People Doing Good: Meet ARK Project Now!

As we get to know each other, one thing you should know about me, is I am continually looking for ways to change the world, both big and small.  I love finding stories about positivity, love... anything where people are doing something to change the negativity of our world.  I love highlighting and getting to know these people, learning what drives them and being inspired by them.

In 2014, I was hosting an event in Elkhart, Indiana and I had the pleasure of meeting Alex, Dalton, Jacob and Theodore.  They were just kicking off a new adventure, hoping to inspire an epidemic… of kindness, it was called ARK Project Now.  I was instantly drawn to them, their energy and love for making people's life better is infectious.  Now I want you to know about them and be inspired too!

It all started in December of 2012, when Alex was watching ‘Evan Almighty’, there’s a scene when Morgan Freeman explains to Steve Carrel what ARK really means; Acts of Random Kindness.  That resonated with Alex, so he made a video to see if others would join him in trying to spread kindness through our society.  It didn’t take long before people from all over the world had viewed the video and encouraged Alex to go forth, because they were also inspired and would help too!  Alex created a website, found an R.V., got his friends together and they started travelling the country spreading kindness.

They’ve had a lot of cool adventures inspiring kindness and helping people realize that it doesn’t have to be a GRAND act of kindness to have an impact.  You don’t have to wait until you have a lot of money, you just have to do something kind.  A kind word, a smile, paying for someone’s coffee, whatever it is, no matter the size, all acts of random kindness have the potential to change the world. On their first tour they started the “Just Do One" campaign, with the idea of committing to do just one act of random kindness and you'll help make a difference. Then to step it up to once a day, week, month and so on.

As they travel around inspiring this epidemic they've had some really cool times.  They've heard some amazing stories like when they visited the Rainbow House and made dinner for families with children in the hospital.

This is one of my favorite ARKs, they stopped in Vegas and handed out free water. Just watching how people respond makes me smile every time.

The other ARK I LOVE, is when they took a group of at-risk kids to Disney and then handed out compliments!

They’ve now gone on a couple tours throughout the US, been on 'The Steve Harvey Show', 'The Today Show', featured in 'USA Today' and 'The Huffington Post' and more. Its quite amazing and a true testament to their heart and desire to continue to grow this epidemic of kindness!

I'm so glad that I got to meet these guys.  They've inspired me to help spread kindness and I hope that after reading about them and seeing their videos, you to look to "Just Do One!"  Read their story and find more videos when you click here! 

Want help spread kindness?  It's easy, you can A) do acts of random kindness wherever you are... become an “ARKitect” or  B) become one of their summer interns -  Find out more about their summer intern program here

-rob