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April 29, 2009

ULM Department of Kinesiology students celebrate Random Acts of Kindness

While some may be experiencing increased levels of stress in these uncertain times, Department of Kinesiology students are focused on spreading Random Acts of Kindness.

In addition to randomly distributing gifts across the University of Louisiana at Monroe campus on April 29, each student in the spring Kinesiology 444 class has donated one service or talent to help a ULM employee feel a little bit better.

If you know someone who needs a little pick-me-up and would like to request one of these gifts for a friend or co-worker, submit your request to Dr. Mark Doherty at doherty@ulm.edu. Be sure to include the name and office location of the person for whom you're requesting a random act of kindness gifts/service.

For those interested in offering to perform a random act of kindness for someone on campus, just contact Dr. Mark Doherty at doherty@ulm.edu. Perhaps someone will request one for you!

Random Acts Available

• Admission for kids for an afternoon at Recreation Center in Swartz

• One hour-long personal training session

• Free pizza night

• Two cheerleading lessons for junior high or high school student

•One hour-long tutor session in math or science

• Three, one-hour basic guitar lessons

• Be a personal assistant for a day

• Have your basic errands run for you throughout a school/work day

• Babysitting

• Three, one-hour rollerblading lessons

• Assistance grocery shopping for your family or assistance organizing a home or work office space

• Dinner-in-basket (recipe, ingredients, etc.)

• Free admission into a softball game and your child can be a little slugger and go out on the field with a player to say the national anthem

• Walk your dog

• One exercise prescription

• Personal chef/cooking lessons for a day

• A baseball lesson covering hitting, fielding, pitching or any other areas needed with an experienced player who has coached baseball for a local high school team and has worked with professional scouts

Here are some of the health benefits associated with giving:

• Stress-related health problems improve after performing kind acts. Helping reverses feelings of depression, supplies social contact, and decreases feelings of hostility and isolation that can cause stress, overeating, ulcers, etc. A drop in stress may, for some people, decrease the constriction within the lungs that leads to asthma attacks.

• The health benefits and sense of well-being return for hours or even days whenever the helping act is remembered.

• Once we establish an "affiliative connection" with someone - a relationship of friendship, love, or some sort of positive bonding - we feel emotions that can strengthen the immune system.

• Helping contributes to the maintenance of good psychological and physical health by diminishing the effect of diseases and disorders both serious and minor.

The Department of Kinesiology “kindly” thanks you in advance for your participation!

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