years to expand through social media in a way we may not be able to if were based out of a single office or a single location. basically what we to is -- our mission stateno couer the world, one random act of kindness at a time. and we accomplish that by acting as an intermediary between people who have funds and want to donate but don't anily have time to two ao kind things. and people that want to do kind things but are inhabited by the fact they ni have the funds. we act as a middleman. and we have a number of projects that we've tone around the globe. we have the children's center haiti after the earthquake. and we're

in nicaragua. we have a number of big projects on the horizon right now. >> all right, sarah. you're with random acts of congress. this is a different organization you' acho counselor. or ractivist. tell us what random acts of kindness does. >> similarly, random acts of kindness foundation, is volunteer-bad. people lukee wo in schools, wo in the communes and want to inspire others to do small things. it doesn't have to be big things to make others smile each other. it got started officially in 2000. it originally inspired by the 1980s, when california was wracked witvice instead of focusing on the term of random acts of

kindness. and the foundation was formed. there are k-12 lesson plans available online. that's how i got involve. i wanted to bring the lesson plans into our schools and share them with our students. >> you're heading into the 17th annual wrack week. what happendu this week? >> i'm excited our schools and d.c. prep campuses, we'll be recognizing random acts of kindness week. we're goingo do a challenge with our students, where they are challenged to do something nice for another student each day. teachers will be sharing ideas of what that is. quotes of what kindness is and how it affects others. each time a student does something kind, they get a post-it note on

and the teachers will do kindness acts of other. here's a card for a bathroom break. i'm going to watch your class so you can run to the bathroom. or i will support you by sharing my resources. so we're working as a community, inspiring our teachers, our students, a our families to get involved, as well. >> more abo racof kindness week. we're going toa eaan be right .

welcomback. talking abo random acts of kindness we. melanie, you're with random acts. you are doing something special for seniorsvalentine's day. >> we are. we're working with -- for valentine's day, we're doing a big project with the organization, of a lifetime. they're a

organizatiothat, basically, what they do, hath say. they try to make wishes come true. and valentine's day, that's a large-sale flo distribution project. we're go to hand out roses to senior citizens. >> what a lel. >> just an act of kindness. it's a way to o their day a little bit. so many of them get stuck in the retirement homes, the nursing homes. they he visitors. this is a way for the community to come tan improve their day a little bit, from a small act here and there. the communit is coming together to do this as an organization, all over th country? >> a wish of a lifetime is going to be

roses. there's infti at our website, randomacts.org if they want to find out. and in various cities across the nation, they will be pulling together for a big project all at once. there'go be a rose distributio a project, in alexandria here. if people want to get involved, they can look tt oou site, as . going to be gettingreimbursed, too. it will be a pretty big project. we're excited. >> sarah, your group -- you work in schools. a lot of what you're doing is in schools. random acts of kindness -- >> they operate all over the world. an international organization. we have volunteers

14 and old as 89. anybody can get involved. there's some great examples of how you get celebrities involved. the patriots' mascot, however you may feel about our super bowl winners, did flower distributioa free hugs day for random acts of kindness week. we've seen kevonndis wife, kyra sedgwick, have gotten involved a were out trying to spread the word. last year, over 1 billion hits on social media. that's our goal to get as many people as possible involved in spreading tew and wt m g d.c. prep is just a small piece of that. >> you're getting them involved in spreading the news and spreading the kindness. >> spreading the kindness, keep it going. >> we're going to look at your photos. melanie, if you can tell us what we're showing here. >> sure. >> these are random acts. >> these

said. jusraom acts of kindness that were carried out by staffers or supporters. one of our supporters wrote in and said she needed funding for blankets and pillows for children's hospital. we provided the funding for that. i thinkhe made over 300 blankets and00 pillowcases. and they distributed them to the kids. >> let's look at the next one. >> these are another of our supporters fr a sponsored act, is what we cal. same idea we take donations because we get give and to the supporters. this group decided to collect food donations and -- donate them to a food

and the next photo. in one was a special project for us. this started by our senior design officer, sam garner and her husband. they work f full sail university in florida. they got students to put together care packages for the first responders, some atendees at a vigil and the canine units, as well. the dogs got care packages with little dog treats. and we have one more. yes. speaking of animals. this actually is a photo that was given to us by our friends over at het anim shelter in chicago. we've worked with them for two years now, at the

convention. our der is related to that community a that show, the "supernaturshow, we have a ability to to conventions and do a little kindness with some of the convention attendees. and in this case, they donated three or four suv loads of pet supplies anbuosh for them. >> i said that was the last one. this is the last one. >> yes. this was another -- that's actually sa oign officer, u the corner. she knows one of the teachers at napier elementary in tennessee. it's a federally funded title i school. they ofntav funding they need for extracurriculars or on field trips. she came to us and said we would love to take the kids to the zoo. they can s the wildlife. we were able to fundhe

trip and a few activities for them. they had a good time. >> we'll contin to talk about random acts of kindness this morning on "4 your sunday viewpoint" tei

we're tao rdom acts of kindness week. and sarah is a ractivist. how do we become ractivists? >> everybody can become a ractivist. you go to the website. and you sign up at your community. it goes beyond the d.c. prep community. it's international and wherever you are and wherever you where your hat to make it your own. if you work in an office building, mae it coffee breaks. if you' in high school, maybe it's being a gentleman and buying roses for the

getting invoeor f your iiet >> you have ractivists that form their network. >> kindness isn't just a d.c. thing. but it's everywhere. it is bouncing from place-to-place shang ideas, part of that online global community. looking and being able to read on the website, what did your group do? this is at my group is doing. i'm excited tor i mentioned t cards that people were going to do. that's takenroe organizat and posted online. other people do that in the future. >> melanie, there is so much tension in the world today, and people's lives are jam-packed. everybody is multitasking and in a hurry. talk about the impact of taking the time toki

>> sure. >> we get caught up. we're a technologically driven world. nair embedded in and on the run. with the social climate is being so sense, it can be easy to tune it out. and i think what we found because we are so social media-driven wn our organization, a lot of young people are ready to explore different new ways to get kinds. that's one of our themes is get kind. it's an ewa to hash tag it. if they're going to be on twitter, we w encourage them to do nice things. we encourage people to do one small act of kindness here and there and take a photo of it. or snap a selfie because

easy way to spread it to others. they say kindness is contagious. and that's true. i think if we make use of the technology have, and the reach we have, it will change things slowly and incrementally, but in a positive way. >> sarah, social media is a great platform for teaching and engaging in k cae there's l nastiness on social media. >> absolutely. it's important to start young. and promoting how to use social media for positive things. i love prep talks, when is a time we come together to talk about our soci craer developmen to use clips from the internet. to connect with things that they are already exposed to. and talk about some of the hidden messages inside of them and really dissect that for

kindness. zootop is a great example. we had a movie night. but it is littered with how to be kind to others and accepting of others' differences. there's a way to take social media and use it for inspiration and build people up rather than tearing people down. >> isn't this a great way to fight bullying? >> actually how i got involved with random acts of kindness and the foundation, was back in october, we celebrated bullying awareness month. and i was inspired by something i saw this summer on a trip i went to haiti. where theoyp,t 4:00 in the morning and started sweeping the campground in palm branches. i was blown away that teenagers would do this. i wanted to bring it back to our students. have kindness competition. and kindness is good.

and we want to continue doing it, outsidef single week or month becausit gthin to do. >> you want it to become part of a lifestyle. >> i think that's a good plan. we're trying to change who we are on the insr e better. >> we have to take a break. but we'll continue talking about random actskissee z29kuz zstz y29kuy ysty

y27mky y16fy welcomback. melanie, ifpl to organize acts of kindness in their own corners of the world, how do they do that? >> we made it easy for people to get involved. one way we do that is by hosting a number of programs throuou the year. we have our local representat t will organize this em. but we have

program. if people want sponsored -- if they want funding for their act, they can go on our website and find our act proposals and fill out details on the act they want to carry out and how much they would neefo for the first act, we fund up to $500. and after , ou rises. we had people apply for funding for a number of projects. it wasn't have to be huge in the community. it can be i want to buy coffee for the sunt students. there's no age limit. if you're under 18, you have to have a parental signature. we want to make sure people can funning to carry out the really great ideas. and they to. i believe we're restruri

>> and the website act is www.randomac.o >> that's difference from yours, sarah. one of t things you will to for a parent or teachers is you will provide free lesson plan. >> absolutely. >> they have structure. organized and different units. and they will in social skill development lesson plans, that include things like how resolve a disagreement. conflict resolution plans. that's a kind citizen. and the younger audiences, a kindness son just to get them interestednd ke it in the mind of a young child. we know that jingles stick. we want to start at a young age. we believe that by starting with young childr,

shape the future. >> and you believe that kindness is contagious. your website address? >> www.randomactsofkindness.g. >> we have randomactsofndrg and randomacts.org. you do great work. it's truly inspiring. and hopefully, the people on the receiving e can catch it. thank you much, both of you. thank you for joining us. follow nbc inon on twitter all of this week. we're going to be doing random acts of kindness and using the #payit4ward do your random acts of kindness and use that hash tag on twitter. i'm pat lawson muse. thank you for g . news 4 tayxt

♪ contrary to ancient wisdom... the sun doesn't rise, we do. yet, the more we travel, the more the world pushes back, coralling us and controlling us. so, we seek a place where we're given a choice... ...not just to get up,

♪

north korea threat. now on "news 4 today," the new promise from president trump as north korea launches a missile toward the sea of japan. church protest. one of our area's oldest churches is rallying. tom kierein is tracking a big change in the weather and how you can get ready for the week ahead. good morning, everyone. thanks for joining us on this sunday morning. i'm angie goff. >> i'm molette green. >> i love it when you stop in. >> i love when it i hang out. we are going to have changing