The Random Acts of Kindness Campaign is spreading the gift of positivity through the UCC campus in light of the deadly shooting that tragically killed eight students and one teacher on Oct. 1 of last year.
The UCC Remembrance Committee has created their own version of the national Random Acts of Kindness campaign through the month of October. The random acts of kindness movement was initially inspired by a social media movement to demonstrate a random act of kindness following the Sandy Hook shooting where 20 students and six adults were killed on Dec. 14, 2012.
“The campaign gives each person affected by the Oct. 1 event a way to do something positive in the face of a sad event,” said Anne Marie Levis, UCC’s public relations officer. “People can share kindness and show that there is light in the darkness of such a sad day.”
To commemorate those affected by the Oct. 1 shooting, students and staff on campus have taken time out of their day to make someone else’s day a little brighter by generously giving to others at random.
Scott Taylor, a janitor at UCC, demonstrates his own random generous acts by paying forward a drink while in line at Dutch Bros. or holding doors open for people. “The custodial crew does random acts of kindness for people all the time” said Taylor. “If you leave something behind in a room, most of the time we will watch out for it and make sure it gets to security where it goes to lost and found, or we will find a way to get it back to you.”
Taylor personally experienced a random act of kindness that a stranger showed him a week following the UCC shooting. Taylor went to Dutch Bros. after a stressful work day when an employee there recognized him from UCC and stopped during work to talk to him. “I talked to her for probably about two hours,” said Taylor. ”That still jerks at my heart strings…. I’ll never forget that young lady, ever.”
The Random Acts of Kindness page on the UCC website lists 20 different ways that students and staff, or the community can share their own random generous acts. Plant a tree, send a handwritten note, or pay it forward are a few. The webpage also states, “It is our hope that these Acts of Kindness can serve as a reminder for each of us that our community can illuminate in even the darkest of times.”
UCC student Corden Drift shares his own experience about the generous acts that faculty have shown him. “The faculty has been very kind to me. Teachers have gone out of their way to make sure I have the things that I need to be successful,” said Drift. “I truly am appreciative of many people here on campus.”
The random acts of kindness campaign will be running until the end of October. Anyone can participate in this event at any time by posting their own random acts of kindness on the Umpqua Community College Facebook page or the Umpqua CC Twitter page using the hashtag #UmpquaCares.