Fairfield County’s Giving Day
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Fairfield County’s Giving Day is the region’s biggest philanthropic event, bringing people together to make a difference for local nonprofits, like Ben’s Bells, delivering vital services to our neighborhoods. When you invest in kindness, you help create kinder communities.
In 2013, Ben’s Bells opened a studio in Newtown, CT (now in Bethel, CT), expanding Ben’s Bells’ reach. Ben’s Bells teaches individuals and communities about the positive impacts of intentional kindness and inspires people to practice kindness as a way of life. Ben’s Bells programs are based on the belief that everyone has the capacity to be kind and that kindness can be cultivated through education, visual reminders, and ongoing practice. Hear from Ben’s Bells ambassadors on how Ben’s Bells programs are making a difference in our community.
Donations are taken through Fairfield County’s Giving Day website. Each donate link below will take you to the location where you can make a donation. If you would like a reminder on Thursday, February 23rd, please select an add to calendar link below.
Thank you for investing in creating kinder communities on Fairfield County’s Giving Day and every day.
Donate between 4:00pm and 5:00pm to help Ben’s Bells win an additional $1,000!
The Perfect Message
Twenty years ago Jeannette Maré started a kindness movement. She took a tragic situation, the sudden loss of her almost three-year-old son Ben, and chose to share her journey of healing and hope. She realized the universal need for kindness and connection, and has helped many people learn about kindness and how it can spread in communities. Be Kind. Simple words that create a powerful ripple effect. Ben’s Bells would not be here today if the community had not embraced this kindness movement, nurtured it, and helped it grow like Ben’s Bells nonprofit partner Bob J.
“Why do I support Ben’s Bells? Two words- be kind. Taken apart, not that special. Put those words together in the right order. It’s a message that is going to change the world and it already has. It is always the right message. It’s the perfect message. Just one last question, who are you going to be kind to next?” says Bob J., Board of Short Beach Park Commission
Just like an act of kindness, your support has a ripple effect. YOUR investment today will help provide the tools to teach about the benefits of kindness and bring our community together.
Message of Kindness
Ben’s Bells creates beautiful kindness-themed mosaic murals in our community that are powerful visual reminders to be kind. These visuals set the expectation that kindness is valued in your community. The community benefits from the kind messaging inspiring kind intentions and actions. With the help of supporters like Ella and her family, Ben’s Bells has created over 275 murals in Tucson, Phoenix, Connecticut, and surrounding communities.
“I support Ben’s Bells because Ben’s Bells is on a mission to spread the message of kindness. They have helped me and my family through not only one (Watertown High School), not two (John Trumbull Primary School), but three murals (Holy Cross High School) in our community that have brought our schools and town together through an amazing message of kindness,” says Ella, Kind Campus Student
When you make a donation to Ben’s Bells, you are ensuring we have the supplies needed to research the impacts of different tools for kindness. Your investment gives us the ability to create tools that inspire kindness in our community.
*Download the Power of Visual Reminders guide for more information.
Selfless, kind, and fun!
Kindness is a skill set that can be practiced, and that is why Ben’s Bells offers Kind Campus programming for free to all schools. Over 12,000 students in Connecticut and New York are receiving Kind Campus programming this year! Kind Campus is an innovative, school-based program that educates students, faculty, and staff about the benefits of kindness, and empowers them to create a culture of kindness in their school and beyond. Schools that embrace the program create a ripple effect of kindness that flows into the community, like Whisconier School’s mural that was created in memory of Mrs. Judy Grady.
“I learned about Ben’s Bells and their messaging of kindness last year. I’d seen their bumper stickers, I’d seen the artwork, and realized they were all over but I didn’t really know anything about it. I went through and worked on some projects with them and I love the way they engaged with students and groups in displaying the message and building the message and getting all of the children involved. I met an incredible team and a wonderful group who supports them. I find that they are very engaged. I am impressed with everybody. They’re selfless, they’re kind, and they’re a lot fun to be around. I encourage you to get involved,” says Dan Grady, Community Supporter.
Your investment today will ensure that Kind Campus programming continues to be available free of charge to students, faculty, and staff. By recognizing, valuing, and practicing intentional kindness, we can change not only our community, but the world.
Each Piece is Special
Ben’s Bells is successful because of the tremendous support of the community. The more than TWENTY THOUSAND volunteers that have visited a Ben’s Bells studio are instrumental in helping to inspire people to practice kindness as a way of life. Volunteers help create the Ben’s Bells that are distributed in communities, and the “be kind” ornaments and merchandise that are sold in our shops, helping to fund our community art studios and kindness education programs.
“I am a Core Volunteer for Ben’s Bells at the Bethel Studio. I go there weekly and have been for 6 or 7 years to cut clay, paint pieces, string Bells, whatever the studio needs. I then have the privilege of hanging these Bells in my community or in places that I travel to with the thought of somebody finding it who might be having a bad day and needs a little lightning in their mood and also of course to remind them to be kind. It makes all of it worth it but the special part is when I go into the schools and I help create these murals on these walls. The kids walk by with the oohs and ahhs and the excitement grows as each piece is put up special,” says Ann, Volunteer
The Ben’s Bells volunteer experience creates a safe place to discuss kindness, offers a therapeutic way of healing through art, and a fun way to get to know other members of our community. Your investment today ensures that Ben’s Bells has the supplies needed to continue to host volunteers that will further our ripple effect of kindness in our community.
Be Kind
Every handmade and hand-selected item sold in Shop Kind helps fund our community art studios and kindness education, and inspires kindness. By carrying Shop Kind merchandise, our retail partners, like The Toy Tree, are extending the ripple effect of kindness in our community.
“Hi my name is Gwen. My name is Jules and I’m Gisselle. We are all employees at The Toy Tree in Newtown. We have been loyal carriers of Ben’s Bells for over 10 years and we were the first retailer here in Newtown to sell them in our store. We heavily stand by the Ben’s Bells motto “be kind.” It is something we always keep in the back of our minds every day. We always stress the importance of making kindness prevalent not just in our lives, but in others’ too. It is so important to develop our compassion towards others because even the littlest of things can make someone’s day. We are so proud to be a carrier of Ben’s Bells. Always remember to be kind.”
Your investment in Ben’s Bells creates a ripple effect that impacts entire communities. Your donation helps fund volunteer opportunities where volunteers create ceramics with the message to “be kind.” These ceramics are then sold by Ben’s Bells and our retail partners. Each item funds our kindness education programing and creates daily visual reminders for our community to practice kindness as a way of life.