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Reporter’s blog: I'm super excited to kick off our Random Acts of Kindness series tomorrow!

Reporter Eden Suh, the host, gift-getter and video editor, for our annual 12 days of Christmas kindness campaign, is so excited to reveal the first video tomorrow!

It’s that time of year again! Sudbury.com kicks off our 12 days of Random Acts of Kindness videos tomorrow, Dec. 9 and I couldn’t be more excited.

I had the privilege of working on this project for the last two months.

If I were to summarize the last two months of work, well, I guess if I were to put it simply, it has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me.

It all started when Sudbury.com editor Mark Gentili pulled me into our very first Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK) meeting. During the meeting, Mark and Sudbury.com publisher Abbas Homayed filled me in on the annual kindness campaign and the work involved. 

You may be familiar with our annual Christmas video series. Launched in 2016, the video series  sees us surprise deserving Sudburians who have been sponsored by a colleague or loved one to receive a random act of kindness. 

Normally at this time of year, new media reporter Heather Green-Oliver could be seen on video every morning in the 12 days preceding Dec. 25 in her red Santa hat and a distinctive blue jacket surprising someone worthy.

And since I am replacing Heather during her maternity leave, that job was about to be mine. 

There was a lot of uncertainty and pressure when I left that meeting — I didn’t even know where to start. But I can say now that as I near the end of this year’s kindness campaign, that I have never put more of my heart, time and effort into a project before.

So, I guess this is where the rollercoaster of emotions comes in. First of all, I feel influenced. I feel influenced by the kind and giving community sponsors who have given some of the most generous donations to our recipients this year. 

I want to take this time to thank all of our sponsors. Patrick Fantin at Bestech, Todd Cochrane at Canadian Tire, Paul McQueen at Ashley HomeStore, Snow Squad, Philip and Patsy at Bella Flora and Diana Derro at the New Sudbury Centre Booster Juice are just a few of the wonderful sponsors who made 12 deserving Sudburian’s smile, cry and laugh this year. 

At Sudbury.com, we like to say that kindness is contagious. The nominators who send us the names of deserving recipients and the generous sponsors who make these acts of kindness possible prove that.

Another emotion I feel is privilege. I feel truly privileged and honoured to be in a position where dozens of people have shared their personal story with me. It’s hard to be vulnerable with a complete stranger, but I want to thank all of our recipients this year for being open to sharing bits of their life with me. 

And the last emotion I feel is gratitude. I feel grateful to have colleagues who supported me through every obstacle in this process. They are the first people to lend a helping hand when things don’t go according to plan. They’ve taught me a lot about professionalism during the last six months here at Sudbury.com and they continuously push me to be a better reporter. 

Thank you to everyone involved in the 12 days of kindness. I am extremely excited to finally launch this video campaign. Visit our website again tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. for our very first episode of Sudbury.com’s 2021 Random Acts of Kindness.


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Eden Suh

About the Author: Eden Suh

Eden Suh in the new media reporter for Sudbury.com.
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