Words of Kindness From Jaime Thurston and 52 Lives with Bruce Hilliard
Today’s guest Jaime Thurston, is the founder of one of the most incredibly focused charitable organizations I know, called 52 Lives. And I hesitate to call it a charity. It’s a philanthropic cause in that it provides help for people to help themselves. The 52 Lives process directly defines a problem and a recipient via a third party and based on contributions fulfills the need.
Jaime says the most important thing we can learn is that being kind doesn’t have to be about making grand gestures, or spending a lot of money or setting up your own charity--that’s not what changes the world. Doing something, no matter how small, to help another human being is what makes big changes.
In her book Kindness: The Little Thing that Matters Most she shares 52 ideas, one for every week of the year, for sharing more kindness, because, she says, kindness is essential for our collective well-being. To me? Practicing being good at anything requires repetition, like strengthening a muscle or in this case, a mindset. And kindness actually breeds kindness.
52 Lives aims to change someone's life every week of the year. It is based on the simple premise that people are good, and lots of good people working together can achieve amazing things. We believe that kindness has the power to change people's lives, strengthen communities and ultimately change the world.
People from all over the world can nominate someone in need of kindness. Every week we choose someone to help, share their story, request what they need and help to change their life.
One of the things that makes 52 Lives unique is that 100% of what people give goes to the person we are helping each week. Not a penny goes to 52 Lives.
52 Lives is supported by almost 100,000 kind strangers and a range of high profile individuals who help us to change lives every single week. We have received an Award from the UK Prime Minister, and our work is currently being promoted by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
