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Community empowered

Day set aside to ‘spread the goodness’

The very first Spread Goodness Day will be celebrated on March 9, 2018. Anna Dravland, creator of Spread Goodness Day, aims to empower people to perform acts of kindness, big or small, March 9. Hundreds of individuals, organizations and businesses are slated to particiapte in the event locally, “making the future so bright, you’re going to need shades.” Through the event, Dravland hopes to help people recognize that any act of goodness can make a difference.

MARQUETTE — Can one person’s good deed, no matter how small, make a difference? Anna Dravland, creator of Spread Goodness Day, is confident that each person — regardless of age or ability — has the power to spread goodness and make a difference in the world, one act at a time.

Now, with the very first Spread Goodness Day taking place on March 9, participants are empowered to commit acts of goodness, large and small, as individuals or groups. It can be something as simple as opening a door or offering a hug, but many local organizations have been able to use their time and resources to plan events that will benefit many people and give many others a chance to spread goodness.

Dravland, community relations and event marketing coordinator for Travel Marquette, had long been considering a project that encouraged people to spread goodness and acknowledge that even one small good deed will always make a difference.

“It’s a project I’ve been brainstorming for seven years in different ways, it became an event early last year and I started really talking about it and creating it,” she said.

She realized that creating a Spread Goodness Day would empower people, organizations and business alike to spread goodness in their own unique ways. It would also help provide a tangible, quantifiable sense of how acts of goodness, large and small, can combine to create a major change at personal, local, national and global levels.

Dravland worked hard for many months to make her dream a reality — building a brand and a network, making the platform, creating a buzz, a full marketing plan, reaching out to potential participants and sponsors, and finally launching the campaign to promote the day on Oct. 26.

However, just over two weeks after the official launch of Spread Goodness Day, Dravland experienced a life-changing event on her daily walk to work on Nov. 16.

“I decided to walk to work… I didn’t walk my dog because I was too tired and I was sick and in pain, but it was a very busy day at work, so I decided to go and just do what I could do,” Dravland said. “I got a block away from my home and I collapsed.”

Dravland, at just 34 years old, had suffered a rare and serious stroke on her walk to work, suddenly losing all sensation in the right side of her body, suffering from vision loss and losing her ability to talk.

“I can’t explain the feeling … but it’s completely disorienting and confusing and overwhelming to look around, drop everything in your hands and realize that you don’t have control over anything anymore,” she said.

However, the vigilance and assistance of the person inside the single car that passed her that morning would make a big difference for Dravland.

“I was very lucky. The only car that went by me at 8:30 in the morning and stopped was a nurse,” she said.

Nancy Maas, a nursing instructor at Northern Michigan University, saw Dravland fall in her rear view mirror as she drove past. Maas realized something was seriously wrong, stopped her car and called for an ambulance as she ran towards Dravland.

“She laid on the ground with me in her arms and just laid there and held me until the ambulance came,” Dravland said. “I fully credit her with legitimately saving my life, because she stopped, she saw me collapse and she saw in her rear view mirror that it was not a normal collapse. She had the EMS with me in five minutes and I was in the hospital in 10 minutes.”

This is exactly the response that is needed when someone has a stroke, she said, as every moment between suffering a stroke and receiving treatment is precious and can impact a person’s outcome.

Time is of the essence, and receiving immediate treatment, like Dravland did, greatly improves a person’s chance of survival and recovery from a stroke.

“I don’t think I can ever thank her enough,” Dravland said, crediting Maas for her awareness and quick action.

Dravland’s recovery has been long and difficult. But over time, she has gradually regained her abilities to talk and walk.

“I literally had to relearn how to walk and talk and say words and learn numbers,” she said. “As you wiggle your toe, that feels like a big victory, (then) you walk wobbly with a walker … then you get to the point where you walk again.”

While she has regained these abilities, Dravland still experiences some unexplained complications and pain that can make day-to-day life difficult. She was referred to University of Michigan’s hospital for these complications — with her appointment recently moved up by several months, she will travel to Ann Arbor Tuesday in hopes of much-needed answers.

Throughout Dravland’s recovery process, Spread Goodness Day has offered welcome source of joy and inspiration for her.

“This is hard. Recovering from a stroke is hard, it’s very emotional and very difficult; then I’ll get a message from someone that I’ve never met in North Carolina saying they read about the event, they want to participate,” Dravland said, noting that Spread Goodness Day has been a positive force in her life throughout her recovery process.

She’s found solace and empowerment through continuing to work on her beloved project.

“In this moment, as I continue on this, I feel like I’ve been the one that’s been empowered to believe that anybody can make a difference as one person, no matter what,” Dravland said. ” I feel like I solidified that belief in myself. I know now that I can still make a difference no matter what happens and no matter what’s in the way.”

She is also thankful for family, friends, community members who have provided support for Dravland and Spread Goodness Day in many different ways.

“There’s been kind of an awesome amounting of support,” she said.

Commercials have been made, events have been planned and people from across the nation have reached out to Dravland about the event.

“I’ve realized, particularly over the past few weeks that there are organizations, schools, businesses and individuals planning events, activities and acts of goodness on that day that I had no idea about,” Dravland said.“That’s what I wanted, to create a platform that is very easy for people to participate in, no matter what or who they are, whether they’re a social media monster or just a family that wants to get together and go pick up garbage or open doors for people. It’s definitely becoming something much bigger, people are definitely planning a lot of more large initiatives and really cool, amazing events that will make definite and quantifiable differences in the community and well beyond.”

With one hundred-plus participants and events already listed on the website of Spread Goodness Day, it’s clear that Dravland’s inspiring message has already helped to make the future brighter.

For more information on how to spread goodness, visit alexpalzewicz.wixsite.com/spreadgoodnessday/events.

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