It’s this Sunday again.

“What?”, you ask?   Good Deeds Sunday.

This special day had its beginnings in Israel, back in 2007,   and migrated to the USA about 5 years later.   And, if you’ve paid attention, you’ll notice that this event happens in March or April of every year.

Why not on one specific weekend?  Well- it is, if you pay attention to the Hebrew calendar.  It is held on the first Sunday of the month of Nissan.   That’s one of the (four) New Year’s Days in the calendar; this one coincides with the Royal year (back when Israel was ruled by monarchs, and it is the month that contains Pesach (Passover)- the Jewish celebration of Freedom.  (The new moon [new month] of Nissan is this Saturday.)

Good Deeds Day is the brainchild of Shari Arison.  “Who?”,  you say?  The scion of Ted Arison and Mina Sapir; the two founders of the Carnival Cruise Line.  A British-American cruise line now, but not when it was founded in 1972.  It has now become the world’s largest cruise line with 21+% of all cruise passengers travelling on one of their lines.  (Carnival not only includes Carnival, but Holland America, Seabourn, Princess, Costa, Aida, and Ibero- plus an airline.)

Good Deeds Day is really older than the 12 years since it was first celebrated.  It stems from the concept of Tikun Olam– the perfection of this world (or the repair of this world).  It is a commandment for us to leave this world better off than when we got here- even if it’s just by a little bit.  So, given that precept, Good Deeds Day is a start for most people- at just one day of the year.  A day when we should volunteer our time to improve the lives of others and, therefore, the world.

In 2007, there were just 7000 Israelis participating.  Five years later, the number of participants hit about 150,000.  Last year, some 3.5 million people from 100 countries took the time out to volunteer to  help make a difference.

The mission of Good Deeds Day (which gets its funding from the Ted Arison Family Foundation and Ruach Tova (which means a pleasant or good spirit) is to make it easy for folks to volunteer- and recognize how easy that volunteering really is.  The thought is that will have these folks choose to volunteer long after Good Deeds Day has succumbed to the night.

To insure that volunteers don’t feel overwhelmed, the foundation has developed step-by-step instructions for a slew of projects.   Environmental trips , Blood Drives, Storytelling, and many more. (You can see some more of them here.)  There are also lessons for our kids.  (You know… teach your children well…)

So, wherever you are- there’s something you can do.  There’s something you NEED to do.  (Sign up right here!)  The world- and its citizenry- are  counting on you…

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