Lee County nonprofit KINDLEE has launched a 10,000 Acts of Kindness Challenge, in which residents document their good deeds, big and small.

KINDLEE came to be after its president, Kelly Fayer, used kindness as a core principle while leading the Lee County Bar Association in 2017.

“I wanted to do something great for the people that elected me. We were supposed to participate in a group project for the year, but we saw so much kindness amongst the attorneys, that we just kept it going,” Fayer said.

The organization was selected to lead the challenge at the inaugural k20 Kindness Without Borders Summit last month. The event saw world kindness leaders converge on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus to “explore how kindness serves as a powerful force for positive change,” according to its website.

“We wanted the summit to not just be another event where people talk about kindness, but to show that when people who care, when they come together, that something bigger than any one person is possible,” Fayer said.

The challenge’s main goal is to encourage community building through the acts of kindness. However, the recipient isn’t the only one that benefits from an act of kindness. Someone experiencing family hardships went out of their way to surprise their coworkers with cookies, which gave them a break from the strife.

“There is so much good that will come from us acting together as a community,” Fayer said. “When you see yourself being kind to another person and you’re watching yourself make someone smile, you can’t help but get some of that value back.”

To count towards the 10,000 acts of kindness, good deeds must either be posted on social media using the hashtag #KINDLEE10K, or emailed to kelly@fayerlaw.net.

WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.