This Wall Street Journal Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller and Canadian Book Club Awards Winner is filled with true stories about how one small deed can make a world of difference. "Elegant and wise" (Deepak Chopra), "The most uplifting and life-affirming book in years." (Forbes) "You're going to love this book." (NPR) Brad Aronson's life changed in an instant when his wife, Mia, was diagnosed with leukemia. After her diagnosis, Brad spent most of the next two and a half years either by her side as she received treatment or trying to shield their five-year-old son, Jack, from the worst of Mia's illness. Amid the stress and despair of waiting for the treatment to work, Brad and Mia were met by an outpouring of kindness from friends, family and even complete strangers.
Inspired by the many demonstrations of "humankindness" that supported their family through Mia's recovery, Brad began writing about the people who rescued his family from that dark time, often with the smallest of gestures. But he didn't stop there. Knowing that simple acts of kindness transform lives across the globe every day, he sought out these stories and shares some of the best ones here.
In
HumanKind, you'll meet the mentor who changed a child's life with a single lesson in shoe tying, the six-year-old who launched a global kindness movement, the band of seamstress grandmothers who mend clothes for homeless people, and many other heroes.
Brad also provides dozens of ways you can make a difference through the simplest words and deeds. You'll discover how buying someone a meal or sharing a little encouragement at the right time can change someone's world, as well as your own.
The resource section at the back of the book provides guidance and organizations that will help you channel and amplify your own acts of kindness. Here you'll discover:
- How you can fund a surgery to cure someone's blindness with a donation of less than $200.
- Organizations through which you can provide a birthday gift for a child who otherwise wouldn't receive one.
- Multiple places where you can send letters of encouragement to support hospitalized kids, lonely seniors, refugees, veterans and others in need.
- And over fifty more ways you can change a life.
HumanKind will leave you grateful for what you have and provide a refuge from the negativity that surrounds us. This feel-good book will touch your heart. You'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll be reminded of what
really matters.
All author royalties go to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Brad Aronson is a husband and a dad, and when he's holding the parenting reins, he likes to go all out. For him that means leading an egg drop competition from the third-floor window of his family's home or heading up indoor games of baseball and hockey, and then having to explain why something else is now in pieces. Luckily, his wife, Mia, is understanding.
Brad loves teaching entrepreneurship to youth in Camden, N.J., and volunteering on the nonprofit boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Hopeworks.
One day, Brad hopes to be famous for co-founding a national holiday that features a seven-foot-tall orange tree and more than fifty stuffed monkeys (see chapter nine in HumanKin). In the meantime, he works with tech startups and writes books.
