WorldWide Dance for Kindness! World Kindness Day 2012 was surely one to remember! On November 18th over 3500 participants in over 30 locations spanning across 15 countries around the globe joined together to DANCE FOR KINDNESS in Life Vest Inside’s first annual WorldWide FreezeMob FlashMob! The goal of the event is to promote kindness, positive human interaction and to help increase people’s awareness and sensitivity to others and it did just that! The event hosted in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, and tons of locations throughout the USA, began with a Kindness FreezeMob. Dancers froze in ‘Kindness Positions’ for over 3 minutes as DeScribe’s AMAZING, soul stirring hit single, ‘We R 1’ brought hope to the crowds. For three minutes time FROZE for kindness and gave people the opportunity to see that kindness truly only takes a moment. Immediately after the FreezeMob, the streets filled with the sound of K’nann’s ‘Wavin’ Flag’ and Matisyahu’s ‘One Day’ as dancers from across the globe un-froze and broke out into dance. Life Vest Inside Acts of Kindness cards were distributed, giving the crowd an opportunity to take a bit of the magic with them. The New York City group, led by Life Vest Inside’s founder Orly Wahba and Executive Director Tory Dube, performed their FlashMob in Times Square. New York City’s American Eagle Outfitters donated their billboards for the length of the performance and Life Vest Inside played their award winning short film ‘Kindness Boomerang,’ and debuted their new kindness spots! Ari Grunzenweig of Imagination Creations compiled the footage and turned Life Vest Inside’s various commercials and short films into an epic 20 minutes of choreographed footage among the eight screens donated. ‘For ten minutes Times Square stopped to celebrate kindness with us. It was magical. The whole purpose of the event was to increase human connection… and we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams,’ recalled Tory Dube, Life Vest Inside volunteer. In the coming months, Life Vest Inside will compile the footage of all of the FlashMobs around the world into one montage- proving it doesn’t matter your race, location, religious affiliation, etc… we can come together as ONE in Kindness. ‘I know my life has been changed by coming upon Life Vest Inside’s Kindness Boomerang video and embarking on this fabulous adventure! I am so looking forward becoming an ambassador for Life Vest Inside. I know we have touched over 100 people’s lives right here in Montreal – who will then touch how many more!??!’ recaps Diane Dupuis-Kallos after successfully organizing a FlashMob in Canada. To check out pictures from the WorldWide event – Click HERE! *Please note: The WorldWide Video montage of the event will be released shortly with a complete list of all participants and those who have contributed to the events success. NOW – let’s take the INSPIRATION from the day and turn it into ACTION! November 18th was not simply a day about Dancing for Kindness but Acting in Kindness! LVI launched our Rockethub fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Sandy who lost their home to fire. Now, you can lend a life vest to someone in need. Visit our CAMPAIGN and make your contribution TODAY! It’s ALWAYS the season to GIVE! Life Vest Inside would like to thank the following individuals and companies that assisted with the success of the NYC event: Times Square Alliance, Damien Santucci, Mike Dugan and Times Square NYPD, American Eagle Outfitters, Dave Taylor, DeScribe, KIND, Rachel and Jeff Sutton, Michelle Hazan, Tory Dube, Anthony Gorgio, Bobbie Beyda, Natalie Terzi, Nathan Tawil, Ari Grunzenweig (Imagination Creations), Vincent MacTiernan (Special Effects editor & one of a kind guy), Paul Rosen, Dorrie Jankowski, Derek Brown and the entire team of NITROUS, Roy Arias Theaters, Jack Hidary, Heather Chen, Simeon Rose, Jessica Mullin, Alexandra Petruck, Steve Hopkins, Matt Van Ekeren, Marlene Massry, Jack Laboz, Pauline and Mike Wahba, and of the AMAZING participants! Life Vest Inside would also like to individually recognize and acknowledge the AMAZING, WONDERFUL, and COMMITTED Group Leaders who have assisted us in making the event such a great success! I am forever grateful to them and feel fortunate to have worked with KIND and LOVING individuals, who in a short time have become GREAT FRIENDS of mine. They have further proven the validity of the words of Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” ~Orly Wahba Courtney Collado of Topeka, Kansas Breanne Oakie of Alberta, Canada This project has made me feel united with people around the world in ways nothing else has. I didn’t know the other participants but we all felt the same in our hearts and we were able to lift each other up and support each other with our words and our actions. It made me feel connected and as if we were all one, for a day, but we will all know that we are connected forever. Timur Boskin of Almaty, Kazakhstan The whole Event wouldn’t be so effective without Kindness and Energy of those who participated and supported us. I don’t know how to thank you, Life Vest Inside, for uniting all of us here and around the World no matter what race, color and belief system! It all helped us to feel ourselves as a part of one global nation – Humanity. Hope everyone soon will be able to speak Kindness! Charlie Harkness of Gold Coast, Australia Even a small group can make a difference. Dustin Wong of Los Angeles, California Some of the best moments in my life: discovering new friends, building bonds, and spreading awareness. Keep kindness going because it is a universal language that is in everyone’s price range. Nadan Petri of Croatia [This event] was wonderful, I was feeling so young and enthusiastic again, and I am probably amongst the oldest, if not the oldest group leader, I am almost 58! It was so hilariously WILD from time to time; the dancers were bursting with joy and optimism! I could only be sorry for not joining the LVI movement (yes, it is a first class world movement!) before. We did not have much time to organize everything, but at the end had more than enough dancers, and a strong support by almost everybody I addressed asking for help. We even had roses that were given to the people watching the performance! It was so great to be a part of everything. Thank you, Orly, for doing this, you are my hero! Paola Ortega Sanchez and Celso Castro of Mexico City, Mexico The most incredible, joyful and supportive experience I had this year. Giving without the need to receive is truly an act of kindness. The chance to know people from around the globe, the possibility to talk to some of them, the capability of sharing this with friends and new people, it’s awesome. Now I know that the possibility to change the world and make it better is inside us. Ziwei Mao of Miami, Florida Working with Life Vest Inside on this event was such an emotional experience for me. It helped me reach down to my very core and grab hold of the change I believed in. Orly sees the world differently than most, she is not one to subscribe to the negativity and hate that seems to constantly loom over the global population, she is naturally able to transfer her vision through her speeches and actions, she takes the concept of ‘Paying it Forward’ and makes it tangible. As the message of LVI reaches far and wide, no doubt it will make an impact both individually and globally touching the lives of all it comes in contact with. Diane Dupuis-Kallos of Montreal, Canada I like to think of myself as a nice, kind and considerate person. After signing up to be a Coordinator of the Montreal version of the World Wide Dance for Kindness – it really made me pay much closer attention to kindness – around me – and what I do. Maria Beatriz Alvarez of Montreal, Canada It has been an amazing experience, bringing a lot of gains to my life: learning about how to prepare an event, how to use technologies, PRACTICING ENGLISH, reflecting about my own kindness and trying to be more kind, meeting new people and doing what I like the most: sensitizing people about positives values! Also, now I know that there are a lot of people working on that around the world, like all of you!! For me, it’s wonderful news. Dolores and Nicole Lawton of Oneonta, New York When my daughter and I became involved with creating a Kindness Revolution Club at our school, we knew we needed to find activities that would have impact, while still being fun. Life Vest Inside Inside gave us the opportunity to do just that. The worldwide flashmob dance is so spectacular. It will take seeing the video montage for all involved to truly realize what they are now a part of. Our community and students will never forget this experience. As for our kindness Club, it continues to grow and that means more kindness! Kasia Szczot of Lublin, Poland I knew could organize Flash Mob in my city very easily and with help from LVI it was just perfect. I love organizing such events and I was enjoying every minute of this process. At the end, everybody were surprised that nothing went wrong! Thank you very much for this help! I’ve realized how I can look for my way in this World of Kindness. Natalia of Tomsk, Russia Brian Kruger of Seattle, Washington Michelle Tay of Singapore, Singapore The flash mob experience showed how kindness spreads across all ages! (We had 40 dancers who volunteered aged between 15 – 65 years old!) The Singapore Kindness Movement is proud to support the Life Vest Inside under the big umbrella of kindness. Indeed, with appreciation, kindness blossoms! John Miller of Taylor, Missouri Tonya Bennet of Toledo, Ohio There were so many tears during that 7 minutes – the dancers, the mall director, parents, my family, me…… It was so great – my heart was truly moved and I felt very honored to be a part of it. Adam Haesler of Vancouver, Canada In my experience, love can only be expressed honestly in the absolute sense, without discrimination or exception. Kindness is one expression of love, one that I experienced as a continuous stream on World Kindness Day, and in the weeks leading up to day. The love I experienced with friends, strangers, and for myself was life changing, and will continue into the infinite. The goal for me is global community, which we all had a sample of bonding with each other. If we choose to work together going forward global community will be a way of life. I love all of you; thank you for choosing to create new connections of love with your global neighbors, this is only the beginning. Kathy Kwasnicki of Vancouver, Canada All four of us, (left to right) ~ Kathy, Theresa, Adam, & Alexandra, came together through the spirit of kindness .. having just met face to face for the first time only 3 days prior and Theresa, joining in the morning of our FlashMob Dance for Kindness ~ just hours before .. having driven from Toronto newly relocating to Vancouver on that very day !! Also Chingtai, awaiting our arrival at the “Granville Island Public Market Courtyard” from our final & only 2nd rehearsal @ False Creek Community Centre ~ to memorialize the event through film ~ together with his 2 friends Danny, & Sukhraj ~ fellow photographers ….Thank you All So Very Much for your Enthusiasm, Dedication, and Encouragement …. Fernando Brierley of Santiago, Chile Sonia Surayya Ahmad of Sydney, Australia Michael Lloyd-White of Sydney, Australia Faizan Sheikh of Uttar Pradesh, India Izabela Boanta Elena of Romania Orly Wahba and Tory Dube of New York City, New York
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