People tend to underestimate the effects of kind actions, whether it be giving someone your seat on the bus, paying for someone else’s coffee or complimenting someone. Sometimes, all it takes to brighten someone’s day is a random act of kindness. 

National Random Acts of Kindness Day was created in 1995 and is celebrated on Feb. 17 each year. As the holiday gained popularity, schools and businesses started incorporating events to promote random kindness. Many schools have a kindness week that helps promote positivity between the students and staff. 

Random acts of kindness not only improves the day of the recipient, but also the giver. According to Business Insider, psychologists found that helping others boosts serotonin levels and overall psychological health. 

“One winter break, my friends and I made holiday cards and handed them out to the staff working at a town center,” senior Cindy Wu said. “It was really touching to see absolute strangers smile so warmly and look so happy over something so seemingly small.”

Due to COVID-19, it is difficult to hold common volunteering activities, but there are still ways to get creative and spread kindness. 

“[My parents] tend to be really busy during the day, so they don’t have time to make themselves lunch [while they’re working from home],” sophomore Madeleine Ngo said. “During my lunch break, I make each of them a plate of nutritious and filling foods to help keep them focused for the rest of their day.” 

Recently, drop-offs have become popular because of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. For birthdays, people decided to go to see their friends and drop off a gift in a safe, socially distanced way. 

“A friend I hadn’t talked to in a while showed up at my house with cake for my birthday and it was really nice getting back in touch,” Wu said. “It was very nostalgic and made me feel very cared for.” 

People go through things we may not understand or relate to, but a kind act could lift their spirits no matter their situation. According to CBS, people who reported doing kind acts for others had less increase of negative emotions in stress-inducing situations.

“I think random acts of kindness are very important because no matter how big or small your act of kindness is, it really does make a difference in people’s lives,” Ngo said. “That act of kindness you think is small and unimportant could make someone’s day a whole lot better.”