About - One Kindness

Who Are We?

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One Kindness starts in Bradford Pennsylvania.

So, for now...

We are Bradford. We are people who believe in building a better Bradford from the ground floor. We believe that kindness changes things: that it breaks down barriers, and builds unity: that is heals wounds, and fights for the oppressed: that if Bradford would pull together, and treat our neighbors like we want to be treated, that this community will be a better place to live.

We are a movement, a people, a passion.

We are also a ministry of Open Arms Community Church. Not because kindness is isolated to Christianity, or because we want to get the Open Arms name out there, but because Open Arms helps us get our name out there. The church affiliation only means that a 5013c organization stands behind what we are doing.

For more information about One Kindness, please contact Josh Hatcher at joshhatcher@openarmsbradford.org or write him at 1289 East Main Street, Bradford, PA 16701

What Do We Do?

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We do acts of kindness. Radical Acts of Kindness, and Simple Acts of Kindness. We shovel snow. We buy refrigerators. We cook dinner for our neighbors. We say a prayer for sick loved one. We leave groceries on porches in the middle of the night.

And then we log on to onekindness.org, and enter in our kind deed, anonymously.

And we do all of this without any desire for recognition- without any hope of reciprocation- without any agendas or motives. We do it just because we believe kindness makes the world a better place.

Vision: A roadmap to community

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Ultimate Goal: build a better world, by encouraging kindness.

Radical and Simple Acts of Kindness transform communities, by building unity, creating trust, restoring relationships, meeting needs, melting prejudices, and creating equality.

Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Wiccans, atheists, liberals, conservatives, welfare recipients, and lawyers would all agree that showing kindness is a good thing. While we may have many things that we disagree on, the fact that showing and receiving kindness is a good thing is not one of them. Let’s find some common ground.

One Kindness is not specifically Christian, but is based on Christian Principles, and headed up by Christians, as a ministry of Open Arms Community Church. Not for the sake of promoting one church or belief system over another, but rather because Open Arms is a respected voice in the Bradford community, that can promote “One Kindness.”

As Christians, we are mandated to show kindness.

Jesus told us that we are to love each other.

He said the ultimate love is to “lay down” our lives for each other.

First Challenge

1000 people, committing to do one act of kindness for another person each day for a year.

365 thousand acts of kindness in one year should radically transform a community.

Tracking the kindness:

There’s no way we can keep track of every act of kindness. But at onekindness.org , people will be able to anonymously post their act of kindness each day. Other people will be able to read those messages, and get ideas for themselves.

Anonymous?

Yes. Kindness for the sake of recognition, vanity, or for any other reason than to benefit someone else, is not true kindness. We are not doing this for the sake of puffing up heads. Does the act have to be anonymous? If possible. It’s not always possible to get away with secret kindness, but if our kindness cannot be anonymous, it cannot be for selfish reasons.

Meeting the Need:

Sometimes kindness involves meeting financial or monetary needs.

We will have a section of the website where specific needs can be mentioned. Please note that we make no promises to meet every need that is brought to us. But in a confidential way, we will put the needs on the website, and if someone choses to meet a specific need, they can give through Open Arms Community Church. Specific giving is not tax deductible, according to the IRS.

But tax deductible gifts given to Open Arms and earmarked “One Kindness” can be given, if it is left up to the Church which needs to meet.

Partnering:

We want to partner with other organizations in anyway possible.