• “A random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual, or in some cases an animal ... for no reason other than to make people smile, or be happier.” –Wikipedia

MORE THAN 80 BP employees, family members and guests wended their way politely through the crowds at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Sunday with one goal in mind: to perform random acts of kindness (RAK) to those around them. They picked up trash, held doors open for parents struggling with strollers, offered to take free instant photos of families, and generally made themselves useful.

Wearing bright orange T-shirts decorated with a Random Act of Kindness logo and carrying BP backpacks filled with bright green bandannas, they put smiles on hundreds of faces, including their own.

See photo gallery of the event

Smile for the camera

Rajagopal Vakulabharanam, IT consultant, was one of the photographers in a group of BP employees who stationed themselves in front of a picturesque group of horse sculptures. As he arranged families into appealing groups in front of the sculptures and encouraged children to smile at the camera, Heidi Saul, facilities support, prepared a paper BP frame for the resulting photo. Meanwhile, friend Krystal Hewitt stopped people as they walked by, asking “Would you like a free photo of your family, courtesy of BP?”

One of the families who said yes was Leta and Byron Coffman of Houston and their daughters Cara, 7, and Christa, 6. “This is great!” said Leta, as Krystal handed her the family’s photo.

Thank you

Not far away, David Heup, contract project manager with North American Gas (NAG), and his daughter Megan were busily picking up trash. And Daniel Adjetey, electrical technical authority for NAG, and his daughter Tia were holding doors for people as they entered Reliant Center. “I don’t know how many thank-yous I’ve gotten — especially by people with strollers,” said David Heup.

Sue Saliba, lease and title analyst, was there with her daughter Alexandra, 12, and her friend Deborah Vines. “When we see people being nice to others, we give them a bandanna,” said Alexandra. “We saw one kid that was sad, and we made him happy by giving him a bandanna. And when we saw people stopping to let others walk past, we’d give them a bandanna for being polite.”

Glen Brizendine joined his wife, Sandra Brizendine, a project analyst in finance at the Texas City refinery, in holding open doors at Reliant Center. “People are so appreciative that we’re happy to stand here all afternoon,” said Sandra.

Pat Seip, HSSE coordinator, brought her daughter Ashley to help shoot free photos in front of a mural depicting barrel racing. “It has been nonstop photos all day, but we’re having a great time,” said Seip. Her photo recipient agreed: Kelle Watson and her daughters Serenity, 8, and Ivy, 12, gratefully accepted the photo. Watson, who just moved to Houston from New Braunfels, said, “It was nice to get something that doesn’t cost a million dollars! And free is even better.”

Bandanna giveaways

Darlene Morton, documentum coordinator at Texas City, and Kristan Morton, administrative assistant at Texas City, brought their friend Katie Lailhengue and were busy giving out bandannas. “We tell the kids to wave them so the Jonas Brothers (who were performing that afternoon) can see them. You can be sure that they will!” said Morton. The group agreed to give away their complimentary food coupons to someone who looked like they could use some help. “And we ran across a little girl whose birthday is today. So we gave her a bandana and had the BP photographer take her picture wearing it.”

“This is a great way to strike up a conversation with people,” said Eddi Porter, in organizational capability for NAG, who brought her husband Don Magill. “We love explaining what random acts of kindness are, and we’re having a great time.”

Marcella Christophe, administrative assistant, and her husband Clifford were busy holding doors open, greeting people, picking up trash, and keeping a close watch for others’ acts of kindness so they could reward them with a bandanna. “I even gave a bandanna to a woman who was sweeping,” said Marcella. “I know it was her job, but people forget to say ‘thank you’ to people who are doing their jobs correctly. This is great time to do that.”

Photo gallery

Event Date: March 7