It’s not so random anymore.
Close to 50 students at Richmond Jewish Day School and Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy embarked on their fourth annual Random Acts of Kindness (RAK)event on a rainy Tuesday morning, when they boarded a bus to hand-deliver 1,000 sandwiches to vulnerable residents of the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver.
“This is a great community-building exercise for the kids to learn how to do acts of kindness together,” said Richmond Jewish Day School principal Abba Brodt.
The joint event is symbolic of the growing partnership between the two faith-based schools on No. 5 Road.
“In all faiths whenever we can give, it’s always better to give than to receive. I think this particular partnership is really special. We’ve been able to bring two communities together under a commonality,” said Sukaina Jaffer, vice-principal at Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy.
On Monday parents and teachers made sandwiches at the Ironwood Save-on-Foods, which provided the food for Tuesday’s handout.
Students also collected clothes for anyone in need.
“The kids go with a smile and greet the residents downtown,” said Brodt.
The event is said to instill leadership skills among the Grade 7 students who mentor the Grade 6 students participating for the first time.
“The kids going back a second time have a greater comfort level and feel more assured of themselves,” noted Brodt.
Jaffer said thanks to the RAK event the two schools now participate in more events with one another.
Random Acts of Kindness is an apolitical North American movement for positive change.
