By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Kindness was given and received at Bowling Green State University during Random Acts of Kindness Week Feb. 10-14.
Hundreds of heart-shaped decorated cookies and stacks of heart-felt notecards were delivered to local assisted care facilities residents. Messages of support were shared across campus and special activities provided a sense of belonging during the week that included Valentine’s Day.
Most of this week’s random acts of kindness were food-focused compliments of BGSU Dining. The weeklong celebration was the third year they participated in DelightFul, a nationwide event that is part of Chartwells Higher Education JoyFul campaign to celebrate, encourage and carry out acts of kindness.
This year, BGSU Dining partnered with the Office of Student Engagement and the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation to contribute 1,500 acts of kindness to Chartwells’ lofty goal of 500,000.
“The Valentine’s theme was a fun way to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week and give students someplace to go and enjoy all kinds of kindness and positivity with or without a partner,” said Jon Zachrich, director of marketing, communications and technology for BGSU Dining.
“The idea of the pledge to do those random acts of kindness this week is a continuation of what we promote throughout the year,” he said. “We were able to focus on it, and it seemed to resonate with our students.”
Zachrich said there are no awards or prizes for contributing to the goal of overall acts of kindness. Instead, giving to the BGSU community and the greater Bowling Green community are part of the university’s focus on public good.
The ambiance of giving was scattered throughout The Oaks dining hall on Friday night. Greeters handed out free flowers. Guests anxiously waited to have their palms read or their auras photographed, uncertain what they would find out.
R.J. Anderson, a sophomore education major from Gahanna, Ohio, and a dining services student employee, stood at the elaborate charcuterie table as he proudly described the array of meats available for guests to enjoy.
“These are meats we wouldn’t normally have at the college dining hall,” Anderson explained. “We’re doing a special for Valentine’s Day, offering meats such as classic pepperoni–something everybody’s comfortable with.” The charcuterie also included capicola and prosciutto, which originates from Italy, is brined for two years with salt, spices and water and sliced from the bone.
“I love talking to people,” he said, “I guess that’s the educator in me.” He also led a turkey carving demonstration at Thanksgiving and a burger and fries class for teens on Saturday in the Teaching Kitchen.
Jenamy Hernandez, an inclusive early childhood education major from Defiance, was one of the guests who found respite at the craft table. She added tiny, sticky gems to a detailed design–similar to a paint-by-number artwork “except with gems rather than paint,” she said. “I’ve never done this before, but it looked interesting and something new to try.”
As part of the week, BGSU’s dining services teamed with the University of Toledo’s food service to donate 20-ounce water bottles to the Northwest Ohio Food Bank. The collaboration demonstrates the ongoing commitment to support the community and combat food insecurity in the region.
“A lot of our programming recently has been about wellness, whether mental wellness, wellness for their souls and just providing them outlets to interact,” Zachrich said. Providing opportunities for them to interact is very valuable for the students, many of who are still impacted from COVID and the isolation of the pandemic.
“The random acts of kindness initiative is one way we can provide first steps for interacting,” he said.
BGSU Dining is working towards becoming a Certified Kindness Kitchen. The outreach and activities are some of the criteria for reaching that goal, Zachrich said.
Other food-oriented programs such as Feed More Waste Less, which sends cooked, untouched food from Social House to the Falcon Food Pantry, also will count toward being named a Kindness Kitchen.
They incorporate a mix of digital and social media with food-oriented activities “to put kindness into the world,” he said. “We shared some videos of students telling how they show kindness to meld the digital and the physical to bridge that gap.”
Michael McIntosh, resident district manager, said “At BGSU Dining, we build a culture of compassion, respect, and empathy, and DelightFul is a wonderful moment to express gratitude and show kindness to each other.”
The partnership with the RAK Foundation will ensure BGSU’s Kindness Kitchens “will be spaces where students can feel appreciated, safe and at home,” Zachrich said.
