10-year-old Missouri City girl knows the benefits of kindness
When Khloe Joiner was 4, she stumbled onto a big idea to help make the world, or at least Houston, a kinder place.
Since then, she started a project called A Book and a Smile, in which she donates books to other children. It sounds simple, but in a world teetering off balance from mass shootings, racial injustice, attacks on women’s reproductive rights and rising inflation, there has to be something that can make someone smile.
A random act of kindness, like giving a book to another child, can do that and turn a gray sky blue.
Khloe’s idea was sparked when she spotted Missouri
City police officer Jessica Berry on a motorcycle one day. She was scared of her. At some point in her young life, Khloe had seen or heard about police violence against Black people. But her grandmother, Billye Moutra, a former school administrator, didn’t want her grandchild to fear the police, so she to set up a meeting between Khloe and Berry.
The two exchanged hugs, and Khloe told Berry she loved her red hair.
There was nothing to fear, Khloe said. And she wanted other kids to see how cool cops are. She took $150 in change that she had been saving for a trip to Disneyland and bought 350 books for the Missouri City Police Department officers to pass out to children they meet. She figured a book would bring a smile.
Now, at age 10 and in the fifth grade, Khloe has donated books more than 21,000 books to organizations such as the Star of Hope Mission, DePelchin Children’s Center and Texas Children’s Hospital, as well as elementary schools across the city. Her goal is give away 1 million books.
“When I see little kids grab a book and it makes them feel really good, my heart smiles,” she said.
Khloe learned the magic of kindness at a young age. It’s worth finding inspiration in her vision. Doing something kind for someone makes us all feel better.
“We know being kind to others improves our well-being,” said Amit Kumar, an assistant professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Texas who recently conducted a study on the impact of kindness. “We also know that people who do something kind don’t fully understand the impact and tend to systematically undervalue pro-social acts.”
Kumar and Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago have spent the past five years researching how small acts of generosity, like a stranger buying another person a cup of coffee, affect our mood and well-being. Their results show that a person who extends a hand of kindness feels good, but the person who receives that kindness has a long-lasting feeling of warmth from the interaction.
It’s likely that if we understood how good it makes people feel to receive a kind act, we might do it more often, Kumar said. (But filming a TikTok video showing the world how kind you are defeats the purpose.)
“It’s good to take on the perspective of the recipient and understand the power of an act of kindness,” Kumar said. “With the pandemic, we didn’t have as many opportunities for social connections and maintaining them. As we get back to normal, the hope is that we don’t fall into the same patterns. There are so many opportunities to engage in kind acts. We know generosity can be contagious.”
I can think of many times when someone did something kind for my family and me, like launder our clothes when I broke an arm in a car accident, or send food during a family tragedy. Once, a couple at restaurant saw me struggling with two young kids and bought our dinner with dessert. It was my birthday.
Kindness does wonders for the soul. Some studies show that it can reduce pain, calm behavior and bond us to each other.
La La Land Kind Cafe, a Dallas-based coffee shop that hires youth who have aged out of the foster-care system, is predicated on the philosophy that kindness should be normalized. It recently opened a second location in Houston in the Montrose Collective and has another location in California. It runs an eight-week internship that imparts life skills, training and mentorship.
“The world is a divided place where a simple act of someone holding a door open for someone is rare,” said Francios Reihani, the company’s 26year-old founder and CEO. “No one is being kind to these kids who come out of the fostercare system. This is what we should be doing. It’s not perfect, but each person should have someone who is there for them and who is kind to them.”
Reihani, a native of Mexico, said about 28 people who were formally in foster care have worked in his company. He hopes to open more La La
Land Kind Cafes nationally.
For the last three years, Khloe has forgone having a birthday party and instead hosts a book giveaway to help continue the spread of kindness. Now, some of her friends are doing the same.
Sometimes it’s hard to find a shoulder to lean on. Extending a hand with a kind gesture is something we should do more of.