Write a kind note to relatives and friends, letting them know why they are special
 

Communicate by email with a friend
 

Say something nice to everyone you meet today
 

Transport someone who can’t drive
 

Deliver fresh-baked cookies to a friend, colleague, neighbor, community worker
 

Bring flowers to work and share them with coworkers
 

Extend a hand to someone in need. Give your full attention and simply listen
 

Give blood
 

Leave an extra big tip for the waitperson
 

Give a bag of groceries to a homeless person
 

10% of one hour (or a whole day) of sales donated to a school or non-profit
 

Employers offer one extra 15 minute break to employees during the day to do something special for someone on staff or each other
 

Buy a box of donuts/bagels and give them to the business next to yours
 

Give coupons for goods or services to schools or non-profit organizations
 

Be a host for a class outing or visit
 

Teach one new skill to a co-worker (and learn a new skill yourself)
 

Leave a treat on the desk of a co-worker with whom you normally don’t get along
 

Show your appreciation to your co-workers through words, notes, or a flower on their desk
 

Allow employees time off to read to children at a local school
 

Give out ideas for “acts of caring” to customers
 

As a group, develop a “caring project” for April 22 (food drive, adopt a school, blanket drive)
 

For one day, stress caring interactions and activities rather than completing tasks (they don’t have to be mutually exclusive!)
 

On site school project…clean-up campus, recycle/reuse art project, “buddy day” (matching older/younger students)
 

Hand out caring cards for positive actions redeemable for a gift or to be passed to another student
 

Have students sign a “caring pledge” with the action to be completed by April 22 (might even be part of an assignment) then report on activity (“caring graffiti wall?, class journal?)
 

Work with a business/organization for a collaborative project.  (Earth Day tree planting is already scheduled with City of Monterey and  Monterey High School Leadership for April 22)
 

Storytelling…share stories on acts of caring/acts of kindness – create a “storybook” to be shared with others?
 

Bake a treat and take it to a police or fire station
 

Create a food basket for a needy family. Make a card with cheerful artwork drawn by each of your family members. Deliver the basket and card to the family
 

Walk to a nearby park and pick up trash, then have a picnic there
 

Go to the pool for a swim, and pay the entrance fee for another family
 

Make some small gifts or write kindness wishes on bright greeting cards. Deliver them in person to residents of a nursing home, children’s home, or senior faculty, to teachers or neighbors
 

Offer a couple of hours of baby-sitting to parents
 

Create a craft project or build a bird house with a child
 

Roll an elderly neighbor’s garbage cans back up the driveway at the end of trash pick-up day
 

Bake cookies together, and take them to a neighbor who needs a lift
 

Organize a carnival for young children, and invite neighboring families or a group of preschoolers to have fun throwing foam balls, fishing for prizes, and playing games
 

Clean up litter on a stretch of road in your neighborhood
 

Leave a bouquet of flowers on a neighbor’s step anonymously
 

Plant a tree in your neighborhood
 

Collect home-baked cookies or other treats to send to a faith group you don’t know
 

Organize a group of congregation members to prepare a special meal or dessert for nursing home residents
 

Help seniors who live alone with shopping, doing paperwork, or paying bills
 

Contact another faith group you don’t know and suggest a joint Dare to Care Day activity
 

Collect goods for a food bank or shelter
 

Set up free coffee or hot chocolate for morning commuters
 

Hold a children’s kindness drawing or coloring campaign
 

Organize public presentations by community leaders about Dare to Care Day
 

Ask groups, such as garden club, to create floral arrangements for a senior center, nursing home, police station, hospital, or the homebound
 

Host a storytelling party at a veterans hospital or other health care facility
 

Collect personal care items, new underwear, and socks for homeless shelters and safe houses
 

Work with schools, business, and merchants to raise “Pennies for Dare to Care Day”. Pennies don’t seem to have much value, but when combined, they do make a difference
 

Prepare a special meal or dessert for seniors or nursing home residents
 

Visit nursing homes or senior centers with recordings of songs that bring back memories, such as Mitch Miller