Simple Ways I’m Teaching My Kids to Be Kind with Help from Walmart

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GreenMountainGoodness #Walmart #MountainsofGoodness

Every single day I’m trying to find a way to encourage my kids to think of others in the community, not just during the holidays.

People all around us are hurting, and it’s incredibly easy to overlook their struggles in our insanely busy lives.

But my husband and I have really tried to get our kids to look around…

Take notice.

And care.

Even when I drink my coffee, I can talk to my kids about caring…and supporting brands who care too!

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters not only produces an amazingly rich and smooth coffee any coffee aficionado would enjoy, but the company focuses on kindness too!

Over 9 million people in Central America rely on coffee farms for their drinking water. So, through a special program, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters helped train over 2,500 farmers in water-smart agricultural practices and restored watersheds and water systems—all to provide better, safer and cleaner water to 100,000 people downstream.

And that’s just the beginning of their desire to show kindness…

Through some ongoing partnerships, they’ve supported trade financing, long-term loans, financial training, and advisory services to strengthen 180 coffee enterprises representing over 340,000, small-scale farmers.

And our family believes in helping those hard-working, coffee farmers!

How Can We Teach Our Kids Kindness?

We never sat down and had a family meeting about “how” to get our kids to truly care about their neighbors, friends, and people they see on a regular basis.

But we’ve tried to guide by example.

By doing simple things..

Simple gestures…

Simple acts of kindness..

But I’d like to share with you some REAL, everyday ways we’re encouraging our kids to take part in their community.

To help the hurting…and to share little bits of kindness.

Ways to Show Kindness #1: Visit people who are hurting.

Almost weekly we visit a local orphanage often and spend time with the kids.

The kids play tag, sit down and chat and color.

My kids see how truly blessed they are to live in a home with parents and siblings.

Visiting the orphanage has made my children more tender-hearted to the precious children that are without parents.

Just this past December, my youngest daughter willingly gave up one of her favorite Christmas gift so that one of the children could have it instead.

That will make a mom tear up…

Ways to Show Kindness #2: Be Sensitive to Other People’s Needs

There are people, even in our small city, that lack shelter and food.

My husband will buy them groceries, pay for them to stay in an apartment or hotel and even drop off a take-out meal in order to make their day a little bit more special.

He’s done this many times without telling anyone in our family.

We’d finally ask..”Who are these groceries for?” and he’d share about the person he met who was hurting.

Then our kids would get involved.

They’d bake cookies or order a pizza because they wanted to show kindness…just like their dad.

Setting a good example of spreading goodness can be that simple, and this is why we want to support brands like Green Mountain Coffee Roasters that are also spreading goodness throughout the community!

It’s that little extra touch that speaks volumes of love, care and concern.

And putting a “we care about you basket” together is incredibly easy when we make sure we get all of the necessary items at our local Walmart, where we can count on Every Day Low Prices on all our essentials

Ways to Show Kindness #3: Be Willing to Help in a Big Way

There’s another man in our community who is intelligent, young, but unable to work at this time due to his disability.

My husband stepped in and decided we would pay his rent and power bill.

Yes, we realize that’s a much bigger sacrifice than a pizza and cookies, but we believe it’s worth the sacrifice to be there during someone’s most difficult days on earth.

Ways to Show Kindness #4: Be Willing to Do the Little things

Maybe they just need to know someone cares.

That can mean grabbing a few items for them at Walmart…without asking them if they “need” anything.

And Walmart keeps Green Mountain Coffee Roasters stocked with many varieties so I can brighten another coffee lover’s day in one quick, grocery trip!

As my children have gotten older, I’ve noticed the teenagers getting involved in thoughtful gestures all by themselves.

One of our neighbors has a difficult home life and my daughters rushed home and baked her cupcakes.

They also took their very own savings and bought her some gifts.

And that teenage neighbor, who my girls knew needed some cheering up, came by our house and was grinning from ear to ear.

She seemed to be in happy disbelief that her teen neighbors would care so much about her.

Ways to Show Kindness #5: Think About the Products You Use Daily

My husband and I love a good cup of coffee.

And we love sharing a good cup of coffee with our friends and neighbors too!

I want my daily coffee routine to have connections to caring for the community too.

Whether it’s inviting someone over to enjoy a chat, cookies, and coffee..(Like a play date!) or if it’s just knowing that the coffee brewing in my kitchen is from a company that cares.

And I can smile about my cup of coffee because I know Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is giving its farmers high-quality seedlings to plant while educating them on shade tree management and good agricultural practices.

This makes the coffee beans I love taste even better!

I can feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I know Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is providing higher incomes for the farmers and their families.

Every drop of kindness counts!

How Are You Teaching Your Kids Kindness?

I’d love to hear your kindness stories too!

Keurig and K-Cup are trademarks of Keurig Green Mountain Inc., used with permission.