How Kind is Ventura? Have A Heartwarming Look.

by Visit Ventura

Kindness can change a day, a life, a world. So simple. So profound. As the Dalai Lama, weaver of the simple/profound, said, “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” With that simple — but powerful — premise in mind, on National Random Acts of Kindness Day, Ventura set out to spread kindness to the world in a small but impactful way. Visit Ventura asked Ventura businesses and residents to simply do a kind thing. Any kind thing. It didn’t have to be grand. Because small kindness is grand We offered plenty of fun suggestions — send a random post card, buy a sandwich and hand it to the first person who needs it — but honestly Venturans didn’t need any help with ideas. On National Random Acts of Kindness Day, they did Ventura proud… Island Packers Ventura Pop Up yoga Visita Real Charter Ventura Pop Up Yoga Ventura Pop Up Yoga Rincon Brewery Coastal Cone Plum Gifts Ventura County Coast Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach Visita Real Charter Ventura County Coast Bearfoot Intuition Ex Voto Chocolates Plum Gifts Hands and Light The Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach gave chocolate covered strawberries to traveling nurses staying at the beachfront hotel. Island Packers, the Ventura boat company that ferries visitors out to the five islands of Channel Islands National Park, performed random acts of environmental kindness. Among them, giving away free reusable water bottles to anyone who wanted to buy a single use plastic water bottle in their gift shop. Coastal Cone, in Ventura Harbor Village, gave away free Fish Zookies with every ice cream order. The Amanzi Hotel gave $100.00 worth of gift cards from Krispy Kreme Donuts to health care workers at Community Memorial Hospital. Clarey Rudd, owner of Bank of Books, ate at his 44th restaurant since January 1st, part of an ongoing (as many of these kindnesses are) effort to support local restaurants during the pandemic. Latitudes Fine Art handed out lovely note cards — complete with stamp — so folks could send a note to someone who needed a lift. Child Development Resources of Ventura County gave away free water tumblers to parents dropping off their children at the Benita Wallick Head Start Center. Pierpont Racquet Club gave free 30 day memberships to local businesses, to give to a deserving employee. A volunteer pilot for Angel Flight West, Jeff Moorhouse, of Moorhouse Financial Services, flew a cancer patient to Santa Monica for a medical appointment. Mary Osborne, of Mary Osborne Surf Academy, teamed up with Frontside Cafe to give a friend a surprise meal. Ex Voto Chocolates and Confections gave away free scoops of (appropriately named) Almond Joy ice cream. Sabine Dodane of Reves de Sabine surprised a friend with a TLC package — and gave away free products with every order. The Ventura Visitor Center gave away free sunglasses. The students and staff at Cabrillo Middle School have performed random acts of kindness throughout the year, as part of an ongoing kindness campaign called the Blue Heart Project. How’s this for heart? Teaming with the Ventura Sandwich Company, they funded one hundred $5 sandwich gift certificates (and sent air hugs) to local health care workers. Maybe a tad more heartwarming belief in humanity? The above Random Acts of Kindness Day acts followed on the heels of kind precedents. Visit Ventura teamed with PizzaMan Dan, who kindly delivered pizza to some of Ventura’s frontline heroes at the Ventura Fire Department. Visit Ventura, teaming with Ventura Harbor Village, gave away free cuddly stuffed animals to wide-eyed children at Ventura Harbor (Visit Ventura also randomly handed out flowers downtown — because a flower always brings a smile). And, among the hundreds of kindness performed during this pandemic, two last kindnesses to warm your heart. Paradise Pantry gave free meals to out-of-work restaurant workers, and Fluid State Beer Garden “pied it forward,” giving free pizzas to hard hit service industry workers, that effort funded by hometown distiller Ventura Spirits. Ahhhhhhhhh. We all know kindness when we see it, and we all know the world is a better place when we see it a lot more often. Let’s continue to make the world a better place. https://youtu.be/vR_dnp4cyiI