CARDS TRANSFORM KIND ACTS INTO TOUCHING MEMORIALS
Published on Wednesday, October 7, 1998
Section: Northwest Valley Community Page: 1
© 1998 The Arizona Republic

By Michelle Craig, The Arizona Republic
While driving from a bereavement workshop last October, Joanne Cacciatore noticed a bumper sticker that read ''Practice random acts of kindness and senseless beauty.''

Cacciatore had been practicing random acts of kindness since the death of her daughter Cheyenne. She had made donations to children's centers, left tips larger than expected at restaurants and has anonymously bought shoes for some children whose families could not afford to do so.

''I do it all the time,'' she said. ''But I thought, wouldn't it be nice to attach Cheyenne's name to it.''

The idea evolved into the Kindness Project. Started in November, the project encourages parents who have lost children to work out their bereavement in a positive way.

Cacciatore suggests that parents make donations, help out strangers or give of their time to a worthwhile project. She also thought it would be nice to let others know why the act was done.

''There's that level of almost obligatory gratefulness that people feel like they have to bestow upon you when you do something nice,'' Cacciatore said. ''I didn't want them to know me . . . I just wanted to let them know why I was doing it.''

With this in mind, Cacciatore created Random Acts of Kindness cards. The business-size card is given to the recipients of a kind deed. The cards read: ''This Random Act of Kindness Done in Loving Memory of Our Beautiful Child.''

The parents are then asked to fill in their child's name on the card. The cards have become so popular that Cacciatore has designed a second memory card for those other than children.

Since its inception, more than 35,000 Kindness cards have been ordered. Cacciatore receives 20 to 40 e-mails per day regarding the project and her other work. People as far away as New Zealand have ordered cards, which range from $1 for 10 cards to $11 for 250 cards.

Heather Farrier, a West Valley resident, is a big supporter of Cacciatore and the Kindness Project. She attaches Kindness cards to donations she and her husband make to a children's center. The acts have helped her through the grieving process since she lost her son a year ago at the age of 4 months.

''You struggle to do something to release it (the grief),'' Farrier said. ''You'd rather do for your child; it's better than doing nothing.''