Be Kind FoCo is a community philanthropy project based on the belief that philanthropy begins with kindness. We base our programs on the notion that philanthropy is anything you do to make your community a better place. We believe that kindness is contagious and that it begins locally.The mission of Be Kind FoCo is to inspire community philanthropy by celebrating, learning, and connecting through kindness. Our vision is that the entire Fort Collins community—from school children to businesses to local leadership—embraces and recognizes kindness as a core value and a priority in an effort to build a kinder, more connected community. Be Kind FoCo began in 2018 as a project of Leadership Fort Collins as a way to educate and engage families in the philanthropic programs and grassroots efforts taking place in Fort Collins that were centered around and inspired by kindness. We saw a need for our community members to discover simple but impactful ways of getting engaged in the nonprofit sector and giving back to the community that were easy to understand, but which didn't require an enormous financial or time commitment. Busy young families are often too overscheduled to seek out philanthropic activities on their own, and nonprofit organizations are focused on their own programming. It's easy to miss the opportunity to witness what an amazingly kind and compassionate community we live in. Not only are nonprofits doing incredible work inspired by kindness, but our business community deeply values giving back, and countless everyday people of all ages are constantly taking on their own grassroots efforts to spread kindness as well. Through Be Kind FoCo, we're celebrating all of them. Today, we host an annual Kindness Fest, Be Kind FoCo Week, and we host other events to inspire kindness such as a holiday-season Random Acts of Kindness Challenge to pay it forward through local businesses and the power of kindness.