From Family Desire to National Movement

Thumbs Up For Kindness began with grandparents Jeff Brown and Amey Harding, who wanted to teach their grandsons — Grade 1 student Jake and his younger brother Adam (in Senior Kindergarten) — important life lessons that would help them succeed in school and in life.

As involved parents in the past, Jeff and Amey had always desired to make a positive impact on the school system. Now, as grandparents, they saw a meaningful opportunity to once again play an active and positive role in their own grandchildren’s education.

Jake, inspired by his grandfather’s work at www.teachingkidsbusiness.com, asked to learn about business. The project unexpectedly evolved into teaching kindness as a learnable life skill and superpower.

Jake quickly became passionate about the idea. He and Adam began brainstorming simple, everyday ways to be kind. The boys were very active in the creation of HeroKindness — testing prototypes and creating articulated male and female versions. Adam suggested adding an animal companion, and thus Kindness Monkey was born.

The catchy Kindness Song was an instant hit. This multi-generational project has been a wonderful learning experience for everyone. What started as a family initiative has grown into Thumbs Up For Kindness — a for-profit social venture that delivers free resources to schools while generating revenue through kindness products to sustain the mission.