In April of 2021, the two cities that make up a third of my local school district officially proclaimed April as “Let’s Be Kind Month.” This recognition celebrated the nonprofit organization I founded as an eighth-grader in 2018, which had grown to a movement that touched thousands. That year, we distributed over 5,500 T-shirts and hosted Let’s Be Kind Day across twelve schools in the two cities. City officials, local businesses, individual donors, schools, teachers, parents, students, police officers, and firefighters all came together to foster a sense of unity and community through kindness—on campuses and across neighborhoods alike. It was inspiring to see how a single idea could ripple outward to positively impact entire cities.
When I first started Let’s Be Kind in 2018, I could never have imagined it would grow into something so big. The idea emerged from the ways I was treated as an eighth-grader at a new school. My goal was simple: to unite my classmates around one shared purpose—showing kindness to one another. Reflecting on Let’s Be Kind Day 2021, I am amazed at how far this movement has come in just four years. But to understand its roots, I have to share a bit about the years before eighth grade.
I was born in Southern California and spent my early elementary years there. After fourth grade, my family moved to El Salvador, where I attended an international school for fifth, sixth, and seventh grade. When we returned to Southern California, I began eighth grade at my local public middle school. The transition was jarring. I quickly noticed that students who were friends often acted in ways that lacked kindness, and I too experienced some of this firsthand. Friends would “joke” by stepping on my shoes or making hurtful remarks, and I would go home feeling upset and confused. I often shared my feelings with my mom, talking through the moments that had bothered me.
One day, after listening to me voice my concerns multiple times, my mom asked a question that changed everything: “Rebekah, I hear you talking a lot about the things the kids in your school are doing that are upsetting you. So, what are you going to do about it?” At first, it felt overwhelming. I am an introvert, not particularly outgoing, and I didn’t have a lot of friends. I certainly didn’t feel like a leader. But I knew one thing: I understood what kindness could look like. I remembered my school years in El Salvador, where community and mutual respect were central to daily life. Students celebrated one another, helped one another, and made newcomers feel welcomed. I had classmates from all over the world, and seeing that culture of inclusion and support left a lasting impression on me.
I realized that while my peers in El Salvador thrived in a culture of kindness, my local school felt divided into cliques with little sense of community. I wanted to create a space where students could unite around something positive and inclusive. That’s when I decided to organize an event: a school-wide celebration where everyone could wear the same “Let’s Be Kind” T-shirt to symbolize our shared commitment to kindness. The first Let’s Be Kind Day in 2018 brought together 700 students, and the sight of the entire school wearing matching T-shirts was breathtaking. The visual unity felt electric—like the way sports teams and fans show allegiance through their colors, but in this case, we were aligning around kindness.
Of course, a single day didn’t transform everyone overnight, but it sparked conversations and encouraged students to consider how they could be kinder to one another. When the school year ended, my classmates kept asking when the next Let’s Be Kind Day would happen. My mom and I worried about logistics—raising funds for an even bigger group of students seemed daunting. But we persevered. In 2019, our second annual Let’s Be Kind Day included three schools and over 3,000 T-shirts. It was because of one persistent parent at a local elementary school that we realized our movement needed a formal structure. That year, we officially became a nonprofit organization, expanding our reach and influence.
By spring 2020, several schools wanted to participate, but the pandemic shut campuses down. Undeterred, we partnered with a local coffee shop as a hub to safely distribute T-shirts to graduating students. It was a small, personal connection in a time of isolation, but it meant so much to students who had missed milestones like traditional graduations. With each event, more parents, student groups, and schools asked to collaborate, inspired by the idea of spreading kindness through unity.
In 2021, the momentum had grown more than ever. Requests from schools flooded in, and we needed a way to fund thousands of T-shirts. We launched a $5 social media sponsorship campaign—each $5 donation would provide a T-shirt for a student. Local businesses, social media influencers, and community members joined in. In addition, I reached out to city officials in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, who embraced the movement and officially declared April as “Let’s Be Kind Month.” This partnership also connected us with VANS, headquartered in Costa Mesa, whose sponsorship helped us reach over 5,000 students across twelve schools.
On April 26, 2021, as students returned to in-person learning for the first time in over a year, they did so with kindness at the forefront. Teachers, students, city officials, police officers, and firefighters celebrated the fourth annual Let’s Be Kind Day, creating a city-wide event unlike anything we’d seen before. Visiting classrooms, reading stories, and sharing the origins of the movement, I noticed a clear trend: younger students naturally included one another, while older students sometimes struggled to act with kindness. It made me reflect on the importance of guiding students early to foster lasting habits of compassion.
One of the most touching moments was seeing students approach me to talk, ask questions, and share their own experiences. I didn’t start this to be a role model, and I certainly don’t act with kindness perfectly all the time. But I do know that kindness is powerful and often requires real courage. Reaching out to someone who feels left out is not a sign of weakness—it’s a choice that takes strength. Watching the youngest students invent inclusive games on the playground reminded me that creativity and compassion can go hand in hand, and that we all have something to learn from the next generation.
This year, more than ever, I felt hope. Amid division and tension in the wider world, kindness proved unifying. Students, parents, teachers, city officials, police officers, and firefighters—people with vastly different perspectives—stood together around one shared goal. Let’s Be Kind continues to be my vision for a future where students grow up learning to include, support, and care for one another. With every T-shirt, every conversation, and every act of kindness, we are building that future—one student, one school, one city at a time.
