Danny Mayson-Kinder, the 212th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, posed a simple yet profound question.

Why, she wanted to know, do political leaders telephone students who top the state’s exams (which they very much deserve), but they don’t congratulate students for being empathetic and kind and helping to make the world a better place?

Danny has spent the past five years promoting empathy and compassion through the charity flyhighbillie, which empowers children to make a difference through kindness.

This inspiring quest began in the most tragic way.

Danny is the mother of an extraordinary daughter, Billie, who impressed everyone with her intelligence, athleticism, personality – and, most of all, her kindness. Unfortunately, when Billie was 12, she died in a horse accident. Billie had been planning to write a book, so, after she died, her family created her book for her.

Hope, which contains Billie’s poems, narratives and artwork, has sold more than 8,000 copies and sparked countless conversations around family dinner tables. The reason children find the book so powerful is because someone of their age is speaking to them in their language about their issues, such as mental health, bullying and discrimination.

Part of Danny’s role at flyhighbillie is to get Hope and a series of companion workbooks into primary schools throughout Australia, as well as overseas. Danny also promotes ‘b kinder day’, which is held annually on June 22, and ‘walk for a kinder world’, an annual one-month walking awareness event that ends on World Kindness Day, on November 13.

Danny wants all of us – herself included – to be kinder and to be more consciously aware of other people’s lives. At the same time, she feels our society should place less emphasis on status and care less about material possessions.

Danny passionately believes that if we can inculcate kindness into our children, it will lead to a happier, healthier and better world.

To quote the Dalai Lama: “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.“

If your school, business or community group would like to support ‘b kinder day’, contact Danny at info@flyhighbillie.org