NKPR has declared the goal for its fifth annual 26 Hours of Kindness event on Feb. 14 will be partnering with #Hashtaglunchbag to create at least 800 bagged lunch meals for the homeless. They hope to enlist a hundred volunteers to help them achieve their goal.
Staff from fitness company Spinco will help make lunches, plus hand out Blondies Pizza to passersby (outside NKPR on Adelaide St. W) during the lunch hour, as part of the random acts of kindness initiative, as well as bring pizza to the shelters when the bags are dropped off.A similar event by the Toronto-New York company last year had more than 60 volunteers gathered together to create more than 650 meals.
The 26 Hours of Kindness event will be a sort of early celebration of Random Acts of Kindness Day, which takes place Feb. 17.
#Hashtaglunchbag has been a valuable emerging resource in providing grassroots level support for homeless persons experiencing food insecurity.
Started in Los Angeles over Christmas 2012, a group of friends got together to with the goal to create 100 pack lunches to help provide food for those in need. These lunch-making efforts quickly became monthly events, which have now expanded to and inspired well-intentioned food preparers in over 100 North American cities. Additionally, the Living Through Giving Foundation was created to keep up with the growth of #Hashtaglunchbag.
Started in 2002, the company NKPR was created by Natasha Koifman for "sharing stories of substance and championing important causes." Koifman also chairs Artist For Peace and Justice, the organization that has raised more than $30 million for relief efforts in Haiti.
Samaritanmag spoke to Koifman in 2018 about the marquee annual Toronto International Film Festival event the Artists for Peace and Justice Festival Gala.
"When you look back to the last 10 years and everything we’ve been able to accomplish, $30 million later, we have 3,000 children in our school; we celebrated three graduating classes; we built the very first free high school in Port-au-Prince," Koifman said. "I look back at photos and I think back to everything we did and I’m like, "Wow, at the end of the day, you can feel really proud of what we’ve been able to do for others."
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