WINDSOR, ONT, -- Buying a coffee for a stranger, helping someone with a small favour — Windsor-Essex residents are asked to pay it forward this Friday and do something nice for someone else.

Random Act of Kindness Day is a community-building initiative that has been promoted by Windsor Essex Community Foundation since 2008 with the message to do something nice for someone while asking for nothing in return, except that they do something nice for another, “it does not have to cost a cent.”

“We are working toward that goal of creating free social media content that promotes kindness toward others and inspires people of different cultures and backgrounds to be generous in a variety of ways,“ team leader Navneet Kaur said in a news release. “Some of the ways people could participate is by recycling, cleaning parks, treating someone to a cup of coffee, helping an isolated senior, or by simply being considerate to friends and neighbours.

With Random Act of Kindness Day occurring during a pandemic, more groups are getting involved. The Event Management Students of St. Clair College is working with the Rotary Club of Windsor – Walkerville to help spread the word.  

In another effort to help spread the word, those performing an act of kindness are asked to take a picture and post under the hashtag #RAKWindsorEssex.

The goal of Random Act of Kindness Day is to remind people to bring kindness to the top of their list every day.