I have always tried to be a charitable and helpful person, yet I don't usually go out of my way to look for opportunities to help people. It is a good thing that Debbie Tenzer, author of the book Do One Nice Thing, and creator of the website, decided that not only would she find opportunities to help people, but that she would share them with all of us.

Debbie Tenzer decided that she wanted to be helpful and charitable on a regular basis. While she knew that every day would be too much, she decided that she could "Do One Nice Thing" once a week. She then created a website and wrote a book to share her ideas with the world so that we might be more apt to follow her lead. This book has got me on a mission to try to spend more time helping others also.

I plan to share this book and everything I got out of it with my family. Whether they decide to join the crusade is up to them, but hopefully seeing and knowing that I am doing this, will rub off on my sons.

Some of the many things that have been accomplished since Tenzer began her worldwide niceness movement in June 2005 are:

• 85 tons of school supplies have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan for local children
• More than 4,000 blankets have been sent to U.S. soldiers in Iraq
• More than 10,000 hand-made cards have cheered up children in hospitals around the world
• Thousands of books have been given to schools, libraries and children's hospitals
• Numerous people have registered to become organ donors
• Food, toys, school supplies and more have gone to families or individuals that need them

Will I be able to remember and stick to doing one nice thing each and every week? Sticking with anything can be difficult, no matter how motivated you are at first. I know that I should pick a specific day of the week for my charitable endeavors; Debbie chose Mondays as hers. If I get too busy, thankfully, Debbie included a chapter in the book of websites in which you can do something charitable with just a click of the mouse.

What do you think about this. Have I convinced any of you to follow Debbie Tenzer and Do One Nice Thing a week? If so, maybe sharing the information about the book and website will actually be the first nice thing of my new campaign. Please take a look at the Do One Nice Thing website and the Do One Nice Thing blog. For more inspiration I highly recommend reading the actual Do One Nice Thing book by author Debbie Tenzer.

For more info:
Family Volunteer Resources 
Silicon Valley Moms Bookclub post about Do One Nice Thing

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