Randy the Reindeer Aims to Makes Kindness a Tradition in the Treasure Valley

A few weeks ago, I saw this adorable little guy pop on in my Facebook newsfeed and just had to know more about him!

At first glance, Randy appears to be just like other adorable plush reindeer you see on store shelves around the holidays. He likes tagging along for long walks in the snow, fresh baked cookies and the color green.  Look a little closer at his photo and you'll realize he's actually not just another Christmas stuffed animal.  He's holding some cards in his hooves.  Are they his wish list for Santa? Not at all!

As one of Santa's special helpers, Randy wants to help make kindness a tradition in Treasure Valley homes during the upcoming Christmas season.  The cards in his hands are "kindness cards" that issue families a kindness challenge each day in the month of December.  Some of the challenges include leaving flowers on windshields in a parking lot, leaving fresh baked cookies at your neighbor's doorstep or having the kids donate some of the toys they're not playing with to kids who may not otherwise be getting something for Christmas.

As Boise and the Treasure Valley's official Christmas music station, we see all sides of the Christmas holiday.  We've seen the good through your generous donations to help us spread a little hope to our neighbors who are a little down on their luck through LITE-FM Christmas Wish. On the flip side, we've also seen how the hustle and bustle of getting things prepared for your own family's holiday can make you forget to slow down, take a look at your surroundings and notice others.  When you take a second to perform a small act of kindness like the one on Randy's cards, you can really turn someone's day around! That's just one of the reasons I LOVE this project. I also love that Randy's targeted toward children and gives parents an easy way to start making kindness during the holidays a tradition in the household.

We're halfway to Christmas, so you might be interested in making Randy part of your family this year! So where do you get one? That's where it gets a little complicated.  Randy was the brainchild of the Van Vorous family from Boise. They've been leaving out a stuffed reindeer holding a note encouraging their kids to do something kind each day during the holidays for five years.  Their kids loved the little reindeer and when they told their friends, the Bartlettes, about the tradition, they encouraged the Van Vorous family to share it with the world.  So they got to work on a prototype of their own stuffed reindeer who eventually earned the name Randy.

Now the families need a little help getting the project funded so they can create 600 Randy dolls to get out into the community by this Christmas season! They're crowdfunding the project through Kickstarter and are about 30% of the way to their goal.  Randy will only go into production if the project is fully funded by the deadline, so if you'd like to be one of the backers for this very cool project click HERE! A $30 pledge will get you your very own Randy the Reindeer doll with Kindness Cards if the campaign is successful!