About 12 years ago, I had just moved into uni accommodation and within a minute of putting the last box down there was a knock at the door.

It was Chris (or Critter as we call him) and he wanted to introduce himself as my new neighbour. From right there, a long friendship began.

Even at uni, while most of us were being usual selfish and self-obsessed teenage brats, Chris was very level headed and was a man with a big heart. So I wasn’t too surprised when he announced a year back that he was going to set up The Kindness Project as a way to give back. In fact, I smiled and thought of course.

The Kindness Project is a grassroots charity, which is based around the idea that many hands make light work, and encourages the community (including children) to do a good deed and help somebody less fortunate.

His first project was to coordinate hundreds of little care packs (full of shampoo and life’s necessities) to hand out to men at homeless shelters around Brisbane. He handed them out while volunteering for Christmas lunch.

The second project was to create little care packs for several women’s refuge shelters throughout Queensland.

With the help of his friends and the kindness of strangers, he managed to put together many packs for shelters to give to women and kids who had escaped the awful clutches of domestic violence with very little, often with just the items on their backs.

The next project recently saw Chris joining forces with a good friend to launch the Little Helpers campaign. Chris, via The Kindness Project, joined with the Little Ducklings Riverside Childcare, at Maroochydore on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and they raised more than $5000 worth of dry goods and pantry items for SunnyKids, a Sunshine Coast family charity.

The campaign worked with the kids at the child care centre and local schools to teach about giving back – many of the kids at the child care centre were among the first to make donations towards the campaign after hearing Chris speak there.

Now he’s on to his next project and I’ll be sure to keep you posted. If you would like to join Chris on his journey to make the world a little better with each project visit his Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/thekindnessprojectbychrismichel