The goal of 1,000 acts was surpassed by Feb. 28, 2010.

The more-than-expected outcome of the 2010 Acts of Random Kindness campaign included surpassing the 1,000 goal by more than 400 acts; widespread television and radio broadcast coverage; and a mention in the July issue of Ladies Home Journal. Even beyond these amazing results, was the fun and excitement experienced in Elk River as the flood of random acts of kindness warmed the cold 28 days of February 2010. Initiator of the campaign, Elk River Mayor Stephanie Klinzing, predicted that there would be a “climate change” in the city as people reached out to friends, neighbors, family, and, especially, strangers. “We were not disappointed,” Mayor Klinzing said, “The surprises never stopped throughout the whole month and some acts of kindness changed lives.” As an example, she pointed to Spectrum High School’s kindness act of paying delinquent electrical bills for several Elk River residents with money donated by students.

“The student involvement was phenomenal.” Klinzing said. “We had two girls who each did 100 acts of random kindness and Vandenberge Junior High School students recorded 300 acts. I was really blessed when a huge stack of pink Valentine’s Day cards, made by students at St. Andrew’s Elementary School, were delivered to city hall. The cards expressed appreciation to the mayor and city council members for serving the city.”

At the closing event in the downtown city park, Mayor Klinzing declared the City of Elk River to be the “kindest city in Minnesota” and sent out a challenge to other cities to somehow prove that they are kinder than Elk River. Two cities, Belle Plaine and Anoka, indicated an interest by inviting Mayor Klinzing, Cindy Gibbs, campaign manager, and LaDonna Ahrens to meetings to describe the experience. However, neither city has run a campaign at this point so Elk River’s status, as Minnesota’s kindest city, stands.

Love Elk River’s board of directors has discussed running another campaign in 2011 but has not made a final decision. Cindy Gibbs is advocating for another campaign with a few changes to increase the challenge factor. “We could require that the officially counted acts be reports from only recipients of the acts instead of counting both recipients and people doing the acts which was the case in the 2010 campaign,” she said.

Input from residents of the city would be important to Love Elk River’s decision about running another campaign in 2011. Anyone having an opinion – either pro or con – is invited to leave a message below.