LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — Have you ever performed a random act of kindness — something simple to help someone or brighten their day? Students at Lima Central Catholic are answering that question with action.
Lima Central Catholic has become the first school to take part in the “Doing A-OK Challenge,” an initiative presented by retired Lima businessman John Battles. The effort encourages people to spread kindness and inspire others to do the same.
The school’s “Help to Others,” or H2O Club, embraced the challenge, completing nearly 600 random acts of kindness in just two weeks. A total of 47 students participated by carrying out simple but meaningful actions, such as helping others without being asked, offering encouragement, and greeting people with a smile.
“H2O is our service club at LCC, and we're always looking for ways to improve the school and help out in our community, and kindness is the perfect way to do that,” said Olivia Venturella, co-president of the H2O Club.
“At first, everyone was a little hesitant, because no one really likes to do extra work. But then, when we started explaining it, everyone was really on board, because everyone wanted to help out, and it was just really nice to see everyone joining in and doing random acts,” added co-president Olivia Hinegardner.
“Ever since we started this project, we sort of envisioned a school project trying to get the younger kids involved in acts of kindness in order to make the world a better place,” said Battles.
Lima Central Catholic is now passing the challenge on to Shawnee High School, encouraging more students to participate in spreading kindness throughout the community.
Battles is also inviting the public to join the movement by logging acts of kindness on his website, areyoudoingaok.com, with a goal of reaching one million acts.
