#ChooseKIND Movement to Draw Thousands of People to Manalapan Rec

When wellness coach, clinical nutritionist, and Manalapan mom of three Ilene Mager joined the #ChooseKIND movement, an anti-bullying and self-empowerment campaign, in May 2018 she didn’t expect the viral nature of kindness to spark a movement that would impact thousands of people. But that’s exactly what happened when her family and friends started wearing shirts emblazoned with #ChooseKIND. Thousands of people are expected to join the Mager family on August 15 at 7 p.m. at the Manalapan Recreation Center at an event sponsored by The Max Challenge of Manalapan to stand together as a community in effort to make a difference and kick bullying to the curb.

The mission of #ChooseKIND is to stop the rippling effect of bullying through empowerment and priority on self-confidence. Mager printed the first batch of shirts in response to unkind behavior she was observing – not just Manalapan, but all over the world, evident through countless news items and personal accounts of bullying and aggressiveness.

“All the assemblies, meetings, and messaging coming from news outlets wasn’t working in addressing this crisis,” she said. “I wanted to create something that would get through to children and adults and knew that something visual, like a shirt with the hashtag, would send the message that no one is standing alone.”

Mager’s first order of shirts went from five to 123 overnight and she knew she was onto something.

“It didn’t hit me how much this movement was needed until I saw how fast it was growing,” she added. “Kindness to others is important, but the #ChooseKIND movement starts with the individual and being kind to yourself. When you have that self-awareness, self-confidence, and empowerment to believe in who you are, the judgmental words of others aren’t given power and the bullying will cease to exist.”

Joining the movement is The Max Challenge of Manalapan, a mind, body, and nutrition program that focuses on wellness. Owner Maureen Bruno first noticed Mager wearing the shirt and wanted to do more.

“The impact of kindness goes a long way; wearing the shirt tells others that is your belief and value and sends a visual reminder to make kindness a priority,” Bruno said. “We are excited to bring so many people together as a community to drive real change and spread the impact of kindness.”

The August 15 event is open to the community to anyone wearing a #ChooseKIND shirt. The shirt can be purchased at The Max Challenge of Manalapan on Gordon’s Corner Road, from agpestores.com/scrappydappydoo/groups.php or sending an email to ChooseKindMondays@gmail.com. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to anti-bullying foundation StompOUTBullying.org.

Attending the event on August 15 at 7 p.m.? Use the hashtag #ChooseKIND when posting photos on social media and join the movement!