Some of the most caring and kind individuals you will ever meet are from the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina. This church which lost nine of its members last summer, began healing almost immediately, through forgiveness. This community turned away from hatred, embracing love and forgiveness.

Nine years ago today, thirty-two individuals’ lives were ended at Virginia Tech. I began One Million Acts of Kindness because of that event. Three days after the shooting in 2007, I drove from Cleveland, Ohio to Blacksburg, Virginia. I was there for four days and witnessed tens of thousands of individuals visit the memorial on the drill field on the VT campus: parents, brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors and relatives with their hearts torn, a loved one taken from them and in many cases, many loved ones taken from them. My thought was how much hate and hurt would have to be in a person’s heart to do such an act. It was on my drive back home to Cleveland Ohio that I prayed for an answer. What could I do as an individual? The other end of the spectrum from all that hate and hurt is all that love and kindness. What came through me was having kindness as a life-long goal.
This small, one man and his dog on a bus and a bicycle traveling the country is having a profound effect on many individuals across the world.
It began as a 10 year dedication but honestly, there is no way I would ever stop. I will do this till my last breath with the hope in my heart that billions of people across the globe embrace kindness in their heart.
Kindness always.
Hokies forever!

Coastal Pet Rescue of Savannah, Georgia, founder, Lisa Scarbrough gave me a tour of their wonderful facility today. This grassroots organization began with Lisa working out of her home to save neglected and abandoned pets. It is now a 24 hour a day facility with the help of dedicated volunteers who save hundreds of pets every year.
We loved the Pawsawhile section of facility.

Thank you to the United Way of the Coastal Empire of Savannah, Georgia for having me come to their offices and speak to all of their employees. Their campaign, Be the One, was a perfect fit for what I had to say to them. These people work so hard to help others in the community during their working hours and I was trying to inspire them even more than they are already to do something very meaningful in their personal lives.

Bogart is such a ham, he loves the attention of being in front of a camera. With the new addition of a creative frame to the Kindness Bus Tour, he is really enjoying being in the limelight even more so.

One of my favorite things to do while I am out riding on the Kindness Bicycle is to position myself at an intersection that is near a local school. The parents and children in cars and children in school buses are a captive audience as they sit at the light or round the corner in the intersection. I know by the amount of honks and thumbs up and waves that I receive, people appreciate of the words written on the Kindness Bicycle.

During the last five years since I began riding the Kindness Bicycle, people have asked me how often Bogart comes for a ride with me. He doesn’t come with me for the mere fact that I either have to carry him or he rides beside me on a leash very slowly and cautiously.
I have decided to give a basket a try for Bogart. I am anxious to see how it works for him as I think he would like to come along more often.