We’re excited to introduce one of the newest, and coolest clubs on campus, the Random Acts of Kindness club. It all started when seniors Nicole Gallucci and Austin Begin lived in Loyola their Sophomore year. They would slip notes of encouragement under residents doors, or send random motivational letters to students in their campus mailboxes. This club is about making someone smile, or making sure they hear that thing they really needed to hear, and we think it’s amazing. Read on to see what Nicole, Austin, and Vice President Mariana Mangini have in store for the Random Acts of Kindness club, and get involved!
Name: Nicole GallucciYear: Senior – 2015Major: English
Name: Austin BeginYear: Senior – 2015Major: Management
Name: Mariana ManginiYear: Freshman – 2018Major: Biology/Psychology
Her Campus: Tell us a little about The Random Acts of Kindness club.Nicole Gallucci: The Random Acts of Kindness Club is brand new to Fairfield this semester. We created the club with the hopes of spreading kindness throughout the Fairfield University campus. We really want to inspire students to positively connect with one another, and encourage them to think about simple, yet powerful ways in which they can make a difference. We feel that the club will be a great way for people to expand their circle of friends, and hope that as a result of our meetings and events, people remember to keep kindness a priority.
HC: What are your goals for the club, and what are some of the “Random Acts of Kindness” you plan to do?Austin Begin: Our goal for this club is a simple one: to spread kindness. We plan on achieving this by being the catalyst for kind acts. In other words, we want to make it as easy as we can for others to do kind things. The best way to explain this is with an example of something we plan to do: we want to set up a table near the “in-campus” mailbox, with paper, pens and envelopes. As people walk by we will encourage them to write a quick message to a friend, or to a random mailbox number and throw it in the “in-campus” mailbox. They would then have done a kind act that they might not have done had we not been there. (We would proof-read the letters to random mailbox numbers to ensure maximum kindness, of course.) Further, we have ideas of a “Free Compliments” booth, where anyone can come up to use and receive, or give, a free compliment.
HC: What would a team members commitment be to this club?Mariana Mangini: Our goal is to spread kindness across campus, and there are many ways a team member can help with such a vision. Our hope is that our team members will work with us and share their ideas during meetings. Members will help carry out the clubs ideas, like taking the time to help run the events. The club meets every two weeks—one meeting is to plan an event, the second is to perform that event. It shouldn’t be a big timesink—members can decide how long they want to stay working at an event. Since we are brand new, we also have open officer positions for members who want more of a commitment. If someone doesn’t have the time to work as a full member, we’re happy if they still keep kindness a priority.
HC: Are you planning any upcoming events, or are the random acts the events?NG: Yes! We’ve scheduled our first official meeting for Thursday February 5th. So if anyone is interested in joining the club or is still a little curious and has any questions, please attend! The meeting will be held at 7pm in the Mezz, and will provide members with much more clarity in relation to the scheduling and happenings of future meetings and events.
This year National Random Acts of Kindness Week takes place from February 9th through the 15th, so we thought that would be the perfect time to have our first events! During our February 5th meeting we plan on brainstorming several fun, random, and of course, kind, events with members that will celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week. We’re even planning on having a Valentine’s Day themed event to get people in the spirit, so stay tuned for more info!
HC: Where did you get your inspiration to start this club?NG: Well Austin and I met during our sophomore year and somehow just started doing random acts of kindness on campus for fun. We would send random people motivational letters in their campus mailboxes or slip little notes of encouragement under people’s doors in Loyola, and even brought hot chocolate to some snowplow drivers once. Random acts of kindness have definitely been a uniting force in our friendship over the years, so we really wanted to share the experiences with others. This year we had the pleasure of meeting Mariana, (VP of the club and fellow fan of completing random acts of kindness,) and decided to try and make an official club! Making a difference in someone’s day, regardless of how small, is a great feeling, and we want to give students here an opportunity to come together and experience that.
HC: What should someone want to do if they are looking to get involved, and where can they reach you?MM: I am always honored to talk with someone who’s looking to get involved. Anyone who’s interested can feel free to email me (mariana.mangini@student.fairfield.edu), or he/she can join our group on Facebook. I’m sure Nicole and Austin will be happy to talk as well. They can be reached at nicole.gallucci@student.fairfield.edu, and austin.begin@student.fairfield.edu.
HC: Do you have a Twitter or Instagram?AB: We do not yet have a Twitter or Instagram, but we will. Especially once our events start happening we want to promote them as much as we can. We want to show what we’ve done and make people aware of new events coming up. Further, we can even use these social media platforms to spread kindness. Maybe a kind Tweet, or an encouraging Instagram could make someone’s day.
HC: What’s your number one goal with creating this club at Fairfield?AB: Our number one goal is to increase the amount of kindness, happiness, optimism, and positive feedback that is spread. There is a lot of negativity, especially in a stressful university environment, either academically or socially, so to counter that directly and have a positive impact would be key. We want to spread kindness that perpetuates and grows from person to person.