Random Acts of Kindness Day

Treveia Mccurdy at last year's Humanitarian Awards, thanking a young man who attended in honor of his father, award recipient Tre Thomas.

Treveia Mccurdy was sitting in her car alone in a CVS parking lot and she was crying. It was 2008 and she had recently lost her son, Myles, at age 13 – he had a deadly reaction to a medication, which instantly stopped his heart. Treveia’s heart was broken, all over again. She had lost another son, Michael, in 1996, at age 4 from cerebral palsy. She was devastated and overcome by grief. 

Just then, a stranger passed by her in the parking lot, who noticed her anguish. “It’s going to be okay,” he said. 

That moment, in which a stranger went out of his way to try to comfort her, calmed her. She immediately stopped crying and told herself that yes, it was going to be okay. 

Treveia has experienced a lot of loss in her immediate family. Along with the deaths of two children at young ages, she also lost her brother, John Miller, to sarcoma cancer in 2010 when he was just 25. 

She said her family and close friends empathized with her grief and did everything they could to support her, but it was often the strangers showing small, random acts of kindness – like the man in the CVS parking lot – that stuck with her. 

Last year, Treveia was looking for a way to turn her “pain into purpose” and Random Acts of Kindness Day was born on July 25. 

“I wanted people to recognize others that may be going through something,” she said. “You never know if people are going through an illness or hardship.” For Treveia, this day is about being more aware of others around you. 

“So many people are struggling silently,” she said. “Just because you see them nicely dressed at the workplace and it seems like everything is okay, you never know what that person is going through. Don’t be desensitized to the needs of others and if you know someone who has lost someone – I don’t care if it’s been five years, as the pain and the hurt never goes away – it’s okay to randomly send them a card. It doesn’t have to be a special occasion to let someone know that someone cares. It’s so inspiring.” 

She says this way of thinking is contagious, describing how, every time her 8-year-old son Lerod sees a homeless person or someone in need, he says “Aren’t you going to give a ‘random act of kindness’?’ She always reminds him that she “can’t help everyone, but I try!” She loves that this phenomenon has made her son more aware of the people around him.  

In Houston, Random Acts of Kindness Day has grown into a day that honors humanitarians that give selflessly to others throughout the year. Today, local businesses and community members are working together to give kindness randomly to members of the community.

In addition, honorees for the 2016 Houston Humanitarian Award were chosen from a write-in campaign, which generated hundreds of submissions, as well as nominations from last year’s winners. This year’s award winners are: Fred Waters, T.H. Rogers School adaptive P.E. teacher and multi-impaired lead teacher; Marti Boone, Executive Director of Be An Angel; Dr. Deborah Carr, Founder and Executive Director of Homerun Hitters International; Tina Colaco,  Founder of Be An Angel; Dawana Lewis-Scott, Director of Upward Bound, a government-funded college prep program for low income students; Ivory Mayhorn, President of Super Neighborhood 47 and Founder of Launch Point; Lady Emma Primas, 110-year-old community activist; Ahmad Roper, Founder of Houston Village Foundation; Rosey Ruiz, MSW, LCDC, Founder of Aspire to Win; Cesare Wright, President of The Kino-Eye Center and Outreach/Leadership Specialist & Lecturer at Rice University School of Engineering. Read more about the honorees here. They will receive awards this evening at the Royal Sonesta Houston.  
 
In honor of Random Acts of Kindness Day – and in the spirit of being kind every day – take a moment to think about showing kindness to someone you know or someone you don’t know. Even a small gesture can make a big difference.