Community Corner

'26 Acts of Kindness' Campaign Gets Legs in Golden Valley

One Golden Valley resident received a Caribou gift card from an anonymous person as part of a nation-wide effort to honor Sandy Hook Elementary School victims.

When NBC news correspondent Ann Curry posted an idea on Facebook on Dec. 16, she started in motion a national effort to honor those that died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

“Imagine if we all committed 20 acts of kindness to honor the lost children of Newtown..or 26 acts, including the heroic teachers,” Curry wrote on Facebook.

More than 24,000 Facebook shares later, people across the nation are trying to think of others in 26 different ways. The movement is quickly becoming known as the “26 Acts of Kindness Campaign,” and even has its own Facebook page and Twitter hashtag, #26acts.  

On Thursday, Golden Valley resident Andrea Rauser was pleasantly surprised to find a Caribou gift card nestled into her car windshield.

Along with the gift, Rauser found a note that read, “Light up hearts this holiday season, fight evil spirits by doing a little good.” Below the note, in gold writing, an anonymous person wrote, “In memory of a child that is no longer with us. #16.”

Rauser doesn’t know who gave her the gift card, but she hopes to return the random act in some way soon.

“I don't know whether you put it there while I was at work near the West End, while I was at PetSmart in St. Louis Park, or at the Ridgedale Target,” Rauser wrote to the mystery giver in a Patch announcement, “but know that it was found and appreciated.”

Will you join the movement and commit an act of kindness today? Tell us in the comments.

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