World Kindness Day 2026 is on Friday

About World Kindness Day

World Kindness Day rests on a simple idea: kindness is a value people share across nationality, religion and politics, and practicing it on purpose can make communities stronger. Schools, workplaces and volunteer groups mark it with acts of kindness, thank-you notes, kindness cards and service projects.

The day was created by the World Kindness Movement, a registered not-for-profit with no political, commercial or religious affiliation. According to the movement, it took shape at a conference in Tokyo on September 20, 1997, when Japan brought together kindness organizations from around the world for the first time. World Kindness Day was introduced the following year, in 1998, and it has been held on November 13 since.

Unlike the UN-designated days, World Kindness Day has no General Assembly resolution behind it, and no single authority decides how it is observed. It has spread mainly through schools, local governments and nonprofits, which choose their own activities. That open format is part of its appeal: anyone can take part, and most of the ways to do it cost little or nothing, from checking on a neighbor to volunteering for an afternoon.

Sources: The World Kindness Movement, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: World Kindness Day. How we check dates.

How to mark World Kindness Day

• Write a thank-you note to someone whose help you never properly acknowledged.
• Do one anonymous favor, such as paying for a stranger's coffee or shoveling a neighbor's walk.
• Check on an older neighbor or someone who lives alone.
• Start a week-long kindness challenge in a classroom or office, with one small act per person each day.
• Volunteer an hour at a food bank, shelter or animal rescue.
• Extend some kindness to yourself: rest, and drop one unnecessary self-criticism.

World Kindness Day dates