I’m thrilled to announce the creation of my Kindness Is Everything Podcast. This podcast will feature stories of young people talking about their amazing acts of kindness. I hope you will be as inspired as I was. There is no act of kindness that is too small—for the person or animal receiving that kindness, it means everything!
Episode 56: Kindness Is No More Dolphinariums
This episode is full of hope and shows that dedication and persistence can make a positive impact. Kamilya Tulebaeva from Kazakhstan shares her inspiring story of how she moved a country to ban dolphinariums. It’s an incredible achievement and one you will definitely want to hear about. If you’d like to learn more about Kamilya…
Episode 55: Kindness Is Dr. Izzy Goes Wild
Izzy Hirji wears many hats—wildlife vet, world traveller, photographer, conservationist, vegan, and television celebrity! He joins Anitha to share his incredible adventures as he follows his hero, Dr. Jane Goodall, in making the world a better place for all beings. Izzy begins the episode by talking about his childhood fear of dogs and how he…
Episode 54: Kindness Is Always Fair
Sabrina Fair Andronica joins Anitha to talk about being a children’s author and an animal lover, and how she combines these two parts of her life. In her books, Sabrina gently tackles subjects such as dealing with grief over the loss of a pet, animal testing, and misconceptions people have about certain breeds of dogs;…
Episode 53: Kindness Is Legal Rights For All
An exciting start to 2023, Anitha talks to Jake Davis, a lawyer working to seek legal protection for non-human animals. Anitha met Jake at a conference about the plight of animals in captivity. The conference was hosted by Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS Elephant Sanctuary) and Jake was one of the speakers. Jake chats with…
Episode 52: Kindness Is Happy Holidays
To celebrate the last episode of 2022, Anitha invited two special young guests to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year. Thanks to everyone who shared their story of kindness this year. Without you, the podcast wouldn’t exist.
Episode 51: Kindness Is Karen’s Kind
Like many people, the pandemic inspired Monique Monelle and her husband to take up a new hobby during lockdown. But their new ‘hobby’ was wonderfully unusual. They were inspired to rescue ex-battery hens. Monique talks about what it was like when the hens first arrived, how she and her husband take care of them when…
Episode 49: Kindness Is Caring Around The World
Twenty-one-year-old, Emily Redford from Ontario, Canada joins Anitha to talk about her experience caring for animals in different parts of the world. Emily has travelled to India, Hyderbad, Egypt, Panama and Greece to volunteer with local animal rescues. Though she is not ‘officially’ trained in animal health care, Emily is totally hands-on and assists with…
Episode 48: Kindness Is Saving Shankar
Seventeen-year-old, Nikita Dhawan is on a mission to free Shankar, a lone African Elephant, from the Delhi Zoo. Shankar was only two years old when he was taken from his family and deposited into the Delhi Zoo. Now, 26 years old, Shankar has endured endless years of isolation and being chained for 17 hours a…
Episode 47: Kindness Is Healing Animals Big & Small
Dr. Vivek Basu fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian— and what an incredible veterinarian he has become. Vivek donates a lot of his time and skills to help animals of all sizes, near and far. In addition to talking about what it’s like to treat many different animals—dogs, cats, racehorses, rescued primates and…
Episode 46: Kindness Is Saving Glossies
Spencer Hitchen from Noosa, Australia is dedicated to saving the last remaining Glossy Black Cockatoos. With Spencer’s help, these beautiful birds have finally been listed as Vulnerable under Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Well done, Spencer!! This is such an inspiring story of how perseverance, passion and using your voice, can make a…
Episode 45: Kindness Is A Child’s Dream
Chelsea Tanchip has a passion to help kids with disabilities. Though Chelsea and her family emigrated from the Philippines years ago, Chelsea found a way to stay connected with the country and follow her passion through an organization called A Child’s D.R.E.A.M. Foundation. This foundation, provides pediatric therapy for exceptional children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity…
Episode 44: Kindness Is Sharing Birthdays
Ten-year-old Isla Spisani talks to Anitha about the special way she has been celebrating her past few birthdays. As a thank you to Isla for sharing her story, Anitha donated to the Burlington Humane Society. To learn more about the Burlington Humane Society and the work they do to help animals, check out their website:…
Episode 43: Kindness Is Superheroes and Superstars
Superhero, Liam Wilson and Superstars, Will & Jada Finch, join Anitha to talk about a fundraiser they are all involved with—Superstars 2 Superheroes. This event takes place on July 10th in Milton, Ontario. The goal is to raise money for Sick Kids, a hospital located in Toronto, Ontario. Superheroes are children, like Liam, who have…
Episode 42: Kindness Is The Conservation Kid
At 12-years old, Cash Daniels is a celebrity. He was a top-five honoree of Time Magazine’s Kid Of The Year. Cash talks to Anitha about all the initiatives he is involved in to help protect animals, the oceans, and the planet, including making Monofilament Receptacles to store used fishing lines and being the co-founder of…
Episode 41: Kindness Is Picking Up Plastic
Fourteen-year old Lilly Platt’s journey into climate activism began in 2015 when they and their grandpa went on a walk in their neighbourhood and decided to count the amount of plastic they saw. Lilly was shocked by the results—so much plastic in such a small area. This was the incentive to create Lilly’s Plastic Pick…
Episode 40: Kindness Is Climate Strikes & More
Molly Hucker began her journey into climate activism in 2019 when she attended her first Climate Strike. Since then, her involvement continues to soar. Molly talks to Anitha about her journey from organizing a climate strike to becoming involved in a project, whose mandate is to include learning about climate change in all aspects of…
Episode 39: Kindness Is Fostering
A lovely story about selfless love. Kimberly Chiang joins Anitha to talk about fostering dogs. What inspired her to foster dogs, how she manages the heartache of saying goodbye when they leave for their forever home, and so much more. You can follow the wonderful dogs Kimberly fosters on Instagram @fosterborks As a thank you…
Episode 38: Kindness Is Stuffies 4 Smiles
Another awesome sibling duo join Anitha to share their story of Kindness. Ten-year old John Paul and eight-year old Juliana founded Stuffies 4 Smiles. What started out in 2019 as a gesture of kindness to a homeless person and their dog has grown into a movement of kindness. In the past three years, John Paul…
Episode 37: Kindness Is Saving Sheep
For the past two years, the pandemic has created much havoc throughout the world, but for one young person, the lockdown brought a silver-lining. Savannah Allen from Adelaide, South Australia shares her story of having to lockdown near a petting zoo. Savannah and her family soon realized that the baby lambs they had come to…
Episode 36: Kindness Is Ella Saves The Oceans
Eleven-year-old, Ella Grace joins Anitha to kick off Season Two of the Kindness Is Everything Podcast. Ella’s journey to protect oceans and sharks began when she was four years old and has kept growing. In this jam-packed episode, Ella shares her dedication and knowledge about oceans and the beautiful animals who live there. In addition…
Episode 35: Kindness Is Sharing Your Story
It’s hard to believe that Season One of the Kindness Is Everything podcast is over. It has been lovely to hear so many stories of kindness, and to carry forward that kindness by donating to various charities. In 2021, the podcast shared 34 stories and donated $1400 to charities. Here’s hoping Season Two will be…
Episode 34: Kindness Is Creating Holiday Magic
A perfect episode to celebrate the holiday season. Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Wall returns to share another story of kindness. He adopted all 125 residents of a nursing home for the holidays. He talks to Anitha about this wonderful initiative and how he went about ensuring all the residents would receive a gift this holiday season. As…
Episode 33: Kindness Is Standing With Your Pack
Twenty-two-year old Sofia Villatoro shares her heart-warming story of adopting two dogs from a rescue located in California called I Stand With My Pack Sofia takes us from the moment she and her family learned about Rusty and Sailor, to the initial meet and greet, to how they are all doing now. She and Anitha…
Episode 32: Kindness Is Saying ‘Bye Bye Plastic Bags’
In 2013, twelve-year old Melati Wijsen and her ten-year old sister, Isabel were inspired by a lesson they had in school about significant people such as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi. Melati and Isabel decided they too wanted to do something to make a difference, and from this desire was born BYE BYE PLASTIC BAGS.…
Episode 31: Kindness Is Keeping Companion Animals & Youth Together
For many homeless young people, their companion animals are often their only friend and support system. Unfortunately, most shelters do not allow animals inside. This sad truth means these youth are faced with the incredibly difficult decision—take shelter and lose their beloved companion animal or live on the streets. In May of 2020, sisters Shania…
Episode 30: Kindness Is Transforming Harmful to Beautiful
Fifteen-year old Natalie McIntosh is doing her best to not only help rid the ocean of discarded fishing gear, she then transforms these ‘ghost nets’ into beautiful items such as bracelets, coasters and baskets. Natalie donates 100% of the proceeds from her sales to charities working hard to remove dangerous fishing gear and plastic from…
Episode 29: Kindness Is To Keep Writing
Fifteen-year-old Amelia Penney-Crocker returns to the show to continue chatting about her dedication to make our planet a better place for all. Back in episode 3, Amelia shared some of the 53 letters she wrote to Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Her letters which cover the climate crisis, demand the government take immediate action. Though…
Episode 28: Kindness Is Seeing Greatness In Small Creatures
Many of us find it easy to care about dogs, cats, whales, elephants. But what about insects? How many of us can honestly say, we’re careful not to step on an ant or a spider? Fourteen-year old Xander Johnston from Scotland joins Anitha to share his passion for insects. He talks about where his interest…
Episode 27: Kindness Is Helping Birds
In Canada, 25 million birds die every year from injuries sustained when they collide into windows. Angela Demarse from Bird Safe Guelph talks about what this organization is doing to prevent this terrible tragedy from continuing. Angela shares simple tips on what each of us can do to prevent birds from crashing into our windows.…
Episode 26: Kindness Is Saving Sharks
Thirteen-year old Finlay Pringle, joins Anitha to share his passion about sharks. Sharks have been cruelly misjudged and wrongly considered ruthless predators of the sea. Finlay dispels these myths and tells us the truth about sharks. He also talks about the reasons 100 million sharks are killed every year and why it is so important…
Episode 25: Kindness Is Family
This is a very personal episode for Anitha. Her son, Daniel joins her to celebrate the 25th episode of the podcast. At Daniel’s request, Anitha does her best to hold back her absolute pride as she and Daniel chat about all the kind and wonderful things he has done, from singing at nursing homes to…
Episode 24: Kindness Is Childhood Dreams
When she was around seven years old, Olivia Pisano received a huge book all about animals. She loved learning about the animals, especially the whales. This interest in whales continued through elementary school, high school, all the way to her PhD. Olivia joins Anitha to share her incredible story of connecting her PhD with her…
Episode 23: Kindness Is Saving Whales Together
In this very special episode, Jessica Cambell and her fifth-grade class from Mount Madonna School in California join Anitha to talk about their year- long class project to protect whales. The students take turns talking about why they chose whales for their environmental project, what they have learned, the activities they have organized to spread…
Episode 22: Kindness Is Choosing Your Cause
Isha Naik and Khushbu Kumari join Anitha from Australia to share their story of creating Choose Your Cause, an organization dedicated to educating and empowering young people about local and international issues that impact adolescents like themselves. Isha and Khushbu talk about what inspired them to come together and volunteer their time and energy to help…
Episode 21: Kindness is Music Without Borders
Thirteen-year old Veronika Kolarska joins Anitha to talk about her passion for music. An incredibly talented musician, Veronika can play the piano, the violin, the recorder, the ukulele, the guitar, the flute and even musical spoons! Veronika talks about how she loves using her musical abilities to help others—teaching music to kids and being a…
Episode 20: Kindness is Books For All
Thirteen-year old, Sofia Rathjen talks to Anitha about her dedication to bring diversity to her school’s library. Like many visible minorities, Sofia has had to endure racist attitudes and micro-aggressions. But Sofia turned these difficult experiences into something positive. With the help of a grant, she purchased books by BIPOC authors for her school library.…
Episode 19: Kindness is Music and Lego
Fourteen-year old Annora Wu and her eleven-year old brother Andrew join Anitha to share their stories of kindness. A talented musician, Annora talks about what it was like performing for residents of nursing homes and the joy she felt knowing she was making a positive difference in their lives. Not to be outdone by his…
Episode 18: Kindness Is Appreciating Your Own Backyard
Seventeen-year-old Alex White joins Anitha from Oxfordshire, United Kingdom to talk about his passion to inspire people to appreciate wildlife and nature in their own backyards. When Alex was seven, he was given a camera, and fairly soon after he created a blog to share stories and photographs of wildlife and nature in his Local…
Episode 17: Kindness Is Never Saying Never
Andrew West suffered a stroke before he was born. His parents were told he may never walk, talk or feed himself. Andrew shares heartwarming stories of how he not only learned to walk, talk and feed himself, but played soccer, ran a 5K marathon and was part of his school band. He credits his family,…
Episode 16: Kindness is Teaching Karate
Fifteen-year-old Jeffrey Wall has already accomplished so much—A black belt in Karate and inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Jeffrey talks to Anitha about how he got into karate and what inspired him to share his passion for martial arts with residents of nursing homes. He teaches them the fun and importance of…
Episode 15: Kindness is Explorer Hop
On previous episodes, Anitha has interviewed several kids who have participated in a program called Explorer Hop. This innovative program brings together children of all ages and teaches them to become young entrepreneurs. In addition to learning about the ins and outs of creating a business, such as choosing a name, collaborating with others, and…
Episode 14: Kindness Is Creating Good Karma
Eleven-year-old Will and seventeen-year old Jada Finch share their inspiring story of turning personal heartache into helping animals. When Will was 7 and Jada was 12, the family adopted an adorable puppy they named Karma Rose. Sadly, within a few short weeks, Karma died from canine parvo-virus. Despite being devastated at the loss of his…
Episode 13: Kindness Is Creating Card Games
In this episode, Anitha chats with Zachary Backman, another young entrepreneur from the Explorer Hop program. Zachary shares his fun story of creating a card game full of mythical creatures. A portion of the proceeds Zachary raised from the sale of his card game went to Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada. As a thank you…
Episode 12: Kindness Is Telling Jokes
This is such a fun episode. Six-year-old Callaghan McLaughlin talks about how he spent the summer of 2020. Callaghan set up a table at the bottom of his driveway and shared jokes with those who passed by. He talks to Anitha about his favorite part of telling jokes and even shares a couple of jokes…
Episode 11: Kindness Is Creating Opportunities
Community service and helping others have always been a part of sixteen-year old, Arhan Chabbra’s life. In 2019 he started tutoring children in a village in India. Though he enjoyed helping these children, he wanted to do more for them. This spurred him to create APPVIDYA, followed by COVIDYA. In this inspiring episode, Arhan shares…
Episode 10: Kindness Is Reuniting A Family
Nineteen-year-old, Marcela Kuzma was at her grandmother’s restaurant in Brazil when she heard a Haitian employee talk about going to the airport to pick up his wife, whom he hadn’t seen for four years. Marcela soon discovered that this employee had also left behind a son, who was now five years old. Unfortunately, it was…
Episode 9: Kindness Is Cooking & Cards
Like many kids, when the pandemic struck, Spencer Burwell found himself stuck at home in much need of something fun to do. A friend introduced him to Explorer Hop. This innovative organization teaches kids about global financial literacy entrepreneurship. But it also teaches them about giving back to society and the importance of helping those…
Episode 8: Kindness Is Art & Music
Ryan Elliot Drew shares his innovative idea to teach children about global issues such as climate change and habitat loss through art & music. Combining his degrees in Music and Global Affairs, Ryan hopes to provide teachers with tools to inspire their students to appreciate the natural world through art. Join Anitha Rao-Robinson as she…
Episode 7: Kindness Is Wishes For Orangutans
In 2007, the Starlight Children’s Foundation in Australia, granted then ten-year-old Daniel Clarke a wish. They were surprised by his response; he wanted to save the orangutans. Daniel and his brother William talk about their dedication to help one of our closest relatives—the orangutans. In this incredibly moving episode, Daniel and William, now 24 and…
Episode 6: Kindness Is Driving For Dogs
In 2012, Christian Marcello and his family adopted a dog from an animal shelter. Little did Christian know that adopting Rocky would not only change the dog’s life, but his as well. Christian shares what it was like seeing all those dogs in the shelter, learning that not all dogs find their happily ever after,…
Episode 5: Kindness Is Reaching Up
For eleven-year-old, Sahanna Rasasekaran, a trip to the store with her mom turned into an opportunity to help someone. Sahanna shares her story of coming to the aid of another customer with a simple gesture of kindness. As a thank you for sharing her story of kindness, Anitha donated to the SickKids Foundation on behalf…
Episode 4: Kindness Is Talent Shows & Teaching
High school senior, Vini Possobom, joins me to talk about the many initiatives and causes he’s involved in that help others. From raising funds to reunite a young boy with his parents, to volunteering with a non-profit organization called Robotics For All— Vini is dedicated to doing whatever he can to help as many people…
Episode 3: Kindness is Writing Letters
Fifteen-year-old writer and climate change activist, Amelia Penney-Crocker, joins me to talk about her dedication to climate change. In December of 2019, Amelia embarked on an ambitious journey of writing one letter every week, for 53 weeks, to Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Amelia shares her goals, frustrations, as well as her reasons for optimism. To…
Episode 2: Kindness Is Tying Shoelaces
On this episode, I speak with eleven-year-old Sid Chaurasia. Sid shares her story of being part of the Terry Fox Run at school when she noticed a younger student off to the side. At the time, only seven herself, Sid stopped to find out why the little boy wasn’t running with everyone else. When she…
Episode 1: Kindness Is Buddy Benches
Ten-year-olds Maya and Liberty Persaud join me to share not one, but two stories of kindness. Moving to a new country can be exciting, but it also brings on the challenge of making friends. Maya and Liberty Persaud have a lot of experience with this. When the girls were four years old, they moved from…
Anitha Rao-Robinson 