On Random Acts of Kindness Day, 6 ways to extend goodwill in Wilmington

Cheryl M. Whitaker, Wilmington StarNews
·4 min read

Did someone ever do a good deed or just said a kind word to you for no apparent reason, and you never forgot it?

Well, there's a day for it. National Random Acts of Kindness Day will be observed on Friday, Feb. 17, and here are six of the many ways that you can pay it forward and extend goodwill in the Wilmington area.

Novant Health is accepting handmade cards from the public that can be given to adults and children upon discharge.
Novant Health is accepting handmade cards from the public that can be given to adults and children upon discharge.

More:Man gives single mom of two, one with autism, random 'words' of kindness while at Food Lion

Leave a kind note for someone

Novant Health is accepting handmade cards from the public that can be given to adults and children upon discharge. The handmade cards will offer well wishes to patients as they recover at home following a hospitalization, surgery, or emergency visit.

Plan to spend Friday, Feb. 17 making your card, and deliver them later.

Cards should be placed in a plastic bag and dropped off inside the entrance of the Novant Health Betty H. Cameron Women's & Children's Hospital, 2131 S. 17th St., Wilmington. Those that will be dropping off cards, please include a piece of paper estimating the amount of time you spent creating the cards. Novant Health wants to tally the total number of hours community members spent on this worthwhile project.

More:Random acts of kindness across Southeastern NC

Donate blood

The John E. Jacobs American Legion Post #68, WWAY-TV and the Red Cross, will be sponsoring a blood drive, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17 at WWAY, 1224 Magnolia Village Way, Leland.

Make an appointment online at redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-733-2767.

Also, the Wilmington Blood Donation Center will be open 7 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, and is located at 1102 S. 16th St., Wilmington.

Walk-ins are welcome, but it is always better to make an appointment.

It's also National Caregivers Day

Friday, Feb. 17 just happens to also be the National Caregivers Day.

If you know someone that is a caregiver (a person who provides personal care, and physical- and emotional support), call to see what type of help you can offer. That could include sitting with the person that the caregiver takes care of, help with household chores, meal preparation, childcare and shopping.

Cape Fear Area Agency on Aging Family Caregiver Support Program offers support groups for caregivers. For more information, contact Kandace Gray at 910-274-0343 or kgray@capefearcog.org.

Drop off food or clothing

Volunteers sort out food from area grocery stores into boxes to be donated at the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina in Wilmington.
Volunteers sort out food from area grocery stores into boxes to be donated at the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina in Wilmington.

Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina's Wilmington branch, located at 1314 Marstellar St., always needs items. A full list can be found at: http://foodbankcenc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Food-Drive-Most-Needed-Items_2022-English-and-Spanish.pdf. Hours are 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

The Good Shepherd Center is accepting pancake mix, syrup or oatmeal for its pantry. Canned goods are also needed with fish, vegetables, meat, fruit, entrees and soups.

The center also needs men or women's underwear, used or new men's pants (size 34 especially needed).

Donations can be dropped off 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday at 811 Martin St., Wilmington. Food donations can be dropped around back at the second set of doors marked “Second Helpings/Food Donations” and other donations can be brought to the office doors around back.

Pick up trash in your neighborhood

If you keep your yard and ditches clean from litter and waste but notice trash along the streets in your neighborhood. This would be a great time to shower kindness throughout your neighborhood by picking up litter to avoid it from going in storm drains ditches.

You can organize a group to help with the North Carolina Litter Sweep, which is set for April 15-29.

Litter Sweep is the N.C. Department of Transportation’s biannual statewide roadside litter removal initiative. Residents throughout the state participate in local efforts to help clean up North Carolina's roadways.

To volunteer visit, https://www.ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/environmental/litter-management/Pages/litter-sweep.aspx.

More:Notice trash along Brunswick County’s roadways? Here are some groups working to help.

In addition to volunteers, NCDOT maintenance crews devote one week of their time to pick up litter and collect orange bags placed on the roadsides by volunteer pickups.

Volunteers are provided cleanup supplies, such as reversible orange/blue trash bags, gloves and orange safety vests,​ from their local NCDOT County Maintenance Yard office.

Just smile

Might be easier to say than do. But sometimes a smile is all someone needs to get their day started off right.

A song by Kirk Franklin title "I Smile" is so refreshing. It always puts me in a good mood.

Here are a few lines: "Smile for me, Can you just smile for me … Oh oh oh you look so much better when you …"

So just smile on National Random Acts of Kindness Day. It might just touch someone's soul.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: On Random Acts of Kindness Day, extending goodwill in Wilmington NC