Alex McKelvey was 6 years old when she decided with her grandma, Linda, that they would perform 60 acts of kindness before March 22, 2014 – which would have been Linda’s 60th birthday. But Linda passed away in September 2013.
Alex and her mother, Sarah, decided to honor Linda by performing 60 acts of kindness before her 60th birthday. Sarah and Alex came up with dozens of ideas. Alex’s father, Army Sgt. Richard McKelvey, added support — both morally and financially — to his family’s actions.
“I try to do acts of kindness at home, but they don’t count,” Alex told the News Tribune. “You have to do them for someone you don’t know, or as a surprise for someone you do know, like one of your teachers.” Alex, as a good Samaritan, is needed to volunteer to clean some trash, help a total stranger or volunteer at a shelter, you will always find her there. She has that passion of giving back to the community.
“We’re not rich or close to it,” said Sarah, a caseworker for Greater Lakes Mental Health. “But we decided to use our finances a little differently. We’re giving up a few luxury things, and we’ve chosen to live a simple life.”
“Originally, I think it was my idea, the 60 acts of kindness to honor my mother. But Alex embraced it and took charge.” March 22nd 2014, They’d completed 60 acts of kindness, after which Alex said in 2015, ‘Let’s do 600 this year.’ It seems acts of kindness are multiplying in the do-list of their life.
“I picked 600 because it was 10 times more than 60,” Alex said. “And we’re not going to stop there. We’re going to do thousands, then a million. I’d like to reach so many people.”
“I’m always amazed by her heart,” Sarah said. “I look at her spirit of giving to others and think, ‘If an 8-year-old can do this, why can’t anyone?’”
Watch the little girl’s acts of kindness here. We are hoping they would have continued to many more hundreds: