Kindness and heritage may seem like two different ideas, but to me, they are closely connected. One is about how we treat people, while the other is about understanding who we are, where we come from, and how our identity shapes the way we see the world. Both are rooted in respect, belonging, empathy, and connection.

Through my stories, community work, and advocacy, I created two observances that reflect those values: National Intentional Kindness Day, observed every August 24, and Heritage and Heart Day, observed every October 15. I did not create either day simply to add another date to the calendar. I created them because I believe some of the most important lessons we can give children are also some of the simplest ones: be kind on purpose, know who you are, be proud of where you come from, respect where others come from, and remember that even small actions can have a lasting effect on someone.

Children are always learning from the world around them. They notice the way adults speak to one another, the way differences are talked about, who gets included, who gets left out, and whether kindness is treated as something important or something optional. They are also beginning to understand their own identity from a very young age, which is why I believe conversations about both kindness and heritage matter so much.

For me, these two observances are not separate from the work I do with books. They are another way of sharing the same message I come back to again and again: children should feel secure in who they are while also learning how to make room for other people.

Why Kindness and Heritage Belong Together

Kindness is more than being polite. It is about recognizing that other people have feelings, experiences, histories, and struggles that may be different from our own. Heritage is similar because it reminds us that a person’s identity can be shaped by family, culture, language, traditions, history, and lived experience.

The more we understand those things, the easier it becomes to approach people with curiosity instead of judgment. A child who learns to feel proud of their own culture can also learn to appreciate someone else’s. A child who understands that their own feelings matter can begin to understand that another child’s feelings matter too. A child who is taught kindness as an everyday practice is more likely to understand that respect should not disappear simply because someone looks, speaks, believes, or lives differently from them.

That connection is at the heart of both observances.

National Intentional Kindness Day

Observed August 24

National Intentional Kindness Day is built around a simple idea: kindness should not only happen by accident. We often think of kindness as something spontaneous, such as holding a door, offering a compliment, helping someone, or checking in on a friend. Those moments matter, but intentional kindness asks us to go a little further and make kindness a conscious choice.

I chose the word intentional because I wanted the day to be about awareness. It is easy to be kind when everything is going well. It can be much harder when we are tired, overwhelmed, frustrated, impatient, or dealing with someone whose point of view we do not fully understand. Those are often the moments when kindness matters most.

What Intentional Kindness Means to Me

Intentional kindness does not mean pretending everything is fine or agreeing with everyone. It means remembering that we can still choose respect, compassion, and thoughtfulness even when we are uncomfortable or upset. It can mean pausing before reacting, listening before assuming, checking in on someone instead of deciding we already know how they feel, or simply being more careful with the words we choose.

Words stay with people. A careless comment can be remembered for years, but so can a kind one. That is one reason I believe kindness should be practiced with purpose. We may never fully know what another person is carrying privately, and sometimes the way we speak to them, respond to them, or include them can mean more than we realize.

Kindness does not have to be dramatic or public to matter. Most of the time, it appears in ordinary moments: being patient with a child who is struggling, helping without being asked, apologizing when we have hurt someone, checking in on someone who has been quiet, giving another person the benefit of the doubt, or making sure someone does not feel invisible.

The point is not to perform kindness. It is to make it part of the way we live.

Why I Believe Children Need This Message

Children today are growing up in a world where communication happens quickly and often publicly. Words can be posted, repeated, shared, and remembered long after the moment has passed, which makes emotional awareness even more important.

I want children to understand that being kind does not make them weak. Compassion does not make them less confident, and being thoughtful does not mean they cannot have boundaries. A child can speak up for themselves and still be respectful. They can disagree without being cruel, and they can feel confident without making someone else feel small.

Those are the kinds of lessons I hope National Intentional Kindness Day helps reinforce, not only on August 24 but throughout the year.

Bringing Intentional Kindness Into Everyday Life

Families, schools, workplaces, and communities can observe the day in simple ways that feel natural. Children might write a kind note, thank a teacher, help a sibling, include someone who feels left out, or think about how their words affect others. Adults can participate by being more mindful in conversations, checking in on someone they care about, volunteering, supporting a neighbor, showing appreciation, or choosing patience in a moment when it would be easier not to.

There is no one right way to take part. The purpose is simply to make kindness something we think about and practice on purpose.

National Intentional Kindness Day Toolkit

I created the National Intentional Kindness Day toolkit to give families, classrooms, workplaces, and communities easy ways to participate. The activities are meant to be practical and approachable, and they can be used throughout the year to encourage empathy, gratitude, thoughtful communication, and a better awareness of how our actions affect the people around us.

Download the National Intentional Kindness Day Toolkit

Heritage and Heart Day

Observed October 15

Heritage and Heart Day came from another belief that is very important to me: people should be able to feel proud of where they come from without feeling that pride separates them from everyone else.

Heritage can be connected to nationality and ethnicity, but it is also much more personal than that. It can live in family stories, food, language, music, traditions, celebrations, values, memories, and the little things passed down from one generation to the next. Some parts of heritage are very visible, while others are quiet pieces of our identity that we may not fully appreciate until we are older.

My own Filipino American background played a big part in how I came to think about cultural identity. Growing up between different places and cultures taught me that identity is not always simple. A person can feel connected to more than one place, grow up with traditions that are different from the people around them, and sometimes spend years understanding where they fit.

Over time, I began to see those differences as something meaningful rather than something that separated me from other people. Culture became a connection to family, history, memory, and community, and that understanding is part of what inspired Heritage and Heart Day.

A Day for Every Culture

Although my own background helped inspire the idea, Heritage and Heart Day was never created only for Filipinos. It is meant to embrace every race, ethnicity, nationality, and cultural background because every family carries stories and experiences that help shape who they are.

The purpose is not to compare cultures or decide which one matters more. It is about creating space for people to learn, share, and feel proud of where they come from while also being open to someone else’s story. I want a child to be able to say, “This is part of who I am,” without feeling embarrassed or out of place, and I want other children to learn to respond with respect and genuine curiosity.

That is where the heart of the observance really is.

Why October 15 Matters

Heritage and Heart Day is observed on October 15, during a time of year when cultural heritage is already part of many conversations, including Hispanic Heritage Month and Filipino American History Month. I see that date as an opportunity to widen the conversation and encourage people to think about culture and identity in a broader way.

The day is not about taking attention away from any particular heritage celebration. It is about adding another space where people from all backgrounds can reflect on their own roots while learning about someone else’s. Cultural pride does not have to create distance. It can create understanding.

Helping Children Feel Proud of Who They Are

One of the things I care about most is helping children feel a sense of belonging. I do not believe children should ever feel that they have to choose between fitting in and being proud of who they are.

A child’s culture, family story, traditions, name, language, food, skin, history, and identity are all parts of their story. Those things should never be treated as something they need to hide in order to feel accepted.

When children feel secure in who they are, they are often better able to appreciate differences in other people without feeling threatened by them. Cultural pride does not have to lead to division. It can lead to curiosity, respect, and a deeper understanding of the world around us.

Bringing Heritage and Heart Into Everyday Life

Families can participate by talking about where they come from, looking through old photographs, cooking a family recipe, sharing stories about relatives, learning the meaning behind traditions, or teaching children words from a family language. Schools can create opportunities for students to share something about their background, read books from different cultures, explore family traditions, or create projects that celebrate identity in an inclusive way.

Communities can bring people together through food, music, art, storytelling, and cultural events, but participation does not have to be large or formal. Even one conversation between a child and an older family member can become a way of preserving a story that might otherwise be forgotten.

Not everyone grows up knowing their family history, and some people reconnect with culture later in life. Some families come from many different backgrounds, while others may have lost pieces of their history over time. Heritage and Heart Day is not about having all the answers. It is about being curious enough to ask the questions and valuing whatever part of the story you are able to carry forward.

Heritage and Heart Day Toolkit

I created the Heritage and Heart Day toolkit to help families, children, educators, and communities explore identity in ways that feel welcoming and meaningful. The activities are designed to encourage children to learn more about their own background while also developing curiosity, kindness, and respect for cultures and experiences that may be different from their own.

I want heritage to feel personal rather than like an assignment. The goal is to help children understand that knowing where they come from can be something joyful, grounding, and worth sharing.

Download the Heritage and Heart Day Toolkit

Two Observances, One Shared Purpose

National Intentional Kindness Day and Heritage and Heart Day focus on different ideas, but they are connected by the same larger purpose. One asks us to think more carefully about how we treat people, while the other asks us to understand who we are and to respect who others are.

Together, they reflect the kind of world I hope children grow up in: one where they feel confident in their own identity, where kindness is practiced instead of only talked about, and where differences are approached with curiosity rather than fear. I want children to know that they can be proud without putting someone else down, protect their identity without closing themselves off from the world, and be strong while still being compassionate.

I also want these observances to feel realistic. Change does not always begin with a huge campaign or a major event. It can begin with the way we speak to someone, the way we respond when a child asks a question about culture, the decision to listen instead of judge, or the choice to teach a young person that both kindness and identity matter.

If these two days can help families talk more openly, encourage children to feel proud of who they are, inspire someone to treat another person with more care, or help preserve a story that might otherwise be forgotten, then they are doing what I hoped they would do.