Redondo Rocks: Serendipitous Acts Of Kindness

REDONDO BEACH, CA – Redondo Rocks, a group of people spreading positivity through "kindness rocks," take plain garden stones and turn them into uplifting messages to hide throughout Redondo Beach for people to find. The group is influenced by The Kindness Rocks Project, a nationwide effort to spread random acts of kindness through the same method: by painting rocks with positive messages and images, and then giving them away or hiding them for strangers to stumble upon.

Two Redondo Beach residents, Sarah Harris and Bea Stone, started the Redondo Rocks group after they simultaneously discovered the project in two completely different settings. Stone found a kindness rock in Topock, Arizona and loved the idea. Harris, on the other hand, went on a cruise for Oprah's O Magazine Insiders and roomed with the founder of The Kindness Rocks Project. She mentioned the idea of starting a Redondo Beach group to Stone, who had coincidentally already been thinking about it, "and poof! We started it," Harris said.

"The Kindness Rocks Project immediately caught my attention because of its sentiment and simplicity," Harris said in a blog post. "Not only does this offer all the excitement of a city-wide treasure hunt, but it brightens up the scenery with little bursts of joy!"

The Redondo Rocks Facebook group now has over 100 members, and the group has started hosting rock painting parties at The Great Room Cafe. The owners of the cafe donate the party space to the group and reduce the game room fee on painting nights, and love that the idea is growing in their neighborhood, according to Harris.

There will be an upcoming painting party at The Great Room Cafe on September 21 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Only Facebook group members can view the event, so check out Redondo Rocks if you would like to join in on the fun. The cafe is located at 2810 Artesia Blvd., Redondo Beach. If you would like to read more about Redondo Rocks and The Kindness Rocks Project, visit Harris' blog Makes Me Wander.

Main photo courtesy of Sarah Harris, secondary photo courtesy of Bea Stone