The Kindness Sun Project-EveryAct of Kindness Adds a Ray of Sunshine Campaign

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      The Kindness Sun Project – Every Act of Kindness Adds a Ray of Sunshine
I've always believed that the smallest acts of kindness can have the biggest impact. A stranger holding a door, a compliment when someone needs it most, or an unexpected smile can completely change the course of a person's day. The problem is that those moments are often fleeting. I wanted to create something that would keep kindness moving long after the first person experienced it.

That's how The Kindness Sun Project was born.
Instead of creating something that would sit on a shelf or hang on a wall, I wanted to build something that could travel. Each laser-cut wooden sun is engraved with the message, "Every act of kindness adds a ray of sunshine." Attached to every sun is a QR code that connects to a shared Padlet page where people can record where they found it before placing it somewhere new for someone else to discover.
The idea is simple.

Imagine finding one hanging from a tree at a baseball field, tucked into a bush near a walking trail, wrapped around a fence overlooking a lake, resting on a shelf at the Library, or waiting on a park bench. You scan the QR code, add a photo and the location where you found it, then move it somewhere new. A few days later someone else discovers it, and the journey continues.

But what excites me even more is that the project doesn't stop with one traveling ornament.
The Padlet page also invites people to become creators themselves. Visitors can download the QR code from the project page, or from my Bergen Community College post—and make their own Kindness Suns. Each new sun joins the same growing network, allowing kindness to spread far beyond what one person could accomplish alone.

What begins as a single ornament can become hundreds.
Instead of following one sun across a map, we begin watching an entire community of suns travel from neighborhood to neighborhood, from parks to schools, from hiking trails to libraries, crossing town lines, state borders, and hopefully one day even countries. Every person who finds one has the opportunity to leave their own mark, not only by moving the sun but by creating new ones for others to discover.

Digital fabrication makes this possible. Using a laser cutter, or paper each sun can be produced quickly, consistently, and affordably, making it easy for anyone with access to to participate. A simple engraved QR code transforms each wooden ornament into part of a much larger story, connecting people through technology while encouraging them to step away from their screens and make a real-world impact.

For me, this project isn't really about making wooden ornaments. It's about creating unexpected moments of joy and showing how one small act can inspire another. Every scan tells a story. Every new location represents another person who chose kindness. Every additional sun someone creates becomes another opportunity to brighten a stranger's day.

My hope is that years from now, someone will scan a Kindness Sun hanging in a place I've never been and realize they're part of something that started with one simple idea: kindness grows when we choose to pass it on.

As creators and makers participating in the 1% Maker Challenge, we all have the ability to create something that reaches far beyond our workshops. I'm inviting you to spend just 15 minutes making these four simple Kindness Suns. Download the QR code from my Atomm project, engrave your own set, and place them somewhere in your hometown. Imagine if every maker in this challenge added just four suns to their community. Together, we could create thousands of unexpected moments of kindness, connected through one shared map and one simple idea. Let's watch these little rays of sunshine travel across neighborhoods, states, and maybe even around the world. After all, every act of kindness adds a ray of sunshine—and together, we can brighten the world one sun at a time.

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