Published in the November 17, 2017 edition

MELROSE — On November 20, Melrose will celebrate the second annual Random Acts of Kindness Day. The concept is very simple: Do something kind for someone — a friend, family member, or total stranger.

That’s all it takes. Last year, Melrosians donated socks for the homeless, gave rides to neighbors, raked leaves, bought coffee, gave up their parking spots, and more.

To get more ideas, check out the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/319369455139172/.

100 ideas for individuals:

1. Hold the door

2. Buy someone coffee

3. Cook a meal for a family in your neighborhood

4. Leave quarters in the laudromat

5. Donate old towels to A Better Companion for doggy baths

6. Buy groceries for the person behind you in line

7. Compliment your waitperson

8. Leave a funny note on a random car

9. Add notes of kindness to Melrose Library’s “Wonder Wall”

10. Leave flowers on someone’s doorstep

11. Shop local

12. Drag your neighbors’ trash/recycling bins back to their house

13. Give a ride to someone who needs one

14. Participate in a fundraiser

15. Donate to the Melrose Symphony

16. Visit a store you have not been to before and purchase something, regardless of how small

17. Run an errand for someone

18. Visit the Milano Senior Center (with your kids!)

19. Write a thank you to someone who has helped you or touched you in some way

20. Deliver coats to City Mission Society to stock their annual Christmas Shop. Contact Jen_Crain@hotmail.com for more info

21. Compliment a teacher or administrator or secretary

22. Donate your talent

23. Write a letter to the editor about something great in our city

24. Put your phone away

25. Introduce yourself to someone new

26. Compliment a stranger

27. Leave the biggest tip you can afford

28. Write a thank you note to the awesome Melrose librarians! Or stop by to say “thanks!”

29. Let someone in the check out line go ahead of you

30. Tell whomever is helping you to take his or her time, you’re in no hurry

31. Give someone a book you think they’d like

32. Wipe the counter at Starbucks

33. Pick up litter and dispose of it

34. Put a sticky note with positive words on a bathroom mirror

35. Drop off some treats for our public safety officials working long hours/overnights/holidays

36. Give blood

37. Give your T seat up to elderly, impaired, pregnant people

38. Send dessert to another table

39. Tell your siblings how much you appreciate them

40. Hug your mother or someone else’s mother

41. Carpool

42. Walk

43. Say yes when the cashier asks you if you’d like to donate to a cause

44. Commit to using fewer plastic bags

45. Clean someone’s windshield

46. Do the dishes, even if it isn’t your turn

47. Tell someone how great s/he looks

48. Don’t say one negative thing all day long

49. Have a clean up party at The Melrose Common

50. Give things away that you no longer need

51. Play basketball with your kids, or your neighbor’s kids

52. Write someone a real letter on paper and mail it

53. Call your father or a father figure and tell him your favorite memory of him

54. Let them have the parking space

55. Pay the toll for the person behind you

56. Donate to A Servant Heart’s Food Pantry or Pantry of Hope

57. Write your partner a list of things you love about him or her

58. Give your favorite book to a friend

59. Drive slowly on Howard Street

60. Donate socks to the homeless (Scott Forbes, 41 Mystic Ave, Melrose)

61. Be a Santa to a Senior by collecting an ornament at Shaw’s

62. Donate your maternity or baby clothes to Mothers Helping Mothers

63. Bring dog (and cat) food to the Health Dept in City Hall to help pet owners who are struggling financially

64. Donate your old eyeglasses to the Lions Club for distribution to those in need in developing countries

65. Contact the Melrose Emergency Fund to see how you can help Melrose families this holiday season

66. Contact Scott Macaulay of Macaulay’s House of Vacuum Cleaners in Melrose to offer to help with his community Thanksgiving dinner

67. Relay an overheard compliment

68. Donate new socks, underwear and warm Pjs for the ECC Community Giving Tree. Email franklinecc.pto@gmail.com for info

69. Text an old friend just to say hello

70. Encourage someone in an unexpected way

71. Commit to making kindness a habit

72. Sing

73. Don’t interrupt when someone is speaking

74. Be kind on social media

75. Be the person who only has nice things to say

76. Fold the wash, put it away

77. Smile at the homeless and give them that extra dollar in your pocket or buy them a meal

78. Call a parent and tell him or her how great their kid is

79. Give your dog, or someone else’s dog, a belly scratch

80. Give a hug, receive a hug

81. Thank your teacher, or your child’s teacher, or your retired teacher

82. Send anonymous flowers to someone who won’t expect it

83. Return the shopping cart

84. Visit your elderly neighbors

85. Tell your kids they are super heroes with the power to do good

86. Be kind to the customer service rep on the phone

87. Give someone the rest of your pack of gum

88. Say yes when you really want to say no

89. Put change in a vending machine

90. Do a chore for someone without their knowledge

91. Call that friend you disagreed with long ago, make up

92. Thank a police officer and give him a smile

93. Send a card to a soldier

94. Be good to you

95. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth

96. Volunteer to serve a meal at Bread of Life in Malden

97. Buy tissue and hand sanitizer for a teacher

98. Give a lottery ticket to a stranger

99. Leave heads up pennies on the sidewalk

100. Smile, it’s contagious