Initiative to promote kindness in Greater Cleveland outstripped 2021 goals, to expand in

CLEVELAND, Ohio – An effort to rebrand Greater Cleveland as “Kindland,” fostering greater empathy and respect through acts of kindness, outstripped its goal for 2021 and is looking to expand in 2022.

The initiative has unveiled an app that will allow people to easily document acts of kindness via their cell phones. Early next year, yard signs and billboards touting the initiative will start to pop up. And in February, Cleveland and Akron schools each plan to take the initiative into their buildings to promote kindness among their students.

The effort coordinated by the Values-in-Action Foundation and launched in 2020 had hoped to document 1 million acts of kindness by the end of 2021.

But the response was overwhelming.

“Thirty-seven million [acts of kindness] and counting,” said Stuart Muszynski, the president and CEO of Values-in-Action Foundation.

Since the initiative launched about 18 months ago, more than 300 community leaders and organizations signed on to be involved in the Kindland project. They include Boys and Girls Clubs, Rotary, YMCA, United Church of Christ, the Catholic Diocese, other faith-based communities, Northeast Ohio Parents Magazine, local media outlets, local police organizations, community governments and many corporations.

The idea behind the initiative is simple.

Research has shown that tension and stress release unhealthy hormones into the body. Acts of kindness lead to the release of endorphins, hormones that boost happiness.

Happier people are healthier. Raising collective happiness raises quality of life, making the region more attractive as a destination for people and businesses to locate.

Documenting the acts of kindness is one way to spread the word, hopefully uniting people as cultural change grows.

“This is a tremendous antidote to all the negativity in society because it has an automatic pay-it-forward,” Muszynski said.

The new app also lets users browse through listings of others’ acts, Muszynski said. Someone who is feeling a little blue could use that feature as a “pick-me-up.”

Some of the 37 million acts are large-scale efforts, such as the Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s food assistance for nearly 780,000 families in 2020 and this year, or blood donations from 150,000 people through the American Red Cross in Cleveland.

But acts of kindness happen at the individual level, too — neighbors helping neighbors, restaurants serving health-care workers, people assisting with grocery shopping for newfound friends, or a grade-schooler telling someone they make a difference in their life.

Values-in-Action Foundation has applied its strategies in schools across the country for more than two decades, working to build a culture of kindness as a core value.

From 2017 to 2020, Muszynski’s foundation took its program to John Adams High School in Cleveland, promoting a culture of kindness to students. The results: Suspensions declined 70%, graduation rates climbed from 50% to 95%, and incidents of violence and gang activity in the school disappeared.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, those efforts are needed now more than ever, Muszynski said.

“After the pandemic, kids particularly are absorbing the negative effects of society,” Muszynski said. School violence, bullying, and incidence of teen suicide are up.

Several companies are interested in using the app internally, tailoring it to allow employees to follow the acts of kindness of their colleagues. Among those companies are Sherwin-Williams, Swagelok, and Orlando Baking Co.

The idea is to promote a greater sense of happiness in the workplace, Muszynski said. Research has shown that acts of kindness can foster greater innovation and productivity in the workplace.

The Mandel Jewish Community Center and Notre Dame College also are considering use of the app.

Ultimately, the Kindland initiative seeks to create a culture of kindness that lifts the entire region, Muszynski said.

“We very well could become the kindest place in the country,” he said.