In The News
05.24.09 Contra Costa Times
San Ramon couple wants to remind the world to be kind, one act at a time
SAN RAMON — It just began as a Facebook status report: “Maria Haswell is “going to practice random acts of kindness today.”
The response her random thought drew surprised the San Ramon woman. Comments left on her Internet social networking page were all positive and supportive.
Haswell was inspired, and decided to ask others to join her in performing those random acts of kindness.
In February, she started the spreadkindness.org Web site with her husband Mark Haswell. She said she has since started a Facebook page for the group that has drawn about 600 people, she said.
The group’s purpose is to remind people to be kind, one simple act at a time.
“It doesn’t have to cost anything,” said Maria Haswell, 36. “It doesn’t have to be complicated.”
The Haswells have done individual acts of kindness, such as handing strangers $5 gift cards to Target or Starbucks, or paying for someone’s meal at the drive-thru.
Each time they do, they make sure the recipient gets a small-business card that tells the recipient that they have just received a random act of kindness. On the back of the cards are suggestions on ways to be kind.
“You start it going and it spreads,” said Mark Haswell, 50. “All we’re trying to do is start that flow of kindness.”
Aside from individual things the Haswells do, the group — which now hovers at about 40 members, including many friends of the couple — meets up once a month to practice kindness together.
For their first activity, a group of 10 went to San Ramon’s Central Park and passed out flowers, balloons and homemade cookies.
The reactions have been priceless, group member say. Some recipients are surprised, others have questioned the group’s intentions.
“It’s really cool to see that reaction,” said group member Cherie Trocha-Milichichi. “It’s not often that you are walking down the street and someone hands you a flower.”
Trocha-Milichichi, of Castro Valley, is a friend of Maria Haswell.
“What she is doing is great,” she said. “I think that everybody needs to be reminded to be nice to one another without something in return.”
On Easter Sunday, the group went to Lake Merritt and passed out plastic eggs filled with candy. The wrapped candy included a note, letting the recipient know they had just received an act of kindness.
On Saturday, the group went to play bingo with residents of the nursing home at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Livermore.
Member Lorena Bathey of San Ramon said the world has grown more cynical, and doing nice things for people is one way to change the attitude of others.
There’s another upside for doing nice things, she said.
“You feel great,” Bathey said. “We all have big smiles on our faces … It’s like an endorphin rush. I highly recommend it to everybody.”
In this economy, the small things have come to mean much more, she added.
The group has also adopted a soldier and are now seeking donations by June 19 for their second adopted service member.
To raise money for its random acts, the group is selling T-shirts and wristbands.
Still in the early phase, the Haswells are in the process of getting a nonprofit status approved for the group. For more information about the group, or to donate, visit www.spreadkindness.org.
Reach Sophia Kazmi at 925-847-2122 or skazmi@bayareanewsgroup.com.
