CARLOW Mental Health Association organised its third annual Random Act of Kindness Day on Saturday 21 February. The event saw volunteers stationed around Co Carlow distribute flowers and chocolates to members of the public.
“We have found it a way of making people aware of the association, our website and where they can go to find support services,” said Rita Kelly, a volunteer with the organisation. “In all our interactions, we encourage people to go look for help if they or someone they are worried about is struggling.”
Rita says that each year the volunteers receive a wide range of responses when participating in Random Act of Kindness Day.
“People sometimes try to avoid us because they think we are looking for donations. People sometimes try to avoid us because they don’t want to make conversation with us. But when they do stop and we just hand them the flower or the little sweets, we say, ‘we’re not collecting.
We just wanted to give you a flower to brighten your day’,” Rita said.
According to the volunteers, sometimes people stop for a few minutes or 20 minutes.
“We had an incident last year where two of our volunteers were standing outside SuperValu and gave a lady flowers as she was going in. The gentleman that was with her came back with two ice creams for the two volunteers. He said, ‘you did a random act of kindness, here’s one back to you’,” Rita said.
“We do it to get people to stop and think.”
The association received donations from businesses across the county: Lidl Carlow and Tullow, SuperValu Carlow and Tullow, Tesco Carlow and Tullow, Carlow Florist, Centra Carlow, Hickson’s Carlow and St Clare’s Hospitality Food Kitchen. However, volunteers also spent some of their own money to ensure that they had enough.
