Hilltop 7 Promotes Random Acts of Kindness

The Hilltop Seven wants to make your day.

Haven’t heard of them? As The Hilltop Seven (H7) explain, they are “a group of seven anonymous students at McDaniel College that want to help our campus and fellow students in whatever ways we can.”

While they prefer to remain anonymous, the Hilltop Seven did reveal that “all seven are involved in various activities on campus. Our activities as a group include Greek life, music, theatre, sports, and various clubs. Our members range from sophomores to seniors.”

The founding member was inspired by clubs at other schools, and decided to do something similar on the Hill.

“One of our members had read something about random acts of kindness and thought it would be nice to do some around campus anonymously,” says the Hilltop Seven, adding that “UVA’s Seven Society was a big inspiration for The Hilltop Seven.”

“We are about giving back to a campus full of awesome students, teachers and staff” the organization remarks. “We feel like those people should be rewarded in some way. We also know that as students, college can be tough so we hope to brighten the days of some students who need a little boost.”

With a super cool mission and a desire to impact the lives of others, the Hilltop Seven is not yet a household name on campus.

“I have not heard of Hilltop Seven,” says senior Amy Zipkin.

While people may not yet be familiar with the club, the idea came about last year.

“This idea started in January of 2010. The first member brought the idea to a close friend during Jan. Term. Next, the two of them chose a third member. And this continued until there were seven,” explains H7.

Since that time, the group has been busy. “Our first gift was seven frisbees donated to the Ultimate Frisbee Club. We knew that the club was one of the largest on campus and that they were a fun group of students,” says H7.

“It was a wonderful surprise,” says senior Whitney Arkin, a member of the Ultimate Frisbee club at that time.

In addition, they reveal that they “have sent letters of appreciation to RAs and donated money to causes being supported by campus groups. We also have a few things in the works right now.”

Think someone awesome deserves a little dose of the Hilltop Seven? Ask and you may receive. The Hilltop Seven says, “One of our hopes is that students will email us when a friend or classmate is having a tough week… Also, if you have suggestions for groups on campus that may need some help, that would be great too. It could be a club you are a part of or one that you know could use some help.”

The group encourages people to “Please send thoughts and suggestions to TheHilltop7@gmail.com.” The Hilltop Seven says, “Please remember that we are new so funds are limited. We won’t be able to respond to every email we get but we will certainly try.”

For anyone concerned that the club will disband as these anonymous students graduate, no worries. One member has already graduated, and according to The Hilltop Seven new group “members are chosen by the current undergraduates of the H7. We select people who we believe are kind, generous, active on campus and trustworthy.”

In the future, the group explains, “Our hope is that as the years go by we can do bigger and better things for the college and students”

The Hilltop Seven says they “want to stir up some good vibes on this campus,” and that sounds like a plan we can all get behind.