Houston Random Acts of Kindness Day (RAK Day) Founders, Treveia and David Dennis, today announced a very special initiative to celebrate Houston Random Acts of Kindness Day today, July 25, 2022! The RAK Day founders are teaming up with Parkway, Inc., and other local businesses to launch “RAK Rooms” that encourage and reward good behavior and academic achievement among students at HISD Schools!

RAK Rooms are physical spaces designed as fun, colorful reward rooms where HISD students can shop and purchase a variety of items, play, take a break from studies, and participate in special events! Students can earn “RAK Bucks” for good behavior, attendance, anti-bullying, academic achievement, random acts of kindness and other accomplishments, which can be used for RAK Room purchases and experiences.

The RAK Room partners are also collaborating with the Houston Independent School District’s Wraparound Services Department, which connects students and their families with community resources that address non-academic challenges ranging from food insecurity to mental well-being, to incorporate space in the RAK Rooms for Wraparound Specialists to meet with children, parents and counselors and provide a resource room area stocked with donations of critical food, clothing and sundry items for school families in need.

Each RAK Room will be designed by renown Interior Designer and Craftsman Gino Vian and sponsored by a local business in partnership with RAK Day to supply whatever is needed for the room, from stocking an inventory of items students can purchase to design and décor! Parkway, Inc., a real estate investment trust company with offices in Houston and throughout the Sun Belt, was the first company to step up to partner on the RAK Room project.

“We are really excited to be in on the ground floor of this wonderful initiative as the first partner to develop a RAK Room,” said Parkway Regional Director of Programming Kateri Foley. “We first met the founders of RAK Day in 2020, while making a major furniture donation to Foerster Elementary School. As a sponsor and supporter of HISD ‘s Wraparound Services and school resource rooms, this initiative is perfectly aligned with our goals to support RAK Day, students, and the community and we encourage other local businesses to join the effort.”

Additional RAK Room sponsors include Houston Random Acts of Kindness Day Inc., Yellowland Records (Twiler Portis and Jimmy Burner), Enstyle Boutique (Ivey Meys), ItsMooseCraft, Premium Goods, and HydePark Goods.

The RAK Rooms are designed to provide incentives to motivate students academically and socially by encouraging attendance, kindness, accountability, volunteering, philanthropy, engagement, appreciation, and participation. The rooms and incentives give students opportunities to engage, excel, and learn, while helping build self-esteem and character!

“This is a really positive way to reach and reward all students, regardless of whether they get straight A’s or are struggling academically or socially,” said Trevia Dennis, Co-Founder of Houston Random Acts of Kindness Day. “Everybody can earn RAK Bucks and it gives kids a sense of belonging to a program, especially for those who don’t regularly participate in extracurricular activities. We are thrilled to be launching the RAK Rooms at HISD schools and cannot thank our sponsoring partners and HISD partners enough for their enthusiasm and tireless support.”

As a sponsor of one of the first RAK Rooms, Parkway is also encouraging tenants and other businesses within their four major Houston office campuses to sponsor a room, and they are underwriting the development, execution and promotion of a campaign to stock the Wraparound Resource areas of RAK Rooms with donations through printing, advertising, website creation, promotional and community engagement elements.

Houston Random Acts of Kindness Day co-founders, Trevia and David Dennis, are planning a big reveal their first RAK Room in the days to come!