The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Local woman’s’ group helps ‘ spark’ kindness
Online community makes small gestures big, heartfelt rewards.
Debbie Mcfarland founded Sparks of Kindness, an online community doing small good deeds to put smiles on faces.
A tin of cookies is left on the running board of an ambulance outside a nursing home with a note for the emergency workers who operate it: “You’re AMAZING! Yes, you!”
A baggie sits on the edge of a fountain with dozens of copper coins and another message, for anyone who passes by and fancies tossing one in: “Take a penny. Make a wish! Hope your dreams come true.”
This is the world of Sparks of Kindness, an online community of people going out of their way to put a smile on the faces of others through small good deeds.
“There’s so much bad in the world, and that’s kind of what we hear about,” said Debbie Mcfarland, a 53- year- old photographer from Peachtree City who founded the group on Facebook. “But I found that there’s so many people that want to do good — they just don’t really know how to start.”
That’s where Sparks of Kindness comes in. It has lists of ideas for “sparks,” or small kindnesses, such as thanking a teacher with candy or leaving coloring books in a hospital waiting room.
Users share their ideas and stories in the forum. Among them:
■ “Took flowers to the neighbor, she had been caring for a sick friend and thought she could use a little cheer.”
■ “I gave the guy in front of me $ 20 since his debit didn’t go through. My emergency $ 20 came in handy ... he hugged me, so I may get Covid, but he was very appreciative!”
■ “Took hot soup and biscuits to a sick mama next door.”
Mcfarland said she encourages people to do “sparks” when they’re struggling in their own lives, to help them cope with their own traumas.
She enjoys leaving notes in stores for others to find — say, “You’re beautiful just the way you are” in the cosmetics aisle, or “This too shall pass. Hang in there” amid the cold and flu remedies.
Mcfarland encourages people to keep their eyes open for random acts of kindness, like helping an older adult struggling to load groceries into the trunk. But she also wants them to do good with planning and intent — “deliberate acts of kindness.”