170 random acts of kindness

1. Leave a quarter in the pay phone return slot.

2. Send $20 anonymously to a college student you know could use it.

3. Put a quarter in the meter to help someone else avoid a ticket.

4. Leave pennies in the restaurant’s penny plate.

5. Let the cashiers “keep the change.”

6. Over-tipping a taxi driver who drove particularly well.

7. Throwing a dollar into a busker’s instrument case.

8. Make an anonymous charitable donation.

9. Leave discount coupons where people can find them.

10. Tip a waitress or other customer service worker generously.

11. Paying the bill for a person who eats alone in a restaurant.

12. Give a little more money than necessary to the man who sells newspapers on the sidewalk.

13. Pay for the food of the person behind you in the drive-thru.

14. Unexpectedly grabbing the check at lunch.

15. Cancel a personal loan you made to someone.

16. Send an inspirational quote or message to a friend who is down.

17. Say a prayer for someone in need.

18. Leave nice comments on someone’s blog.

19. Write a thank you letter to someone who helped you earlier in life.

20. Create handmade cards to distribute to the people you care about.

21. Send people thank you notes as often as you can think of a reason to say thank you.

22. Write encouraging notes on $1 bills and keep them where people can find them.

23. Clip and submit articles that you know would be of interest to others.

24. Write thank you notes to helpful community groups.

25. Send a friend a Facebook message and tell them something you appreciate about them.

26. Send your favorite recipe to someone you know will enjoy it.

27. Send a letter to a soldier deployed abroad.

28. Leave a helpful note for a delivery man.

29. Give a coworker a pat on the back.

30. Bake cookies and send them to your favorite college student.

31. Encourage a friend to pursue their goal.

32. Praise the customer service representatives who have inherited your problem.

33. Serve as a mentor to someone moving up in their profession.

34. Send a Valentine to just one friend on February 14.

35. Place notes telling a loved one how much you care about them in their favorite book.

36. Give your garbage man or postman a card thanking them for their service.

37. Leave uplifting notes on library books.

38. Send a friend coupons you can’t use.

39. Leave a gift for your postman.

40. Write a letter to management praising one of your employees.

41. Take a box of donuts to auto mechanics and repair shop staff.

42. Giving a coworker tickets to a concert or sporting event.

43. Send flowers to someone you love from a “secret admirer.”

44. Give an old lady a flower as she walks by.

45. Give treats to your neighbors’ pets.

46. ​​​​​​Send a bouquet of flowers to your favorite teacher.

47. Leave cookies for Santa.

48. Give a Christmas present to one of your teachers.

49. Pick a day of the week to smile at everyone.

50. Ask the bus driver to wait when he sees someone hurrying to get to the bus.

51. Offer to help someone on crutches.

52. Let someone pass you in line at the bank when you feel like they’re in a rush.

53. Give up your seat on the bus or subway.

54. Let someone cut you off on the road without honking.

55. Carrying groceries for an elderly neighbor.

56. Pick up a piece of trash that others have left behind.

57. Take your shopping cart to the store after loading up your car.

58. As a motorist, give people plenty of time to cross the street.

59. Help your neighbor carry heavy items for recycling to the curb.

60. Throw your neighbor’s trash to the curb when you see they forgot.

61. Shop for someone who is homebound or bedridden.

62. Pick up the newspapers that are piling up in the yard of a neighbor on vacation.

63. Allow your staff to take off a few minutes early.

64. Offer to drive even when it’s not your turn.

65. Write a sweet note to a family member with a dry-erase marker on the bathroom mirror.

66. Drive slowly in neighborhoods full of children.

67. Give a bottle of water to a worker who paints in the sun.

68. Hold the door for strangers, especially those with children.

69. Wash a friend’s car.

70. Empty the dishwasher, clean the bathroom, or find a different chore that someone else normally does and do it for them.

71. Prepare a family member’s favorite meal.

72. Rake leaves for a senior in your neighborhood.

73. Pick up something someone has dropped.

74. Help someone load their groceries into their car.

75. Mowing a neighbor’s lawn.

76. De-ice a neighbor’s car before he leaves for work.

77. Show your family you care by doing unasked chores and assignments.

78. Stop to help a student who dropped his books.

79. Park far away.

80. Help a musician fill the seats at his next concert.

81. Make a loved one breakfast in bed.

82. Instead of leaving your clothes in the store closet, put them back on the coat rack.

83. Offer your expert assistance to someone who is experiencing difficulties.

84. Give a tissue to a sneezing stranger.

85. Pull over for someone having car trouble.

86. Offer a blanket to a person on the street.

87. Take your neighbors’ pet for a walk if they feel sick or too tired to do so.

88. Do yard work for friends or family.

89. Take some soup to a sick friend.

90. Offer to cook for a busy friend.

91. Bake brownies or muffins to give to seniors you know.

92. Keep your bird feeder full.

93. Recycle as often as you can.

94. Patronize providers of green products and services.

95. Ride a bike instead of driving.

96. Start a neighborhood cleanup project.

97. Visit the animals at the pet shelter.

98. Fix something in a park or community space without seeking reward.

99. Help a foreign visitor navigate his way.

100. Attend festive events at places of worship outside of your own religion.

101. Learn some key phrases in the language of the immigrants you know.

102. Vote and encourage voting, without taking sides.

103. Extend a small courtesy to someone who is not of your race or religion.

104. Thank volunteers at events for their service.

105. Find an organization that helps feed and clothe poor children abroad and consider sponsoring a child for a small amount of money each month.

106. Volunteer a few hours of your time at a local charity of your choice.

107. Organize a charitable, social or civic group in your home.

108. Buy Girl Scout cookies, even if you end up giving them away.

109. Handle phone promises at your local PBS station.

110. Introduce yourself to someone you see regularly but have never spoken to.

111. Collect magazines to distribute to hospital patients.

112. Deliver boxes of old books to schools, libraries, or nursing homes.

113. Donate old computers and peripherals to charity.

114. Register to be an organ donor.

115. Donate blood at the red cross.

116. Donate canned goods that have been sitting on your shelf for months to your local food pantry or shelter.

117. Donate all leftover household items to The Salvation Army or Goodwill.

118. Give to a charity of your choice.

119. Volunteer to help out in your school library.

120. Start a neighborhood watch committee.

121. Participate in an Adopt-a-Road program.

122. Buy multiple copies of your favorite books and donate them to libraries.

123. Tell your waiter to compliment the chef when he gets a great dish.

124. Let someone vent without responding in kind.

125. Fill a bag with shoes, clothes, and toys you never wear and donate them to your local Goodwill store.

126. Giving a compliment, out of the blue, to a stranger.

127. Speak nicely to those who may have put you down.

128. Let the other party do the talking most of the time.

129. Be nice when the problem is relatively small to you.

130. Really listen to your family members.

131. Come home from work free of all work-related tasks and thoughts.

132. Randomly thank police officers and firefighters for their service.

133. Thank members of the military for their service when you see them.

134. Call an old friend out of the blue.

135. Talk genuinely to your taxi driver.

136. Reconnect with an estranged family member.

137. Apologize for something that happened a long time ago.

138. Give an adversary the benefit of the doubt.

139. Speak well of someone.

140. Write down a few things you like about someone and email them the list.

141. Listen carefully to someone who needs to be heard.

142. Stop gossip in its tracks.

143. Tell a woman who has obviously put an effort into her appearance that she looks good.

144. Tell a tired mom in a grocery store that her kids are being good.

145. Make some handmade cards with your kids and take them to a nursing home for the next vacation.

146. Greet someone enthusiastically with a firm handshake or bear hug.

147. Make eye contact and smile.

148. Tell someone how much you like their outfit.

149. Turn off your cell phone and have lunch with one of your parents.

150. Leave your postman Christmas cookies and a thank you note.

151. Tell someone how much you like their outfit.

152. Always let a pedestrian cross in front of your car.

153. Make breakfast in bed for a loved one.

154. Giving someone flowers for no reason.

155. Surprise someone.

156. Being too excited to see someone.

157. On your next visit to Starbucks, buy coffee for the person behind you in line.

158. Buy a handful of $5 McDonald’s gift cards and keep them in your car to give to the homeless people you pass while driving across town.

159. Volunteer for a couple of hours at your local soup kitchen or food pantry.

160. Offer to babysit your neighbors for free one night while you enjoy dinner.

161. Mention your friend in a Tweet when something reminds you of him or her.

162. Call a grandparent or other relative you haven’t talked to in a long time.

163. Keep some change in your car or in your pocket to give to the homeless you drive or walk by.

164. Text your friend an inspirational quote or verse when they might be having a rough week.

165. Bring a home-cooked meal to a sick or elderly neighbor.

166. Spend an extra minute or two at the grocery store checkout to ask the clerk how his day was.

167. When canned foods are on sale at the supermarket, buy as many as you can and leave them at your community food bank.

168. Leave your cell phone in your car the next time you meet a friend for lunch or coffee so you can focus on that person.

169. The next time you’re out for a walk or in the neighborhood park, pick up the trash you see.

170. Teach a kid in your neighborhood a new sport or help him with his homework.