Interview:Do One Nice Thing
Debbie Tenzer Talks About the Site She Created to Promote Kindness
Founder of the website, Do One Nice Thing, explains how simple acts of kindness can make a difference in the world.
Each Monday the site Do One Nice Thing gives surprisingly simply yet effective ideas on reaching out to do something kind. Debbie Tenzer, founder of Do One Nice Thing talks about why she started the site and what people can do to promote positive change.
What was the original idea behind Do One Nice Thing? How did the website get started?
One day I was having lunch with some girlfriends – good people who are intelligent and usually civil – and the whole time they blasted each other about politics. That upset me, and I became even more numb.
Driving home, I had an epiphany. I decided to stop focusing on the giant problems I couldn’t solve and instead search for some smaller problems that I could solve.
For example, I couldn’t fix Los Angeles’ public schools, but I could give some of my kids’ books to a local school. I couldn’t end hunger, but I could donate a bag of groceries to a food bank. I couldn’t stop terrorists but I could thank a soldier for fighting them. So I did, and it felt great! I didn’t feel helpless anymore. So I committed to doing one nice thing for someone, somewhere every week. By setting the bar at a realistic height, I hoped I could fulfill my weekly commitment. I chose Monday because it’s the day we need help most, and it was easy to remember.
Word spread. I told a few friends, and they told a few friends, and THEY told a few friends, and they encouraged me to start the website. So I did. I have awesome partners – our creative director, John Pugsley, used to design for Disney, and our website producer, Scott Mora, is outstanding and made the website easy to use even for tech-challenged people like me. All of us have “real jobs”. In our spare time we voluntarily work on DoOneNiceThing because we love it. Now we have thousands of members in 50 countries.
How do people generally find out about your organization?
They find out mostly by word of mouth and word of mouse. People tell and email each other about us. I'm on the radio almost every week and occasionally do TV interviews. Also I write features regularly for HappyNews.com, an optimistic site I really enjoy.
How do you obtain the cards listed on your site? How do you decide where to send them?
People make and send us the get-well cards. I randomly choose children's hospitals to send them to. Most of the hospitals are in the U.S. but I just sent a batch to Chaplain (LCDR) Dan Stallard in Baghdad to give out at a clinic there that our troops voluntarily set up to take care of needy Iraqis.
How can people submit one of their nice ideas to Do One Nice Thing?
Just click "contact' on DoOneNiceThing and send us an email. We really enjoy hearing from Nice-oholics around the world. They give us our best ideas!
What advice would you give people who feel that one person can’t accomplish very much in this world?
I'd tell them YES, YOU CAN. You never know the impact you can make, even by doing something small. Following Hurricane Katrina, I phoned the Vice Principal of Jefferson Middle School, a school in Mississippi that took in many displaced children. I asked her what she needed, and she said, “Belts.” Belts? It turns out that the students wear uniforms, and many were unable to afford belts. So our members dug into our closets and sent used belts – hundreds of them. Is a belt a big deal? It is if you're 12 and you don't have one, and you have to use a string to hold up your pants. The kids were really grateful for those belts.
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Accomplishments of Do One Nice Thing
