In recognition of this year’s graduating class, the Hudson Valley Sudbury School community has launched a new initiative to inspire feats of goodwill in honor of each graduate, called 500 Acts of Kindness. 500 Acts of Kindness encourages community members to support graduates with multiple deeds of generosity in a graduate’s name, while traditional graduation ceremonies may not be possible.

The Hudson Valley Sudbury School, located in Woodstock, is a democratic K-12 school where students have complete responsibility for their own education. The School was founded in 2004.

500 Acts of Kindness will occur throughout the weekend of June 6-7. All are welcome to participate. Acts of Kindness can vary widely and be scaled from dropping a dime in an expired parking meter to paying for someone’s groceries. Other suggested acts include delivering food, sending a letter to a senior, picking up trash or making a donation.

Participants are urged to document their Acts of Kindness on the event’s Facebook page or other social media by hash-tagging “#500Acts.” Decorative, printable cards to document one’s good deeds for gifting a graduate are available on the website as well.

“By making an Act of Kindness and documenting the ‘Act,’ we can give graduates a socially distant gift and acknowledge their accomplishments while helping others,” said Hudson Valley Sudbury School Community Clerk, Vanessa Van Burek.

The school’s goal is to amass 500 Acts of Kindness--100 in recognition of each Hudson Valley Sudbury School graduate in a single weekend—send graduates off into the world with kindness and inspire support of other graduates throughout the region and the country.

For Acts of Kindness ideas or for more information, please visit /hvsudburyschool.com/500acts/