February 13, 2026: More than 200 flowers and chocolates found new homes at Carlingwood Shopping Centre to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week, as RCWO members handed out smiles, shared conversations, and discovered that when you show up with kindness, the stories tend to find you.
Carlingwood is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. Our club hits 70 next year. We didn’t plan the symmetry, but the world is funny sometimes.
As the afternoon unfolded, the stories started collecting themselves.
We bumped into a Club Past President visiting from Brockville: proof that no matter where you go, Rotary will find you.
One woman came back a little while after receiving flowers and said it was her birthday. “Nothing was really happening today,” she told us, “and then your flowers totally made my day.” We’ll take that as a win.
A mom and her toddler stopped to chat. The little guy was completely fascinated by the flowers, studying them like they were rare artifacts. His mom laughed and said, “Please take his picture so we can show his dad the fun we had today.” That one may have made our day too.
Among the volunteers were two quiet symbols of what makes Rotary special: one member with 31 years of service, and another who joined just last month. Experience and fresh enthusiasm, working side by side and handing out kindness.
February is Rotary’s Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention Month. Peace does not always arrive with headlines. Sometimes it looks like a friendly hello, a shared joke, or a flower pressed into someone’s hand while they are on their way to buy socks. Thank you to Carlingwood Shopping Centre and Anthem Properties for welcoming us into a space that has been part of this community for seven decades and for letting us add a little Rotary spirit to the mix.
As we look ahead to our own 70th anniversary next year, this was a simple reminder: if you keep showing up long enough, the stories take care of themselves.