they takethe Kindness Pledge because Laurie and I
did the pledge on the air andhoping everyone listening did the pledge along with
us. But how often are thekids of the program taking, you know,
(11:58):
the Kindness Pledge? Well, theKindness Pledge is something that we're very
excited to bring around to different schoolsand communities. Um. We when when
kids actually start the program, theystart with the pledge because it's important to
start with an understanding and and anda you know, groundwork of kindness.
And so that's what the pledge does. And then from that, from that
framework, we're able to develop andand and you know, learn deeper about
(12:22):
kindness through the ten weeks um.And so yeah, this, this Kindness
Pledge is something that is simple,but it is the start of something.
It's the start of a journey throughfor kindness. Yeah. And I heard
that the hope is to pledge twentythree plus thousand LAUSD students, twenty three
plus thousand Angelino's in general at twentythree corporations and businesses all over southern California
(12:43):
by December of this year. Ithink we can do that. We could
do that right, absolutely absolutely.If people want to get involved in our
program and take the Kindness Pledge,they can go to Kindness is three dot
org and they can take the pledgethere um. And then they can also
schedule some kindness pop ups, sowe can come out to your school,
or your your community center or yourbusiness and talk about kindness, get people
(13:07):
excited about kind to one another.Kindness is free dot org as the website
for all the information. And thenyou have the Kindness Hotline, which I
love, talk about what happens whenpeople call one eight six six seven be
kind. Yeah. So the KindnessHotline is something that we've developed so that
we're able to hear from the community. We would love to hear stories of
how kindness is impacting people's lives.So someone's been kind to you and you
(13:31):
want to share that story with us, please call the hotline and share that
story with us. There's that option, and you're also able to take the
Kindness Pledge through the hotline as wellas you know, get get us out
to you to your school or yourcommunity center through the hotline. So there's
many things you can hear on thehotline. And then as well as also
(13:52):
you can hear a kindness tip ofthe week. So if you want to
know what our tip of the weekis, call the hotline. I love
that kindness tip of the week again. It's eight six six seven be kind
and Kindness is free dot org forall the info. And then how soon
can folks kind of get their theirkindness program up and running after they reach
out to the Boys and Girls Club, we will we will be you know,
(14:13):
in contact with them as soon aspossible. The curriculum is digital,
so we're able to email it outto folks if they're interested, and you
know, we're able to help themget it, get their Kindness initiative and
Kindness to have started very quickly.All right, well, before I let
you go on this fine Father's Day, host, wish you would do the
kindness pledge again? Why not?Absolutely? Are you ready? Okay,
(14:35):
I'm ready. You lead it,I'll follow. Ready, go okay.
I pledge to show respect to others. I pledge a show respect to others.
I pledge to treat others as Iwish to be treated. I pledged
to treat others as I wish tobe treated. And I pledge to be
considerate. And I pledge to beconsiderate. Amen, every let me do
(15:00):
it, starting now, starting now. No, It's so simple, but
so powerful. And the gesture again, I always say when we talk about
this, you know, the kindnessmovement, it's taking over. It needs
to take over and truly touch eachother in a way that we're gonna take
kindness more seriously. Right, Imean, if we all do it,
if we are all kind to eachother, more kind to each other,
(15:22):
that's gonna make a difference. It'sgonna have an impact. Absolutely. Like
I always tell people that everyone hasthe opportunity to change someone's life with a
simple act of kindness. So everyonelistening today has the power to do that
to make a difference in someone's lifeby just being kind to somebody. So
I encourage everyone listening to go outand be kind. Yes, indeed,
(15:43):
and a house way on behalf ofyou and our friends Jr. And of
course Curtis and everyone there at theBoys and Villas Club at West San Gabriel
Valley and East Side. We thankyou for all that you do every day
as a Chief Kindness Officer to helpspread all this. And of course Laurie
mill Guard the kind is this freeprogram. It's happening, it's real.
We want you on board again.Find out more eight sixty six seven be
(16:06):
kind or Kindness is free dot organd start being kind right now? Do
it today? People come on askYeah, thank you so much, Lisa,
I really appreciate it. You wantto do a quick Happy Father's Day
shout out? Yeah, I wouldlove to say a Happy Father's Day to
my dad Carlos if he's listening.I love him and he's one of the
(16:27):
best. Wooo, Happy Father's Day.
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