'DR. KINDNESS' WILL LEAD RALLY TONIGHT AT CAPE'S WEST PARK

Just a few years ago, Will Glennon never envisioned that he would head up a national Random Acts of Kindness Foundation and promote kindness as a full-time job.

Glennon, who has the nickname of "Dr. Kindness," will speak in Cape Girardeau at 6 tonight. He will lead a kindness rally at the Westfield Shoppingtown West Park in the JCPenney court.

The public is invited to the program, which should last 40 to 45 minutes.

It will begin with a song by Mike Dumey and The Ware Sisters. These local singers will also perform at the end of Glennon's remarks.

In addition, the public is invited to sign a scroll of kindness that will be presented to Glennon at the rally. The scroll is located at the customer service desk at West Park today from 10 a.m. until the start of the rally.

Glennon headed up a small publishing company called Conari Press, which launched the series of Random Acts of Kindness books.

"We thought we were dislodging a pebble, but it started a roaring avalanche," he said.

In his travels across the country and to foreign countries, Glennon said he has found a real hunger for kindness in people. "Kindness is really about reconnection and returning to the core values of humanity," he said.

Glennon has been very involved in bringing about the first World Kindness Day, which is set Nov. 13. He has been to Japan and Singapore to talk about the kindness movement. The movement has also taken off in Canada, Australia, Great Britain and Italy.

Last November, representatives from the various countries met with Glennon to talk about establishing a World Kindness Day.

"It was hard to find a day that didn't conflict with holidays anywhere in the world," he said. "Then someone said today's Nov. 13, let's celebrate what we've done today. It turned out there were no conflicts that day, which is amazing."

He expects the World Kindness Day celebration to start small and grow each year. "It may take six or seven years to grow into a big international event, but I think it will," said Glennon.