Every year on Nelson Mandela's birthday, July 18, global citizens are called upon to devote 67 minutes to community service and working for the good of others. We’re asking you to join us this Mandela Day to make a difference by giving back and showing the true spirit of Madiba, who once said, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
You can make a difference this Mandela Day with an act of kindness that shows you care about the less fortunate amongst us. We’ve compiled a list of 67 suggested acts of kindness to inspire change this Mandela Day.
- Make a new friend. Get to know someone from a different cultural background. Only through mutual understanding can we rid our communities of intolerance and xenophobia.*
- Donate blood, especially if you are group O.
- Put a money box or jar in a visible place at home to collect small change for a local charity.
- Fish out old prams, baby cots, or any items for babies that you think could be beneficial and donate them to an infant home.
- When shopping, buy extra female hygiene products drop off packs, with a personalized message on each, to a local women's organization.
- Read to someone who can’t. Visit a local home for the blind and open up a new world for someone else.*
- Spend 67 minutes to read out loud Nelson Mandela’s life history on the Nelson Mandela Foundation website to inspire your children.
- Pick up 67 pieces of litter around your neighborhood.
- Check that your seafood is sustainably sourced: Seafood Watch.
- Walk or run 6.7 kms or 6,700 steps.
- Donate to the Nelson Mandela Each1Feed1 campaign.
- Spend 67 minutes planting a garden or trees.
- Spend 67 minutes teaching someone a new skill.
- Keep a box of 67 masks in your car and hand out to the homeless.
- Make sandwiches to give to the homeless.
- Spend 67 minutes to take a can of lubricant spray/rust protector to your local park and tidy up or fix rusty joints of the equipment.
- Sponsor a guide dog by paying for the puppy training.
- Sign up as an organ donor—your body can save up to seven lives and many more with tissues like heart valves.
- Donate platelets through your local blood donation services.
- Bake something for the local police station night shift to encourage them in their difficult work.
- Drop off a soft toy at the nearest police station—the toys are kept at the victim empowerment center to hand out to abandoned and abused children when they come in for counselling.
- Help someone get a job. Put together and print a CV for them, or help them with their interview skills.*
- Offer to feed a neighbor’s pet or house-sit while they are away.
- Drop off a bag of pet food or a blanket at your local SPCA or shelter.
- Pledge to have more showers and fewer baths to conserve water.
- Many terminally ill people have no one to speak to. Take a little time to have a chat and bring some sunshine into their lives.*
- Clean out your shelves and get a bag of books ready to deliver to a school that needs extra reading books.
- Swap your usual take-out paper cups for a ceramic or reusable travel mug one to ease the impact on landfills.
- Buy balls of wool for an old age home or donate a chess set that you don’t use.
- Switch the TV off in the evening for 67 minutes and talk to your children about starting a family charity—something you can all fund raise toward that is important to all of you.
- Take a new soccer ball to a local school or organization.
- Donate old magazines to a home or a needy nursery school.
- Take someone you know, who can’t afford it, to get their eyes tested or their teeth checked.*
- Spend 67 minutes to do some research into the products you usually buy – find alternatives that are better for our planet.
- Sort out your cupboard and give someone your old clothing to sell to boost their income.
- Share social media posts by animals’ shelters and charity organizations extend their reach and increase exposure
- Join together with friends and buy 67 loaves of bread to donate to a soup kitchen.
- Buy pockets sanitizers and hand out to those in need.
- Spend 67 minutes researching something you care about and share your findings on social media. Creating awareness is creating change.
- Pack ‘Care Packages’ consisting of a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, soap, cream and socks and hand them out at a shelter for the homeless or drop off at an old age home.
- Wait until after lockdown and volunteer at a local animal shelter and show some fur babies the true spirit of Madiba.
- Looking for a new friend? Adopt a pet, don’t shop for one!
- Donate 670 points to a charity from any local shoppers rewards programs that you may belong to.
- Donate a wheelchair or guide dog, to someone in need.*
- Read 67 pages of Nelson Mandela's biography ‘Long Walk to Freedom.”
- Buy locally handmade and homegrown goods which supports someone providing for their family.
- Wait until after lockdown and sign up at an old age home to read the newspaper or play an instrument to the elderly once a month for 67 minutes for the next year.
- Drop off scrapbooking supplies and scraps of fabric at a retirement home for use in creating crafts for end-of-year markets.
- Visit your local charity shop and reduce your carbon footprint by buying second hand.
- Look in your local community for an organizations seeking volunteers and offer some of your time.
- Learn basic First Aid.
- Spend 67 minutes setting up a recycling system for your home for glass, plastic, tin, and paper.
- Offer to mow a neighbor's yard.
- Spend 67 minutes cleaning up around your neighborhood.
- Pick up and deliver groceries or medicine for an elderly person.
- Spend 67 minutes blogging about a non-profit organization that needs support.
- Donate unused, working computers or electronics to an under-resourced school.
- Check in on an neighbor that lives alone
- Visit a local children’s home or orphanage and read to the children, alternatively you could pack some snack boxes and fill their day with some sunshine.
- Buy extra groceries and give it to a homeless person.
- Host a movie night for your family to watch a documentary about social justice.
- Tutor someone who needs help learning your mother tongue.
- Take someone you know, who can’t afford it, to get their eyes tested or their teeth checked.*
- Spend 67 minutes browsing through the Nelson Mandela Foundation website and see how you can help.
- Spend 67 minutes writing a letter to a newspaper editor about an issue you care about.
- Teach someone how to use a computer and the internet.
- Get tested for HIV and encourage your partner to do so too.*
Visit What can I do? – Mandela Day for more ideas on actions you can take to make the world a better place.
*Idea courtesy of Nelson Mandela International Day : Take Action! (un.org)