My conversation with Bob and why he launched the One Million Acts of Kindness Bus
The vehicle was painted a striking blue, a shade that stood out boldly, reminiscent of the sky. Across its panels, hand-painted phrases arched in every direction: “Be Kind to People and Animals,” “Don’t Be a Bully, Be a Friend,” and “One Million Acts of Kindness,” just to name a few.
Parked under the summer sun, the vehicle was not loud by any means, but it was impossible to overlook. Leaning against it, holding a sign just as heartfelt, stood Bob, the man behind the mission.
I met him on June 12th, in a passing moment that quickly stopped feeling small. At Voulay, we’ve built a platform to highlight the ways people Choose the Beautiful in their own corners of the world. And Bob? He’s been choosing it and helping others choose it for nearly two decades.
From Tragedy to Kindness Mission
Bob’s journey didn’t start with a marketing plan or a non-profit launch. It began with a question no one should have to answer.
“You know, when I started One Million Acts of Kindness in 2007,” he told me, “the shooting at Virginia Tech had just happened. My kids were in college then. Thirty-two dead, one guy. How does somebody take one life, let alone thirty-three lives? People need hope after that.”
Three days after the tragedy, Bob drove to the campus. He didn’t have a strategy. He had stickers.
“I’d never done anything like that,” he said, recalling how he stood outside for four days, passing out small squares of encouragement. “Talking to parents, brothers and sisters, classmates, friends. Their hearts were torn. Some people knew many of the 32. It just touched me deeply.”
It wasn’t his first response to collective grief. After 9/11, Bob had launched a “Sow Only Seeds of Love” sticker program. But this time, the experience left him with a bigger question: What do I do next?
His answer came in the shape of a big old school bus, painted up and ready to roll. “I didn’t even know what I was going to do,” he admitted. “But because it happened at a university, I started visiting college campuses.”
A Kindness Tour That Never Ended
From that moment on, the road became Bob’s workbench. Social media was still new then, and his community grew slowly but steadily, reaching 14,000 followers after five years.
Somewhere along the way, the mission expanded to include children’s outreach. Traveling with Bob is a co-star: Bogart, his dog and the face behind Bogart’s Puppet Friends.
“The little guys always like the puppet shows,” Bob grinned.
He has produced more than 1,050 of them, some short and shareable, others fully produced at six to eight minutes, perfect for classrooms. They are on YouTube and Facebook, tucked between other acts of kindness from the road.
Bogart’s charm has now leapt from screen to page in Bogart Begins His Kindness Adventure, the first in a planned twelve-book series. Each story teaches kindness, respect, and other life-long lessons through the eyes of a dog children instantly love. For Bob, it is another way to put the message directly into young hands and into the bedtime stories they will remember.
It is the kind of grassroots creativity Voulay understands well. Our Choose the Beautiful philosophy has always been about more than polished optics. It is about what happens when you take the time to create something meant to make others feel safe, seen, and valued.
Bob’s work checks all three boxes.
The Moment That Changed Everything
Toward the end of our conversation, there was a moment when he paused, taking a deep breath to reflect on the next chapter of his story. He was remembering his defining moment during this kindness journey. A time when he found himself questioning whether all his effort was truly helping anyone. In that silence, you could sense the weight of his thoughts. As he began to speak again, you could feel the reverence he had for this moment.
He spoke about an event he attended, which felt like every other event; nothing particularly special about this one. This event, though, is when a young college girl approached him and revealed that she was on her way to end her life. However, as she was walking, she saw the words on the side of the bus, “Somebody needs you,” and to her it felt like a sign. She decided to stay.
That brief encounter with this young woman changed his entire outlook. He could no longer question whether he helped people. There was a deeper meaning to his work. It became clear to him why he continued doing what he does.
It’s hard to overstate the weight of that. One phrase. One vehicle. One man who decided to keep showing up. And a life that kept going because of it. That even in our moments of doubt, it’s the courage to continue that can create meaningful change in the lives of others.
At Voulay, we often reflect on the powerful truth that even the smallest act of kindness can create a ripple effect that extends far beyond its start. It is moments like these and individuals like Bob who illuminate our path and remind us of our purpose. They are not just examples; they embody the very essence of why we strive to make a difference. Choosing the Beautiful may not always be easy, but kindness and generosity are the foundations that can transform our world into a place filled with hope and compassion.
Still Rolling With Kindness
Today, Bob isn’t in a school bus. He drives a light-blue van-like truck, but the messages are still there, covering every inch. The phrases are hand-painted reminders, little invitations to a different way of being:
- If you see someone without a smile, give them yours.
- Always be helpful and kind.
- It’s nice to be nice.
There’s a sincerity to it that you can feel, in person, the kind of sincerity algorithms can’t fake.
And yet, like many grassroots efforts, it’s a slow-growth mission. “They want you to feed the thing with money,” he said, referencing the social platforms. “We made the mistake of having an old YouTube account from 2009, and I didn’t put much on it until 2021. Algorithms are basically dead for a channel after that.”
We have all felt like Bob in this regard at some point. That hasn’t stopped him; he keeps going. Puppet shows at local elementary schools, one-on-one conversations, and he is still handing out stickers. He may not be hitting viral metrics, but he’s hitting something better: lives that need hope.
Why Voulay is Sharing Bob’s Story
Voulay believes that commerce can connect rather than extract, and that stories, especially the ones that are so often just a quick conversation, carry value that outlasts transactions. Bob’s journey is proof.
He didn’t build One Million Acts of Kindness to “scale” in the traditional sense. He built it to be a constant presence, a reminder that kindness is a choice we can make a million times over.
And while we usually write about Choosing the Beautiful in the context of how we shop and feel about ourselves, Bob reminds us it applies everywhere. On sidewalks, in conversations, in the words we paint across the things we carry with us.
How to See Bob for Yourself
If you’re lucky, you might spot his light-blue kindness mobile in your town. You might catch a puppet show at a school or see him standing with his sign at a local event. And if you do, you’ll notice what I did: he doesn’t just talk about kindness, he radiates it.
Everything you need to know is, quite literally, written on the side of his vehicle. And if you ask, he’ll tell you how to connect. “Everything’s on the back of the sticker,” he told me. “You can go on my website. I’ve got probably 2,200 stories on there starting from 2006.”
Sure enough, he was right. All on the back of the sticker was everything I needed to find out more.
You can find him on his website: OneMillionActsofKindness.org, like it says on the sticker. As well as finding him on his various social media pages:
Facebook – One Million Acts of Kindness
Instagram – @TheKindnessBusTour
YouTube – Bogart’s Puppet Friends
Passing the Kindness Torch
Before we wrapped up, I asked if I could take his picture. He smiled, adjusted the sign, and made sure the van was in the shot.
“Spread it far and wide if you could,” he said.
So here we are, doing just that.
Bob’s story is a reminder that sometimes the most important thing we can do is show up, with words, with presence, with something that tells another person they matter.
And now, we’d like to hear from you.
Have you ever met Bob or seen the One Million Acts of Kindness bus or truck?
Have you experienced or given an act of kindness that stayed with you?
Share your story with us. Add it to the growing record of reasons to keep going. Because every story shared is one more act of kindness in the world, and like Bob’s messages, it might just reach someone who needs it most.
Kindness grows when we pass it on.
Let’s choose it. Let’s share it. Let’s keep it moving.