Random Acts of Kindness — tell us what yours are

Lake Tahoe News wants to start off 2012 on a happy, positive, joyful (insert favorite word) note. Mostly, we want it to be a kind note.

With that said, January will be Random Acts of Kindness Month on Lake Tahoe News.

We are asking all readers to let us know about a Random Act of Kindness that they did, were a recipient of, or that they witnessed. It could be as simple as opening a door for someone.

Start today by putting a comment at the end of this story. Then, each day a Random Acts of Kindness story will be on Lake Tahoe News announcing who won, why that person won and what was won.

We realize people may be reluctant to promote themselves. We hope you will get beyond that because your kindness deserves recognition and ideally will help foster more kindness from everyone who reads about it.

We also realize you may not want to get credit for receiving or witnessing a Random Act of Kindness. Still, the awareness of it and acknowledgement should be made public so people can see the world is full of goodness. The other thing you can do is ask the people involved if you could post their name and write about the Act. If you want them to be in the running for the prize, first post what the Random Act of Kindness was and say that you want that person to be a contender for the prize. Then you will need to send their email address to info@LakeTahoeNews.net with RAOK in the subject line and details in the body of the email or tell them about Random Acts of Kindness to have them write a comment on Lake Tahoe News so they put themselves in the running.

Randomly, one of the people who writes in will be rewarded each day in January.

While Random Acts of Kindness should not necessitate more than a “thank you” from the person on the receiving end, with the help of dozens of local businesses we are going to reward you for your Random Acts of Kindness.

Our goal is the kindness expressed throughout January will continue forever. But this will only be successful if you tell us about the Random Acts of Kindness. If you are shy about receiving a gift, consider donating your gift – if appropriate – to further extend the Random Act of Kindness.

A few rules and things to know:

• Anyone, living anywhere may participate. This includes people who write for Lake Tahoe News or do other work, advertisers, previous contest winners, and people in another country (though you may need to come to Tahoe to get your gift).

• Winners’ full names will be published.

• Prizes have already been assigned to specific dates so there cannot even be the perception of an individual or response receiving preferential treatment.

• All negative, irrelevant comments will be marked as spam. Go by the rule – If you can’t something nice, don’t say anything at all.

Thank you in advance for being part of Lake Tahoe News’ inaugural Random Acts of Kindness Month.