The concept of "paying it forward" is one of the best aspects of a random act of kindness -- all it takes is one person and one good deed to start a chain of charitable events. That said, it's almost impossible to gauge just how far those chains reach. Until now.
According to Dan Rascon of the KUTV Utah News, one man has decided to change that, by introducing a little modern technology into an age old way of giving.
Jeff Smith from Alpine, Utah, has devised a system of key chain tags to track random acts of kindness. Here's how it works:
Once you receive the tags you register the sheet of 10 on the website and then each time you do a good deed you tag the person.
Those tagged then type in their tag number which is located on the back of the card and then pass it on when they do a good deed for someone else.
The tags are available in sheets of 10 for $14.95 at Smith's website. Smith hopes his tags will encourage more random acts of kindness.
"You left behind a mark and that mark which is traceable makes you feel good," says Smith. "You don't have to go out and plan your day to try and find an act to do because you would probably over plan, because they (kind deeds) are all over."
Since the company began seven months ago, 11,773 people have come into contact with Smith's tags.
Read the whole story here.
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Difficult times have been known to bring communities together as people lean on one another for support. In this recession, there's no shortage of communities around the country that have rallied around a struggling neighbor, reached out a helping hand to those around them, or donated free dry cleaning to the job-seeking and unemployed. We know there are more stories like these and HuffPost wants to highlight them. If you read or hear about an act of kindness in your community, email us the story at goodnews@huffingtonpost.com.
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