I have a mind crush. I don’t crush on anyone very often (we have already established the Bono situation) but when I sat dumbfounded at what four friends who felt like being kind around London have accomplished in 6 years I couldn’t help myself. As I sat sipping my morning coffee face to face with Mr. Kindness himself relaxing at 5:00pm London time with a beer for our hour Skype session I discovered the magic calculation: Kindness + humor + pure brilliance = Kim’s Mind Crush.
Read on
It all started when we got a new follower on social media called, “The Kindness Offensive”. I was intrigued by their name and looked them up online. Once viewing their site and saw what they were doing across the pond I called my Programs Director and Social Media Manager. “Have you SEEN this? I have to talk to these guys”. I then reached out to David Goodfellow in hopes of a quick phone or Skype session and to my surprise he responded ready to chat. During our chat I discovered the wit and charm they use to accomplish these huge fetes and can say with certainty that these guys are determined, impressive and certainly have my dream job. The most interesting part of their program is they have done it all without a single donation, fundraiser, or request of even a pound (dollar) from the public. How does someone even accomplish such a fete? Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.
TKO event in London (photo from Facebook)
It all started in 2008 when four friends went around town asking people what would make their day a little better. After about a year of hard work they had donations from small and large corporations alike. In the years to come huge sponsors like Hasbro and Panasonic to name a few, thousands of followers and fans, almost $9.5 million (5.5 million pounds) of free goods and more media coverage than any fame hungry actress could capture. Oh right, and now they have a storefront property to operate from and provide a place people can hold parties and events (yep, free again) on Camden Road in London. Understand my mind crush now? They’re absurdly brilliant.
Kindness Offensive Event (photo from thekindnessoffensive.com)
Fast forward to today:
The Kindness Offensive has held several events such as collecting spare change and turning the funds into acts of kindness for people around town, giving away 100,000 books for free for kids and adults, Pancake Day with free pancakes, drinks and toys while raising awareness for children’s charities, and toy giveaways for kids in need. They’ve now fed over 2 million people, collected over 5 million pounds in free goods, are responsible for over 10 million hits online from their viral videos, over 45,000 twitter followers, a fan base on Facebook of 12.6 thousand, TKO’s operating in various countries, a refurbished double decker bus called The Kinder Bus, and of course their new public location and HQ in Holloway.
The Kindness Offensive Headquarters near Camden (photo from Facebook.com)
The Kinder Bus (photo from Facebook.com)
If you are reading this and live over in London you absolutely should be supporting what these boys are doing. They are making your city a better place and what more could residents want? For those of you over on my side of the world, you better believe I am partnering with David and starting our TKO up soon. I am currently hoping to entice them into helping me kick-off some Kindness Offensive Cali style. Can you imagine the impact we can make in Venice Beach on a Saturday? Then maybe, just maybe I will give you a cool little hard hat, jacket and confetti to throw an awesome kindness party of our own.
David Goodfellow……..I won’t give up until you guys say yes! If you don’t head over here, I can now knock on your door in London you know……
Stay tuned……….
For more information, videos and press coverage on TKO please visit www.thekindnessoffensive.com
(photo from Facebook.com)
