SIDNEY, NE — A group of Red Raiders working to bring smiles to people’s faces and lift their spirits.

“The goal is to help make people smile and to bring our communities and school more together," freshman Grace Weber said. "With COVID, we’ve kind of broken apart and gone on our own and we need to realize we’re all in this together. No one’s alone.”

Weber and the Unified Raiders from Sidney High School are organizing Random Acts of Kindness Week. It’s something they think is needed more this year than ever.

“It’s always been kind of a tradition for us so we’re just trying to amp it up this year because people feel a lot more alone than ever," Weber said. "We’re trying to bring people together more."

NCN sat down with some of the students involved with the group to find out more about their plans. The Unified Raiders will kick things off Tuesday, Feb. 16, by giving candy bags to all the students along with notes challenging them to do something nice for someone else.

They want to get the community involved as well this year. Freshman Madi Packer says the group is partnering with multiple businesses in Sidney to spread positivity.

“If you go to Sidney Floral, for example, you can buy flowers and they’ll give you a discount. Then you can go give those flowers to a friend or family member,” Packer said.

The Nebraska Strong Recovery Project is also getting involved. They’re planning to get out in communities on National Random Acts of Kindness Day on Feb. 17. They’re also encouraging everyone to take part whether it is buying someone else lunch or just a friendly wave.

The Unified Raiders hope this can catch on beyond just next week.

“Although this may be Random Acts of Kindness Week, we can extend it to two weeks, to a month, to a year and then to a lifetime," Packer said. "Be kind to everyone.”

Members of the Unified Raiders will be on KSID's Swap Shop Monday morning to further discuss what they hope to accomplish during the week. The Random Acts of Kindness Shopping Day in Sidney is set for Saturday, Feb. 20. A full list of participating businesses will be made available on the Community Calendar page at newschannelnebraska.com.