In four locations across the country, starting Dec. 13 and ending Dec. 19, Canadians pledged to do acts of kindness. The Kindness Exchange was organized by Amazon Canada, with gift cards of $50 each given out to the approximately 1,700 participants.
“About 400 of the pledges were volunteer pledges,” Derek Hooey, operations manager at Amazon’s Mississauga office, told The Epoch Times. People would leave their email addresses and Amazon would help connect them with volunteer opportunities afterward.
While taking pledges at Toronto’s event on Dec. 13, Hooey was touched by one participant who pledged to give blood. “That person came back to us later on in the day to follow up and let us know that they completed their commitment. To see that it wasn’t just people coming for the gift card, that they’re actually following through, doing little things to help the community—it’s nice to see people paying it forward during the holiday season,” Hooey said.
The Kindness Exchange also made stops in Hamilton, at the Hamilton Food Share; in Calgary, at the Alberta Children’s Hospital; in Vancouver, at Family Services of Greater Vancouver; and, most recently, at Maison d’Haïti.
Each location represented Amazon’s act of kindness, which were donations to these charities. The one at Maison d’Haïti included a pop-up shop for Amazon sellers from Haiti. The Kindness Exchange initiative was about spreading that feeling of helping to individuals.
“How do we take this act of kindness we’ve already been doing ... and get the community involved?” Hooey said, explaining the thinking behind the event.
A lot of the pledges were to help neighbours shovel their driveways or buy coffees for strangers. A bunch of highschool students came to the Toronto event on their lunchbreak, Hooey said. They pledged to help their classmates with their homework and to do nice things for their teachers. Four daycare workers came, leading little ones by the hands. They pledged to volunteer or do other acts of kindness.
At the Toronto event, Toys for Tots and Big Brothers and Big Sisters were set up, engaging with people lined up to pledge. Amazon donated more than $130,000 combined to the two charities.
