Giving Compass' Take:

• Timed with a new documentary, The Conversation discusses the legacy of Fred McFeely Rogers (of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood" fame) and looks at how his warmth is a model for givers of every generation.

• What can we learn from Mister Rogers's message about kindness? Are we living up to his ideals with the work we do? As this article attests, generosity does the mind and body good.

• Here are seven ways to blend philanthropy into your routine.

The release of the Mister Rogers documentary, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” calls to mind the essential message of Rogers’ long-running children’s program, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Fred McFeely Rogers, who died in 2003, was also an ordained Presbyterian minister. Over the course of three decades on public broadcasting, he brought to millions of children what his faith’s General Assembly referred to as “unconditional love.”

In preaching love, Rogers wasn’t just attending to the moral character of his youthful audience. He believed that he was also promoting their health. As he said in 1979, “My whole approach in broadcasting has always been, ‘You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions.’ Maybe I’m going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important.”

Since Rogers’ death, evidence has mounted that he was on to something — namely, that love and kindness truly are healthful, and that people who express them regularly really do lead healthier lives. Simply put, people who are generous and volunteer their time for the benefit of others seem to be happier than those who don’t, and happy people tend to have fewer health complaints and live longer than those who are unhappy.

Read the full article about why Mister Rogers' kindness is good for your health by Richard Gunderman at The Conversation.