Doing Good Together: Our Best of 2020
As you can imagine, Doing Good Together was busy in 2020, creating resources to help families, educators and youth leaders navigate life during a pandemic, as well as responding to the nationwide cry for racial justice.
Despite some badly needed hope and light on the horizon, the country still faces myriad challenges. For this reason, our work continues to be critical, since we know (more clearly than ever) that it’s compassion, justice, and community that bring us together — and bring about change.
We hope you picked up lots of fun, engaging opportunities for kindness and giving this past year. In case you missed them, we list some favorite resources below. Be sure to subscribe to our blog, newsletter, and/or volunteer listings so you can easily find all the good we create in 2021!
Wishing you all more peace, more love, more kindness, and more joy in the coming year.
– Jenny Friedman, Executive Director
ACTION
Share Kindness from Home, our COVID-19 resource page, offers dozens of ways families can make a difference at home together, including kindness projects, advocacy initiatives, and suggested books.
Tools to Raise an Anti-Racist Generation is our collection of the best books, videos, tips, and projects for families and educators who want to better understand racism and advocate for racial equality.
The DGT Big-Hearted Families Membership Circle, which gives members access to ever-changing tips and resources, has added more perks (including an awesome Welcome Packet) with no change to the $29.99 fee. We created the circle for families who seek a deeper commitment to kindness values.
Our Kitchen Table Kindness Kit lets families share acts of generosity from home. It includes materials (like Kindness Bingo and a Reading Challenge) to help you practice compassion and advocate for issues that matter, such as combating hunger and helping those who are homebound. In true DGT style, the kit also sparks fun, meaningful conversations about empathy, compassion, and the common good.
The DGT Virtual Festival of Giving was so memorable, we put the highlights online as a free resource over the holidays. Participants sang along with the Grammy-nominated Alphabet Rockers, heard children’s author Carol McCloud, and more. Plus, they completed hands-on service projects at their own pace, and found ways to celebrate diversity, reduce plastic, and support refugees at the U.S.-Mexican border. Stay tuned for future opportunities to reintroduce our Festival to new and returning family participants.
Our most popular postings in 2020 included our blogger’s Raised Engaged Humans: A Booklist for Big-Hearted Parents and these newsletters: Finding Purpose in the Time of COVID-19, Why Heroes Matter (especially now), and Food Insecurity in U.S. Is Growing – Here's How to Help.
TALK
Now is the ideal time to ask family members these questions. They’ll get you reflecting on the past year — and the one ahead.
Can you name three things you did last year at school, at home, or in the community that helped others?
Can you name three things that others did for you this past year that made a positive difference in your life? How might you thank them?
Our lives are so busy. How can we be sure we make time to care for people in need (whether friends, family, or strangers) — and our planet — in the coming year?
What should our family goals for kindness and giving be for 2021?
BOOKS
We continue to add the very best children’s picture and chapter books that share values of kindness, community, and justice. Among our favorite recent additions are Shelter by Celine Claire, Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki and I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott. Come back often for new titles.
INSPIRATION
"Do one act of kindness each day of the year and change 365 lives."
— A.D. Williams, Irish poet & playwright