When you check your precious self into the hospital to be made healthy again, you must first surrender your clothes, your shoes and your jewelry — everything that you’ve selected to reflect a unique human being to the world. Then you’re wrapped in a gown that could have been cut from 20-year-old bedsheets.

That’s especially tough when you’re a teen, as explained so beautifully by the teens in this video. But the best part of the video is their reaction when they’re given another choice – a gown that makes them feel “seen”. (If you’re anything like me, you’ll get choked up within seconds.) To support this work by Canada’s Starlight Children’s Foundation, click through from the video.

But a broader point: cash donations are great (believe me, PVI appreciates them, too)…but everyone has something of themselves to give. I’ll bet the designers of the teens’ gowns got more out of making them than if they’d written a check for the amount of the service. My dentist and her whole staff spend an entire weekend each year providing free dental care to those who can’t afford it – and the lab stays open through the night to make the implants, caps, bridges and dentures needed. My friend Kim works for a lady at an assisted living facility, and makes a point of greeting every person there with a smile and a hug.

At a time during the election cycle when politicians are filing the airwaves with promises of what they will give us and do for us, maybe it’s especially important to turn it around and think about what we can give and do for someone else. There are worse things going viral these days than acts of kindness.