“We wanted to give back to the community, but we also wanted to have everyone else kind of think about how they could give back to the community and get them thinking about it.,” Jennifer Smith said.
ARKHOUSE started in 2015, sharing a space with Echo Boutique. In February, it moved to a standalone storefront at 233 S. Market St. in Troy.
With each purchase, they place a card in the bag with the boutique’s mission and suggestions of random acts of kindness. Patrons who complete one of them and bring it back that month, they get $5 off a purchase of $25 or more.
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“This is kind of challenging people not to just think about a kindness but actually take action in your community,” Shari Misirian, the store’s manager, said. “How many times do we think about ‘I should do something nice’ or ‘that person could do something.’ But this actually promotes people going out into their community and getting it done and making a difference."
To celebrate the move to the new location on Market Street ARKHOUSE gave away a $250 gift card. The winner decided to give $100 of that back to the store. The Smiths decided to match that amount and donated that money to a local charity.
In honor of National Random Acts of Kindness Day, they posted this story on the store’s Facebook page. The Smiths then asked for suggestions for charities. The post quickly had more than 60 comments for suggestions, and one woman stopped into the store to donate $50 to add to the $200 for a local charity.
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Giving back and acts of kindness are a cornerstone of what the Smiths and Misirian want the store to stand for. They said Monday was a meaningful day to them, but also it’s a practice they try to keep up and encourage throughout the year.
“If you’ve never done an act of random kindness it’s exciting. It’s fun to just give back to someone, especially someone who’s not expecting it.” Jennifer Smith said. “I think everyone can appreciate someone being nice to them or doing something special for them.”