Practicing Kindness, One Card at a Time

This summer, we focused our work on kindness, one of the pillars in our mission:  prevent youth suicide through education, cyber safety, and kindness campaigns. Our aim is to determine new ways to reach kids and encourage kindness to themselves and others as a means to improve wellbeing. 

A recent study by Born This Way Foundation reinforced the impact that kindness can have. Participants believed kindness has a positive impact on mental health and 95% believed that even a small act can make a big difference. Unfortunately, it is also noted that youth do not see as much kindness in the world around them as they would like.

How can we practice kindness?

In an effort to give youth tangible ways to promote kindness, we developed our deck of Kindness Cards. With a focus on both kindness towards self (self-care), and kindness towards others, the 11 cards offer about 5 minutes of daily practice in kindness-centered activities.

Each of the cards provides a small introduction to a topic such as walking meditation, giving compliments, or the power of smiling. Discussion questions, guided questions, or an exercise are included to promote engagement. 

In the spring, we identified partners including summer camps and youth programs as a perfect way to reach our core audience of youth ages 8 - 18. A partnership with a sleep-away camp in Indiana, Camp Tecumseh YMCA, was integral in helping us develop our cards using the right topics and language to engage with their campers. 

Our bright orange and yellow colors and fun emojis were designed to appeal to youth and make the cards fun to use. During training at Camp Tecumseh, the cards were an immediate hit.

“These are so awesome! These will be so helpful to use with my campers and the design makes them so happy and fun. I wish you could do programs like this in our school.”

– Counselor In Training, Camp Tecumseh

The Day Camp counselors at Camp Tecumseh heard about our program and also wanted to take part, using the cards with their day campers. Over 5,000 campers this summer, ages 8 – 18, will use our Kindness Cards on a daily basis. 

Other Organizations Using Gabriel’s Light’s Kindness Cards

In addition, the practice of kindness was incorporated into the day camp program at the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Summer Camp. They have been a grant recipient of ours for the past two years. Gabriel’s Light Youth Ambassadors are also visiting the day camp in to provide activities for the campers.  We are committed to ensuring that Gabriel’s Light makes an impact in under-resourced neighborhoods.

Decks of Kindness Cards were also gifted to the Imagine Englewood If youth summer day camp, Kids On The Move, where we trained counselors on suicide prevention and how to incorporate the Kindness Cards into their daily routines. Through the camp, youth participate in various outdoor and indoor activities designed to strengthen physical, mental, and emotional growth and ultimately expand their view of the world!

Finally, we worked with Social Works, the youth empowerment charity founded by Chance the Rapper. Their My State of Mind initiative was launched in response to lack of access to mental health support in under served areas.  Social Works also puts on a summer camp for kids, Kids of the Kingdom, which focuses on building ownership, social and emotional learning, civic engagement, and personal growth through the performing and literary arts.

How can you help?

This fall, we plan to continue to use the cards with after school programs and other youth organizations, spreading kindness one card at a time. If you know of an organization that could benefit from our Kindness Cards, please contact us so we can connect with them.

Take Part in Our Kindness Campaign, #ShineTheLight

Learn more about our current kindness campaign that was developed with the help of our Youth Ambassadors. Spread kindness through compliments on your social media accounts.

Learn more here.

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Please share any feedback or topics that interest you by emailing us here.

About Gabriel's Light

In 2019, Carol and Brendan Deely founded Gabriel’s Light in honor of their son who died by suicide at age 12. In honor of Gabe and all those lost to suicide, they share their journey with the hope that others may learn and grow from their tragedy. Focusing on three pillars of cyber safety, suicide prevention, and kindness campaigns, through outreach, programs, partnerships, and funding, they raise awareness and inspire youth, parents, and educators to take action and help forward their mission.