By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Kim Knutson has a vision to create one day where people across the city can focus on kindness.
The owner of Lallygag Boutique, 4616 E. State St., has partnered with the Miracle Mile Association to create the Kindness Project, a one-day event that aims to catalyze 815 acts of altruism across the city. Fittingly, the citywide initiative is taking place on Rockford Day, aka 815 Day, Rockford’s unofficial holiday.
On Tuesday, which is Aug. 15, or 8/15, there will be 26 kindness boards spread at locations throughout the city that offer suggestions for simple and thoughtful gestures. You can pull a kindness card out of an envelope attached to the board and on the back is a random act of kindness to perform.
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Participants are asked to share their acts of kindness on social media with the hashtag #BeKind815 in hopes that it will encourage even more positive behavior.
“I hope it’s a ripple effect across the city,” Knutson said. “I hope there’s a wave of kindness across the city.”
The back of the kindness cards have suggestions such as “help an elderly person with their household chores or gardening” and “paint rocks with kind messages and hide them at local parks for others to discover.” There are also ways to help small businesses, such as “offer to help a small business owner with their social media by taking product pics for them to post.”
“We wanted a variety of things,” Knutson said. “Things that don’t cost money or are very low cost.”
The initiative is also done in partnership with Rockford’s Forward for Fun program, which provided funding to purchase some of the materials for the kindness cards and boards.
Paula Olson, executive director of the Miracle Mile Association, said the locations were selected to ensure the boards are all across the city.
“Rockford is a very kind and generous community, but it never hurts to be just a little more kind,” Olson said. “It’s kind of a neat thing to remind people that it’s easy to be kind.”
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Olson said simple acts like thanking your garbage collector with a cold bottle of water or sticking a gift for your mail carrier in the mailbox stood out to her.
“Just a thank you goes a long way,” Olson said.
How to participate
You can find 815 kindness cards at 26 locations throughout the city.
Participants are asked to share their acts of kindness on social media through the hashtag #BeKind815
You can follow the Rockford Day Kindness Project on Facebook.
You can also find Rockford Day information at GoRockford.com/RockfordDay.
Rockford Day kindness project locations
- 8th Ward Pub, 3905 Broadway, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Baker Street Burgers, 1603 N. Alpine Road, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Baskin Robbins, 2579 N. Mulford Road, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Baskin Robbins, 4180 Newburg Road, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- The Canine Crunchery, 1888 Daimler Road, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Culture Shock Clothing & Records, 2239 Charles St., 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Ernie’s Midtown Pub, 1025 Fifth Ave., 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- The Filling Station, 6259 11th St., 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.
- Fire Department Coffee, 811 W. Riverside Blvd., 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Lallygag Boutique, 4616 E. State St., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Mr. C’s Family Restaurant, 4309 W. State St., 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens, 1354 N. Second St., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- The Olympic Tavern, 2327 N. Main St., 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
- Rockford Dance Co., 711 N. Main St., 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- River District picnic party, First Street between State and Market streets, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Rivera’s Fresh Market, 3600 E. State St., 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Rockford Public Library East Branch, 6685 E. State St., 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Rockford Public Library Hart interim branch, 214 N. Church St., 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Rockford Public Library Montague branch, 1238 S. Winnebago St., 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Salt & Sol, 419 N. Mulford Road, suite 3, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Scanlan’s, 2921 City View Drive, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Screw City Tavern, 4412 Manchester Drive, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Toad Hall Books & Records, 2106 Broadway, noon to 6 p.m.
- Village Green Home & Garden, 6101 E. Riverside Blvd., 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Village Green Home & Garden, 2640 N. Main St., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Wayne’s Feed Store, 3435 Auburn St., 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas