Past Events

Each semester, the Kindness Committee collaborates with Ohio State partners, departments and the Columbus community to host events that serve others and spread kindness. Some of these events have included:

The Pack Shack

For five years, Ohio State has worked with The Pack Shack, an organization that hosts Feed the Funnel parties where groups pack food for people in need. The first year we donated our meals locally in the Columbus area and to Puerto Rico due to a hurricane. In our second year, we researched the most food-insecure county in Ohio, which was Athens, and we paired with Ohio University to deliver the meals to more than 12 agencies in Ohio.

In our third year, Ohio State students, alumni and friends came together to pack and deliver 300,000+ meals with the help of the Center for HumanKindness at the Columbus Foundation. The meals packed were donated to Military Veteran Resource Center locations around Ohio in Chillicothe, Hamilton and Westerville. We also began doing two projects: a late-night service event for just students and a service event collaboration between the Office of Student Life, Department of Athletics and the Alumni Association.

View photos from these events.

Operation Warm

Operation Warm provides warmth, confidence and hope to children in need through the gift of brand new winter coats.

With the help of the Center for HumanKindness at the Columbus Foundation, the Office of Student Life was able to purchase and provide more than 500 coats to the scholars at the United Schools Network East Main and State street locations during December 2019.

View photos from this event.

The Big Table

Each year, we partner with The Columbus Foundation to sponsor The Big Table event on campus. The Big Table is a community-wide day of conversations designed to connect citizens and broaden perspectives as residents listen to and learn from each other. A question every year is based on kindness. 

View photos from these events.

Random Acts of Kindness

To help spread service and smiles around campus, the Kindness Committee with help from Ohio State students, faculty and staff members, perform Random Acts of Kindness on-campus. Acts of kindness can be as simple as holding a door open for someone, to paying for a stranger's meal. Have an idea for a Random Act of Kindness? Email bekind@osu.edu.

View photos of our acts of kindness.

Get Involved

Looking to get involved with kindness at The Ohio State University and in the Columbus community? You can sign up to be notified of kindness events and opportunities by visiting go.osu.edu/KindSignUp.