One small act of goodness can make a world of difference. When we share a smile, offer a kind word or help someone in need, those actions can be magnified and ripple outward, as they might inspire the recipient of an act of goodness to pass it on to another person. This simple yet beautiful idea inspired Anna Dravland of Marquette to found the annual Spread Goodness Day celebration several years ago.

With today marking the fourth annual Spread Goodness Day — which has been celebrated on a Friday in March each year since 2018 — we hope to see many participants engage in the celebration.

The aim of the event, as described by organizers, is to “inspire a global day of explosive goodness by encouraging individuals, schools and organizations to spread goodness to show the epic power that one act of goodness multiplied by hundreds, thousands, and maybe millions has to change the world every single day.”

Although this year’s celebration is certain to be a little different than previous Spread Goodness Days, it’s safe to say that people need some goodness more than ever after the challenging year we’ve faced.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s specific mission is to overwhelm the social and news media with goodness, Dravland said. People around the world are invited to share ‘#spreadgoodnessday’ or ‘#brightfuture’ in their Spread Goodness Day social media post during the socially distant event. And there’s one specific group that Dravland feels is especially in need of goodness this year.

“I would love to see people spreading goodness to children and teenagers this year,” Dravland told the Journal in an email. “We see a lot of thank you’s going out for frontline workers and teachers, but I think it’s time to spread some of this thank you energy to the kids who are the victims of so much they can’t control.”

We agree that kids and teens deserve a great deal of goodness this year — whether that’s through a kind message, a fun surprise, an uplifting gift or anything you can dream up — as they’ve faced unprecedented challenges while missing out on long-awaited milestones due to the pandemic.

Every person needs patience, kindness, empathy or even just a sympathetic ear after the events of the past 12 months. We encourage our readers to take inspiration from Dravland and spread goodness today and every day, as all these acts of goodness can add up to something beautiful and transformational, especially when so many need kindness and connection after a challenging year.