Ben’s Bells distributes colorful, handmade ceramic ornaments around the world as symbols of kindness for people to find and take home. Ben’s Bells programs are based on the belief that everyone has the capacity to be kind and that kindness can be cultivated through education, visual reminders, and ongoing practice. Learn more about their mission to make kindness a way of life here!
What is the story behind Ben’s Bells?
In 2002, Jeannette Maré’s life changed forever when her son, Ben, died suddenly just before his third birthday. In the months that followed, Jeannette began making ceramic wind chimes – the first Ben’s Bells – in her backyard studio. Being surrounded by supportive people and working with clay toward a common goal was therapeutic for her family and their healing. Jeannette and her friends made four hundred Bells and randomly distributed them in the Tucson community on the first anniversary of Ben’s death. Through these Bells, she found a way to pay forward the kindnesses that had been shown to her. This started a powerful ripple effect. People who found the Bells shared their own stories of grief and healing and hope. Soon, thousands of Tucsonans were helping to craft Ben’s Bells. Since 2003, Ben’s Bells has been operating as a nonprofit, growing kindness education programs and continuing to distribute thousands of Bells every year.
How does Ben’s Bells spread kindness?
Ben’s Bells teaches individuals and communities about the positive impacts of intentional kindness and inspires people to practice kindness as a way of life. Our programs are based on the belief that everyone has the capacity to be kind and that kindness can be cultivated through education, visual reminders, and ongoing practice. By recognizing, valuing, and practicing intentional kindness, we can change the world. Kindness can be easy or it can require great skill, and when we practice regularly our small actions make a larger impact than a single random act. Our programs are designed to help us understand the human brain so we can develop our awareness and compassion – both for ourselves and others.
How are the Bells created?
Over twenty thousand volunteers visit our studios and help us make Bells each year. By the time each Bell is hung, many hands have had a part in its journey, and it represents the efforts of an entire community coming together to make one person’s day a little kinder. Today Bells are found all over the world and our free kindness education programming has reached over 1.6 million students. Ben’s Bells studios each year are instrumental in helping to inspire people to practice kindness as a way of life. Volunteers help create the Ben’s Bells that are distributed in communities, and the “Be Kind” ornaments and merchandise that are sold in our shops, helping to fund open art studios and kindness education programs.
What does the educational aspect of Ben’s Bells entail?
Ben’s Bells educates communities about the benefits of kindness and the skills we need to make kindness part of our daily lives. The tools, crafts, and other activities on our website are ways to engage with our educational programming and support your kindness practice. Kindness empowers us to step up and have challenging and vulnerable conversations that may ultimately create more connected communities. Our education programs include information sheets from community partners that provide advice about the ways kindness can be utilized to create positive social change. With this information, participants may lead others through challenging conversations and think about how kindness can be a productive and welcoming framework to address issues of identity, inclusion, equity, and justice.