Yesterday, around two million people joined Good Deeds Day 2022 - a peak event of year-round activities of good that is led by the Arison Group’s nonprofit Ruach Tova (Good Spirit).
Good Deeds Day is the largest volunteering event in Israel. It took place in five cities in Israel simultaneously: Ashkelon, Rishon LeZion, Hod HaSharon, Kfar Qasim, and Kiyat Motzkin. In each of these locations, participants built community libraries and packed reusable toolkits in a joint celebration of good that creates an atmosphere of joy, sustainability, and care for our planet.
Thousands of volunteering activities took place on this day, such as packing food baskets, extending help to populations in need, safeguarding the environment, assisting in animal care, and more. Additionally, people could also do good on a local scale by taking action in their neighborhood, school, or even at home with their family, preparing boxes for food collection, packing equipment and clothes for those in need, participating in community activities, creating well-wishing greeting cards for those in hospitals, and more.
Good Deeds Day was initiated 16 years ago by businesswoman and philanthropist Shari Arison, and it has since become an international day of good that unites more than a hundred countries worldwide around doing good for others and the planet. The idea behind this annual global day of good, is that we each can do a good deed, big or small, for the benefit of others to help them out.
“Your heart opens when you see all of the good people doing good deeds every day, and especially on Good Deeds Day. They are an example of ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’, showing that we can all conduct ourselves in good, and there are many people who are already doing this,” says Arison. “I believe that if we think good, speak good, and do good – our world will look different. All of us together have the power to lead the world to a better place, each doing good in their own way and according to their heart’s desire.”
Good Deeds Day 2022 also launched a new peace-making project taking place in the Arab sector, initiated by nonprofit Ruach Tova. This project, called Time to Solve It, will hold dozens of community peace-making events led by Arab sector youth organizations. On Good Deeds Day itself, more than half a million people who live in 189 Arab villages were expected to take part.
Rafi Elul, Chairman of the nonprofit Ruach Tova of the Arison Group, said: “Good Deeds Day successfully unites together the diversified parts of Israeli society, and on this day more than on any other, it is heartwarming to see the outpouring of light, giving, and care that this country has for our others, even if they are different than us. I want to say thank you to each of them, and send out a message that we should continue to do good, always.”
Alongside the ongoing activities of good, the spotlight on positivity will also shine on social media via the challenge #faming. This challenge aims to transform online conversations from shaming to faming. Launched last year, many influencers and hundreds of local authorities have joined, inviting people everywhere to take action, acknowledge others for the good that they do, and change the conversation to be more positive, on social media and in general.
For a wide variety of opportunities for doing good deeds and to join the #faming challenge, visit the Good Deeds Day website.