‘Random Note Project’ brightens the day at cafe
Although Gabrielle Bovard has never stepped foot inside Moonbeam Cafe, she has made a lasting impact on owner Nina Komaniak.
As Ms. Komaniak approached her Oakmont coffee shop Monday morning, she noticed a piece of paper taped to her storefront. It was an unsigned note that read: “Let go of anything that tells you to play small.”
The message was part of Ms. Bovard’s “Random Note Project,” an initiative that encourages people to spread positivity by leaving kind notes. Ms. Bovard has been posting inspirational quotes and phrases throughout Western Pennsylvania since the early 2000s.
“I want to make people realize that, on the whole, we care about each other more than we let on,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard for people to verbalize that, but I think the things I write are things that we all would say to somebody in trouble or that just needs to be lifted up.”
It certainly did that for Ms. Komaniak, who immediately took to Instagram to share the act of kindness and went to the project’s website to thank the sender.
“I feel like I’m surrounded by a lot of positive people, but lately with everything that’s going on in the world, it just doesn’t feel like a positive uplifting place at all,” she said. “It was really nice to see that somebody out there wants to bring a smile to your face and spread that positivity and that light.”
Ms. Komaniak opened Moonbeam Cafe in November and had to close in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. She is no stranger to random acts of kindness, she says. Ms. Komaniak writes inspirational quotes, song recommendations and other positive messages on the outside of her coffee sleeves.
While her shop was closed, Ms. Komaniak raised $1,400 and used it to donate coffee to hospitals around Pittsburgh. Since Moonbeam reopened, some of her new regulars are nurses from those hospitals who appreciated her generosity.
Ms. Bovard’s Random Note Project gained an online presence in 2011 after she joined forces with one of the recipients of her notes, Adam Conkey. The pair launched randomnoteproject.com, started a Facebook page and recently created an Instagram account, @randomnoteproject, to allow note recipients to describe its impact and encourage others to take up the practice.
During the pandemic, Ms. Bovard has turned temporarily to digital messages created with Photoshop. When Allegheny County moved to the “yellow” phase of COVID-19 restrictions in May, she returned to putting up notes.
A man from the South Side found an uplifting message at Rite Aid while waiting for his wife to purchase a pregnancy test. He said it helped to calm his nerves and provide her support. A woman came across a note while walking with her family in Boyce-Mayview Park. She said she was trying to clear her head as she struggled to process the news of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis; the note reminded her of the good in the world.
Ms. Bovard thinks she is making a difference.
“I feel like people have a tendency to focus a little bit on the things that hurt and the things that are hard,” she said. “It’s nice to know that not only are you not alone and other people are going through it, but there’s actually a bright side to it and there’s a lot of hope and a lot of healing and happiness to be found out there as well.”