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Random Acts of Kindness spread across town By Nathan Howes OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Oakville Community Foundation (OCF) hopes residents will continue to pay forward the random acts of kindness that was displayed across Oakville Friday. Organized by the OCF, Random Act of Kindness Day (RAK) was a town-wide initiative held Nov. 4 with the intent of having people spread goodwill to others using RAK cards. Each card signified that a random act of kindness had been performed. The cards were picked up by people and then handed to the recipient of the kindness, with the hope that recipient will do the same for someone else. "This has been a terrific event. If we do this right, we will make an already kind town even more kindly, and there's nothing wrong with that. Keep it going," said Oakville Mayor Rob Burton. Burton received an act of kindness early Friday when he stopped at his usual place for coffee en route to a meeting. "The lady at the other end of the store came running over and handed one of (the) (RAK) cards to the trainee at the cash and said, `No no. This is my first random act of kindness for the day. I'm buying a coffee for the mayor.' That woke me up," said Burton. Dozens of people gathered near the customer service kiosk at Oakville Place Mall, where OCF volunteers wore yellow shirts promoting the (that) make us the safest community," said Power. Halton police started a new program this summer called, Positive Ticketing. It is a partnership with Mac's Convenience Stores that supplies officers with coupons for a free Freezie at its stores, Power said. "Our officers take those coupons out on patrol with them and they use those coupons to try to find our youth out there doing positive, good deeds. Some of our officers use those just to break the ice and meet with our youth," said Power. "It's a very positive program and it's working out very well." Power shared two recent examples of random acts of kindness in the community. The first one involved a young woman in town who was looking after a house and a nine-year-old Golden Retriever for her mother. "She went down onto (the) trails, just off f Neyagawa and Dundas area, and she actually got lost in those trails and had to use her GPS in her phone to find her way back," said Power. "This nine-year-old retriever got tired and refused to move any further. She found herself in a bit of a predicament." She was able to get back to the road, but the dog refused to move. She had no idea what she was going to do next. "As she was sitting there, a passerby came by in a car to see what the problem was and see if f she needed assistance. Those folks in that car See Good page 10 9 · Wednesday, November 9, 2011 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com CHANTAL AYOTTE / OAKVILLE BEAVER WHAT ARE YOU DOING?: At the official kickoff of Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Day, held at Oakville Place's centre court, Scrooge (portrayed by Joey Grimbely) makes a candy cane out of balloons for young Charlie Packard. Though Charlie didn't initially warm up to Scrooge, a little kindness went a long way and eventually to the two were sharing a high five. message to shoppers. The kickoff also featured special appearances from a stiltwalker, magician and Joey Grimbely, dressed as Scrooge. Along with the cards, gift bags and cake were offered to those who passed by. Halton Regional Police Service Superintendent Martin Power said Oakville is not only a kind town, but also a safe one ­-- Halton Region was ranked the safest community in Canada over the last three years. "That just doesn't happen by chance -- that's a result of the community as a whole. It's just not the police; it's the citizens, our corporate citizens, volunteers and everybody involved The Benefits of an Easy-Flo Built-In Vacuum System · Priced Right! · LIFETIME WARRANTY Durable components assure long life and solid performance · Super Quiet Ideal for homes of all sizes, as well as townhomes and condos · Compact Size Fits almost anywhere $ FOR ONLY Electric Power Hose Power Head 9 Piece tool set Ideal replacement for centrals that are: > Noisy > Blowing dust > Lacking power > In need of repair ­ why repair when you can replace an existing system for a similar cost? 35 years in Oakville We Repair all Makes of Vacuum Cleaners & Sewing Machines INCLUDES FREE 399 Canadian Made OAKVILLE VACUUM LTD. 198 SPEERS RD. OAKVILLE 905-844-4736 Just west of Kerr Street, beside Money Mart