We need more kindness, more compassion, more joy, more laughter. I definitely want to contribute to that. – Ellen DeGeneres
March 8 is International Women’s Day (IWD), which is a global celebration which recognizes “the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.” Those involved are encouraged to commemorate the day in a way that speaks to them the most and to make a positive impact everywhere.
For IWD 2019, we wanted to spotlight and honor an incredible woman who spreads cheer and kindness wherever she goes: Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen is known for her talk show and her notorious dance moves. Before that, she started as a stand-up comedian in the early 80s and made her big comedic debut in 1986 on The Tonight Show Starring Jonny Carson.
Ellen has been a force for kindness and shares her enthusiasm for being kind through her numerous kind acts. Ellen has surprised so many people on her show with generosity. She donated $1 million dollars to a high school to rebuild their gym which was destroyed during Hurricane Harvey. She also brought a teacher on her show that donated a kidney to save a student’s life and connected her with her favorite player from the Green Bay Packers for a special game-day experience.
During the polar vortex, one woman purchased hotel rooms for the homeless as it was dangerously cold outside. Ellen brought her on the show and gave her $50,000 so that she could continue to provide shelter and food for the homeless during these harsh weather conditions. Additionally, Ellen and her wife Portia started The Ellen Fund with the goal to save gorillas in Africa and to support The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
Ellen also uses her company partnerships to make the world a better place. She recently teamed up with Cheerios for their Good Goes Round campaign. During this campaign, Ellen connected the teacher who donated her kidney with Cherrios, who gave her an additional $25,000 for her school and $25,000 for herself to help her pay off student loans.
These are just a small handful of the countless kind acts Ellen performs, as she uses kindness to support communities, promote animal rights and touch the lives of people around the world. In fact, in 2016, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and her kindness was noted as one of her key attributes. Ellen continues to use humor, her good nature and kindness to make the world a better place. Here are a few more quotes from her to inspire kindness and your IWD celebrations:
It always helps to think about other people instead of ourselves.
Be kind to one another.
Here are the values that I stand for: honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values.
Ellen inspires us to be continually kind in every way possible. Are you inspired by Ellen too? What acts will you perform to inspire kindness in yourself and others like Ellen? Don’t forget to visit https://www.ellenshop.com/ to shop for kind products!
