Meet a ROK Champion of Kindness: Chris Roupas

What happens when one person chooses to help? A single act can create a ripple. That ripple can become a wave. And before you know it, that wave of Kindness can travel farther than anyone ever imagined!

Meet ROK Champion of Kindness Chris Roupas, a volunteer, medical first responder, and passionate advocate for treating every person with love, respect, dignity, and Kindness. Through multiple volunteer trips to a United Nations Refugee Camp in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, Chris has witnessed tremendous hardship and responded by creating waves of compassion wherever he goes!

Showing Up Where Help Is Needed Most

Chris and his wife chose to serve at this particular camp because relatively few nonprofits travel there. Located just eight miles from Iran, the area presents significant challenges, with rockets and drones unfortunately part of everyday life.

Yet Chris keeps returning!

During one recent trip, his small volunteer medical team saw more than 800 people who had been forced from their homes by war with ISIS. The team provided free medical, dental, and mental health care, but their mission was about more than medicine. 

It was about creating a wave of humanity, love, respect, and dignity in a place that has experienced far too much hardship. These seemingly simple gifts can create powerful ripples. A compassionate conversation can brighten someone's day. A helping hand can restore hope. A medical treatment can change a family's life.

Kindness That Goes Beyond Medicine

Chris has served as a medical first responder and supported his wife’s medical team as they cared for refugees with urgent, ongoing needs. One moment especially stayed with him.

A young boy arrived after falling and badly tearing open his knee. Chris’s wife was able to stitch the wound while his family watched. Without the clinic, the family may have had to glue or tape the wound themselves, facing a 45-minute journey through a military checkpoint to reach another clinic. Afterward, the boy’s family took turns taking photos with Chris’s wife to express their gratitude.

For Chris, the moment demonstrated how one act of compassionate care can send ripples of positivity that truly change the world. In his words, “Kindness always wins.”

Creating Waves of Connection

Chris has also distributed Kindness Worldwide “I see the good in you” cards, using translators to explain their meaning to refugees. The cards sparked positive conversations and connections, creating small but meaningful waves of joy in an extraordinarily difficult environment.

He has interviewed Syrian refugees about their healthcare needs and spent time getting to know patients and families—not simply treating them as people in need, but recognizing their humanity.

Chris’s wife has completed seven tours in Iraq, often returning because she knows how much the community needs her. Chris says he is deeply proud of her courage and passion to serve.

Start Your Own Ripple!

Chris reminds us that Kindness can cross borders, cultures, and circumstances. One person can start a ripple. That ripple can become a wave. And that wave can inspire another person to do the same!

Your next Kind act could be the beginning of something much bigger!

Create your ROK account today, share your Kind acts, and start seeing the ripples of your Kind acts!