What do you get when you combine rocks, paint and spare time? No, these are not the ingredients of a bad joke, they are actually the missing pieces for an encouragement project called the Kindness Rocks Project. The Kindness Rocks Project was started in Cape Cod by Megan Murphy in 2015. Murphy kickstarted the movement by painting a few rocks, writing inspirational messages on them, and leaving them along the shore of the beach. The Kindness Rocks Project was created to spread inspiration and a moment of kindness for unsuspecting recipients through inspirational rocks dropped in random spots. Her intention was to brighten a few people’s day. Now, almost three years later, these rocks can be found all over the U.S. and in several different countries. These rocks have encouraged people to start their own painting groups in their local communities.
Nicole, Ashlynn, Lucy, Cassidy, Jessica Cramer and Marty Montes painting kindness rocks.
Recently, this project has made its way to East Cobb thanks to the efforts of Kristi Siegel. Siegel started the movement after finding an encouraging note in Starbucks that read “you are important.” Kristi shares, “It changed my whole day and outlook on what I was going through. One simple gesture from a complete stranger (who knew nothing about me) changed my thinking. Fast forward a few weeks later as I stumbled upon one of the coolest ways to show acts of kindness in such a simple way!” Shortly after she learned about the Kindness Rocks Project and decided to start her own Kindness Rocks painting group in her Northhampton subdivision. She started with a just a few rocks in her neighborhood and gradually increased her efforts. Siegel has taken the project to local schools to teach kids about simple acts of kindness and brighten someone’s day with simple encouragement. Siegel stated that she sometimes gets stopped by neighborhood kids wanting to know exactly where they could find a rock. Although she works on making more rocks while her children are at school, her little project has definitely grown to become a large part of the family. To keep track of the rocks created and found she created a Facebook page and logo to paint on the back of each rock so finders and hiders could connect. So the movement was given the name “770Rocks,” based off the East Cobb/Marietta area code. Siegel describes the purpose of the Facebook page as “bringing connection between two people that will never meet.”
As Kristi shares, “770Rocks members have gone into schools to teach children how little, simple painted rocks can bring joy to someone’s day and how kindness spreads! We’ve also come together as a community to paint rocks to send in a big box to Charlottsville, VA for a local school there to hide amongst their community to spread hope and love from Marietta, Georgia.”
Kristi Siegel, founder of 770Rocks, with her husband, Brandon, and children Lucy, Jack and Annie.
Kristi invites fellow East Cobbers to take part in Kindness Rocks and spread some encouragement. All you need to start this project is a bag of smooth rocks, some acrylic paints, and paint markers. Paint a rock and include inspirational words on it such as “hope,” “be happy,” etc. To keep track of your rocks just paint “770 Rocks” on the back before hiding them. Hide the rock around the community for someone to find and be motivated, the finder either keeps or re-hides the rock and many go on to paint rocks to hide on their own. The kindness continues to spread! “770Rocks Facebook” is written on back of the rock for tracking where the rock travels and who finds it. Finders are encouraged to take a pic of their kindness rock and share the photo on the 770Rocks Facebook page. To find out more about the Kindness Rocks Project visit thekindnessrocksproject.com. Kristi invites you to join her Facebook group, 770Rocks.
This article originally appeared in the January issue of the EAST COBBER magazine on page 10. Click HERE to access the digital edition.
