Northwest Oklahoma to Celebrate Day of Kindness November 14

October 14, 2025

PLC students writing notes to Alva first graders while in class at a long conference table.

Northwestern Presidents Leadership Class students wrote letters to Alva first graders as one of the Day of Kindness in Northwest Oklahoma projects last year. This year’s event is Nov. 14. Register projects online at www.nwosu.edu/day-of-kindness-nw-ok.

PreK and Kindergarten students sitting in front of several grocery items collected as part of a Day of Kindness project.

Students in the PreK and Kindergarten classes at Alva’s Washington Elementary participated in last year’s Day of Kindness by collecting food to be distributed to the Blessings Boxes in the Alva community.

It’s less than one month before the annual Day of Kindness in Northwest Oklahoma event set for Nov. 14, so now is the time to get those projects registered locally. Northwestern Oklahoma State University personnel are in their fifth year of welcoming the campus communities in Alva, Enid and Woodward, along with all others in northwest Oklahoma, to participate in the event.

Northwestern’s project reports to the United Way of Enid & Northwest Oklahoma, who organizes the overall event, to list with them the random acts of kindness projects or activities the local area will be doing on campus and within the communities in this immediate area.

The northwest Oklahoma event is based on World Kindness Day, which is observed each year on Nov. 13, but the local organizers selected Nov. 14 this year as the day to celebrate in this area.

This special day was introduced in 1998 to promote kindness throughout the world. It is observed in many countries including Australia, Canada, India, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

The United Way of Northwest Oklahoma has been involved with the Northwest Oklahoma Day of Kindness event since 2014.

Several businesses, organizations and school groups in varying northwest Oklahoma communities have participated in past years. Everyone is welcome to be a part of the event.

“We’d love to add kindness projects to our list from the schools, businesses and communities in Burlington, Cherokee, Freedom and Waynoka and other areas, along with what our campus communities and the Alva community has been doing for the past few years,” said Valarie Case, assistant director of university relations and organizer of the local effort.

Additional monetary sponsors are always needed to help fund the event’s efforts because of the rising costs of food and supplies. Sponsors can request that their funds be spent in their local communities.

Any club, school class, group, business, church, etc., that would like to be involved in this project locally and wants to be added to the overall list of kindness activities that will be shared with the United Way of Northwest Oklahoma should contact Case at vcase@nwosu.edu. Those interested in becoming local monetary sponsors also may contact Case. If interested in donating directly to the United Way group that helps purchase needed items for areas across northwest Oklahoma, please contact Dan Schiedel, CEO and executive director of United Way of Enid & Northwest Oklahoma, at dan@unitedwayenid.org.

“Currently, we have seven confirmed projects, both on- and off-campus, so we hope to hear from others planning to complete projects soon,” Case said. “Remember, it doesn’t cost anything to be kind, so there are a lot of activities that can be completed by groups that don’t include spending any money. Projects could include picking up trash in the community, raking leaves, washing windows, volunteering with a local organization to help with whatever they might need, and having a drive to collect non-perishable foods and toiletries for the local and campus food pantries and Blessings Boxes. If you don’t mind spending a little money, think about randomly paying for someone’s meal at a restaurant without them knowing or purchasing an order at the drive-through for the person sitting behind you. It’s just a good feeling to do something for someone else, randomly.”

Local projects that have been registered so far include fun things from Kayla’s (Leeper) Kindness Project, Nam & Pops, Northwestern’s administrative officers and department chairs, Northwestern’s Distance Learning Office, Social Workers Association of Tomorrow (SWAT), Uplift Alva and YWCA/Hope Outreach in Enid.

A web page with information about the Day of Kindness is at www.nwosu.edu/day-of-kindness-nw-ok. This page includes a link to the local Facebook group, “Day of Kindness in NW OK area,” which has helpful files available for download for those needing logos, posters and ideas for projects. A direct link to the group may be found at www.facebook.com/groups/bekindnwok. The web page also provides a form link for groups and individuals to submit information about the project they will be completing, on what day and time and how many people are involved in the project.

“Everyone taking part is asked to document their projects from beginning to end with photographs that can be emailed to me after the event so we can keep a record of everything that happened,” Case said. “We also encourage you to share on your social media accounts posts about the Day of Kindness as well as photos of the projects you’re participating in. We’d also love to see posts about any random act of kindness you witnessed or were the recipient of.”

The overall hashtag on social media channels is #BeKindNWOK.

“If you’re planning on participating, please let us know about your activity as soon as possible,” Case said. “If you’re not sure what type of activity you might like to do, look in the Files section of our Facebook group for ideas. Our list is a lot shorter than in past years so far, so please let me know your plans soon.”

-NW-