Random Acts of Kindness Day is celebrated every year on Feb. 17. The idea was created by Berkeley writer and activist, Anne Herbert, who wanted to promote kindness in the San Francisco Bay area. She wrote an article titled “Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Acts of Senseless Beauty” and from her idea, Conari Press, a small press in Berkeley, wrote a book titled Random Acts of Kindness. The book reached hundreds of thousands who were inspired by the idea and communities started instituting their own “Random Acts of Kindness Days.” In 1995, the first national Random Acts of Kindness Day took place, and it continues to be celebrated to this day.
Brice Krydynski (12) celebrated Random Acts of Kindness Day with her lacrosse teammates.
“We celebrated Random Acts of Kindness Day by bringing donuts for our team at the end of practice. Everyone enjoyed it and it was a great surprise,” Krydynski said.
Celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Day does not mean one shouldn’t be kind all the time. Some people have dedicated their lives to spreading kindness to others.
One of those people was Shirley Raines.
Shirley Raines was the owner and founder of her nonprofit “Beauty 2 the Streetz,” an organization that offered food, beauty and hygiene products to homeless people every day in Los Angeles and Nevada. Raines was not unfamiliar with hardship, which inspired her to help others. In 1990, she was homeless herself and had to deal with the grief of losing her two-year-old son, Demetrius, after an accidental poisoning at his grandmother’s house. She struggled for years and did not understand what her purpose in life was until a friend of hers asked her to volunteer on a church feeding mission.
CNN.com highlighted Shirley’s origin of where her passion for her nonprofit comes from.
“I went to Skid Row, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is where all the broken people are? Oh, I’ve been looking for y’all all my life,’” Raines said. “I never wanted to leave. It’s a place where people have amazing hearts, but nobody can see it because they can’t see the forest for the trees.”
She knew that helping others was her calling. In 2015, Beauty 2 the Streetz was founded. While working a full-time job and raising six kids, she managed the time every week to cook for 400-600 people in her small apartment. Initially, her organization was small with just Raines and her children volunteering. As the residents of Skid Row got to know her more, they started to compliment her hair and makeup. She gave them makeovers cutting and dyeing hair, distributing wigs and doing their makeup.
Raines started livestreaming and posting pictures encouraging her community to spread kindness, and she eventually went viral. Hair stylists, barbers, makeup artists and huge makeup companies offered to help her on her mission. In 2019, Beauty 2 the Streetz was registered and recognized as an official nonprofit, with around 24 volunteers offering their time to the cause. Across all social media platforms, she amassed a following of over 6 million people who were inspired by her spirit and drive.
In 2021, Raines was recognized as CNN Hero of the Year. In addition to the prestigious title, she was awarded $100,000 to expand her nonprofit. While receiving the award, she thanked her children, including her late son, who were her inspiration for her work. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) also awarded her an Image Award for Outstanding Social Media Personality.
On Jan. 27, 2026, Beauty 2 the Streetz announced on social media the passing of Shirley Raines. The news of her death devastated millions across America who had been following her journey. Her legacy will continue as her volunteers are continuing to help the homeless.
Rashawn Williams, Raines’s daughter, shared on latimes.com that even though she is gone, Shirley Raines’s impact will live on.
“We will carry this on for generations,” Williams said. “It’s not over. I want her community to know that they helped her so much. They helped her find herself.”
From Shirley Raines, humanity can learn that kindness comes in many forms – and not just on a day that celebrates “random acts.” Whether it’s volunteering to help someone or just giving compliments, individuals could all benefit from spreading kindness, every day.
