An opportunity to volunteer and get to know your peers, this holiday is about sincerity and kindness.
National Do Something Nice Day is coming up on Oct. 5. This holiday encourages everyone to perform random acts of kindness for friends or strangers. This could be as simple as buying someone’s lunch or volunteering with an organization.
According to True Blue Neighbors director, Danielle Hovenga, joining True Blue Neighbors is one way to be involved with helping the community. True Blue Neighbor’s statement is to help build a better community, a better citizen and a better University through service learning, community engagement and civic leadership.
According to Hovenga, True Blue Neighbors volunteers volunteered with more than 101,000 hours of service with an economic impact of over $2 million in the greater Tulsa community last year.
True Blue Neighbors recently did a new initiative called “True Blue Votes.” In this initiative, they helped students become registered voters.
Hovenga said, “The staff at True Blue Neighbors spend a lot of their working hours out in the community, growing and nurturing partnerships with nonprofit and government organizations so that we can provide students with meaningful, and mutually beneficial, engagement and service opportunities.”
In response to Do Something Nice Day, Hovenga said, “National Do Something Nice Day is a reminder that being nice is a choice. It requires action and intention. Doing something nice can be a grand gesture, or it could be something quiet and small.”
She continued with, “In our day-to-day lives on campus, doing something nice for others could be as simple as holding a door open, giving a compliment with no expectation of anything in return and inviting someone to sit with you during lunch.”
As said by Hovenga, the idea of “Do Something Nice Day” is putting out a positive feeling towards others with purpose.
According to True Blue Neighbors, there are over 4,000 nonprofit organizations just in Tulsa county. There are a dozen of said organizations within a mile of campus.
She continued, “Volunteering your time with a nonprofit is a great way to celebrate this holiday, and there is bound to be one that aligns with your interests and skills. If you’re not sure where to start, stop by True Blue Neighbors and our team can help you find a nonprofit match that works for you.”
According to True Blue Neighbors, they currently do not have any plans for “Do Something Nice Day.” However, they do help facilitate the United Way campaign in the month of October.
There is no true way to celebrate “Do Something Nice Day.” The possibilities are endless. At its core, it’s just a day to reflect on how much good we can do for the people around us and the world we live in.
Hovenga finishes with, “Word to the wise: Doing something nice requires sincerity. Nothing is worse than when someone is not being genuine in their niceness.”
