Kindness Is the Main Course at Sixty-Three Cleveland-Area Restaurants

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--We’re confirming your reservation at a “Kindness is Served Here” restaurant!

As part of the Kindness Food Network, “Kindness is Served Here” is rolling out in sixty-three restaurants across Northeast Ohio as part of Values-in-Action’s Kindland movement in partnership with the Ohio Restaurant and Hospitality Alliance. The goal of the program is to spread kindness throughout the community by encouraging restaurant servers and customers to highlight the acts of kindness of one another and those around them.

“Kindness and restaurants go hand in hand. Every step of your dining experience is filled with acts of kindness from the moment you walk in and are greeted with a smile to the time your server thanks you for coming. On the flip side, diners and customers show servers acts of kindness by being polite, understanding, and gracious,” said Values-in-Action CEO Stuart Muszynski.

Over the next several months, Clevelanders are being challenged to visit one of the restaurants that have the bright orange “Kindness is Served Here” sticker – also Kindland’s signature logo color – and recognize the kindness they experience. The program’s participating restaurants will welcome guests with an extra dose of hospitality by passing out kindness bracelets, stickers, and pens while encouraging customers to use the Just Be Kind app to document acts of kindness. Kindland will measure the impact by the number of people who download the Just Be Kind app and post kind acts from their restaurant experience or simply from their day.

Laurie Torres, owner of Mallorca in downtown Cleveland, spearheaded the program with Kindland and notes that, “Excellent restaurateurs know that nourishing the soul is as important as nourishing the body, and that is why kindness is crucial in our industry. I was so thrilled to work with Kindland to create the Kindness Food Network and work with other restaurants in 'O-ranging' kindness in Cleveland.”

A list of participating restaurants is posted at www.BeKindland.com.

Why Kindness? Values-in-Action’s Kindland movement is bringing together communities, businesses, organizations, and schools by recognizing and sharing the acts of kindness around us to inspire a ground swell of positivity and goodness. Kindness is proven to extend lifespan, increase a sense of belonging and connectedness, increase happiness, reduce anxiety and depression and enhance prosocial behavior in the workplace.

Values-in-Action is a Cleveland-based, non-profit organization that empowers students and adults to build communities of kindness, caring and respect through programs that teach, promote, and provide skills and tools to enable individuals to make positive, values-based decisions every day.