Father spreads message of kindness

Kindness and compassion will change the world.

That's the message Darrell Scott shared with nearly 4,000 Kalispell youth at six school assemblies this week.

He founded Rachel's Challenge, a public-school assembly program, in honor of his daughter, Rachel, who was the first person killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.

Each year, Scott encourages students to join his daughter's commitment to compassion. Kindness, he said, is the only antidote to violence. Rachel's Challenge is proof of that; the assembly has prevented at least seven school shootings and countless suicides, he said.

But kindness, Scott said, is not just for the young.

At a community event Monday evening in the Glacier High School performance hall, Scott urged parents and community members to join their children in accepting Rachel's challenge.

He showed footage from the Columbine shooting and video clips from interviews with various media personalities. He discussed the importance of forgiveness, something his family had to learn in the shooting's aftermath.

It was difficult for Craig, Rachel's younger brother, who was in the library during the shooting. Close friends were gunned down on either side of him, and for two years, Craig was traumatized.

But ultimately he chose to honor Rachel by spreading her challenging message of compassion and kindness.

Scott illustrated ways to show compassion by sharing examples from his daughter's life. Once a homeless woman sat down at a table in the sandwich shop where Rachel worked. Rachel pitied her and started to make her a sandwich, then wondered if the woman went from restaurant to restaurant trying to get free meals.

Rachel was still debating whether to make the woman a sandwich when a customer entered, saw the woman and bought her a meal. When the woman finished eating, she left a pair of tattered gloves behind and didn't return for them.

Rachel failed that day, Scott said. She let her head overrule her heart. She brought the gloves home to remind herself of the opportunities she had each day to show compassion.

Everyone has similar opportunities daily, Scott said.

"If your heart speaks," he said, "tell your head to shut up and just do it."

Scott concluded by asking the crowd to raise their hands if they wanted to accept Rachel's challenge. Most audience members did.

"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart," he said. "I see Rachel's hands every time, multiplied through yours."

On the Web: www.rachelschallenge.com

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com