COLORADO SPRINGS — Susanne Arens fell in love with a children's book called "The Do For Others Day" by Roger Hukle and his granddaughter Elizabeth Hille. The story is about a town of colonial animals who decide to switch jobs for a day to better appreciate each other.
"I love the idea because it teaches young people to be kind, be compassionate, to be considerate to the other people around you," said Arens.
But she wasn't satisfied with just reading about the idea: she wanted to turn fiction into fact.
"Why don't we have a national day where it just brings it to the forefront to remind people to be kind to other people? You love it when people are kind to you, and it can have a profound effect on the community," she continued.
After working with the U.S. National Day Archives, she was able to get March 20th declared as Do For Others Day, encouraging people to do small acts of kindness for others and post them online using #doforothersday.
"It's not a surprise that, you know, the world in itself is divided, and we're divided here in the country as well. And sometimes it's kind of hard to find good, positive stories out there," Arens said. "But there are, they are happening".
Whether you shovel a neighbor's sidewalk or buy a stranger a cup of coffee, she thinks the small things will add up to become something beautiful.
"I just think it's so heartwarming that I think it would change the landscape. And actually, I think it would change the energy and society if everybody could just be a little bit more kind of thoughtful to each other!" Arens exclaimed.
"I think we live in a wonderful community. I mean, the fact that we have so many homeless shelters and so many organizations that help people in need, we have a lot in the Colorado Springs community. So I feel like if it could start anywhere, why can't it start here?".
You can learn more about this through Do For Others Day's Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok accounts.
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