World Kindness Day brings a little light to a dark world

Image: World Kindness Day
In celebration of World Kindness Day, 33 teens representing seven high schools jump for joy after unveiling a new Kindness Mural at MAKE in Paducah, Kentucky, on November 13, 2018. Copyright Ellen O'Nan The Paducah Sun via AP
By Didi Martinez and Rima Abdelkader with NBC News U.S. News
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November 13 marks the observance of World Kindness Day, which was established by the World Kindness Movement at a Tokyo conference in 1998, and dedicated to being nice to others.

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Tuesday celebrated what the world needs a little more of: Kindness.

November 13 marks the observance of" World Kindness Day," which is dedicated to committing acts of good faith and establishing connections with other people of the global community.

"The goal is that we hope kindness is spread every day of the year, but World Kindness Day is a day we can be a little bit louder about our kindness," said Brooke Jones, vice president of the Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Foundation.

RAK is one of the original founding members of the World Kindness Movement (WKM), an organization with 28 member countries around the world, including Mexico, China, France and Canada.

According to Jones and the WKM website, World Kindness Day was born out of the organization's 1998 conference in Tokyo.

"You're kind you're helping the other person, but you're also helping yourself as well," said Jones, who claimed she was making her way out of the office Tuesday evening to hand out hot coffee and treats to unsuspecting individuals in downtown Denver.

Since the Tuesday morning, people both real and fictional, took to social media to spread the message of good cheer.

"Happy #WorldKindnessDay! Don't forget that something as small as a smile or saying hello to a friend can make a big difference to others," said the famous character Hello Kitty out of her U.S. Twitter account.

"This #WorldKindnessDay, remember that when we're good to one another, the world is a little bit brighter," Kermit the Frog tweeted.

But for others, the day was an opportunity for organizations to share random acts of kindness.

The New York Police Department shared a post to Twitter and Facebook Tuesday with a picture of one of its officers holding a thank you note from a person he had helped in March and wrote, "Thanks to Officer DiCandia of the Times Square Unit, Geraldine from Ireland didn't have to throw away her shot at Hamilton tickets!"

According to the police department, officer Ricardo DiCandia had encountered the Irish woman earlier this year after she had found herself $20 short for a ticket to the Broadway hit, Hamilton. The woman had been standing in the ticket line for four days and could only hope she would be able to make up the difference. Luckily, the police department said, the Times Square Unit patrol officer "understood the magnitude of the emergency and pulled a 20 out of his pocket so she didn't have to throw away her shot."

Elsewhere on the streets of New York City, a kaleidoscope of people from different countries said the world could use more days like these.

"It shouldn't be just a day," said 21-year-old Marianne Volichen, a tourist from Philippines. "There should be kindness everyday."

New York resident Jacob Roscoe, who didn't know it was World Kindness Day, also agreed.

"I think we could definitely use more kindness," Roscoe said. "I definitely think it comes from people being more thoughtful with their actions."

For 48-year-old Alberta Archie, looking toward the generosity of children may be the answer.

"Kids, in general, children really teach us," the Canadian tourist said, looking at the young girl playing next to her on a bench outside of Rockefeller Center.

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