Two Local Businesses Come Together To Help Brighten People's Day

Two local businesses, based in Cambridge, MA, are joining forces to encourage random acts of kindness in their community.

Umademyday.com is a website created to motivate random acts of kindness by providing a platform for people to participate as well as allowing recipients to leave thank you notes for those acts. BeanTowne Coffee House, in Cambridge, MA, and Hampstead, NH, is a coffee shop that has always put their costumers first. Not only do they offer a welcoming environment with top of the line customer service, they donate 97 percent of their marketing budget to local charities.

These two socially conscious companies have come together, sharing a similar vision that a small kind act can set of a chain reactions of good deeds and raise the moral of citizens who might have fallen on hard times. They hope to create a climate of goodwill.

Josee Archer, founder of Umademyday.com reports in the American Chronicle:

...the two companies will combine efforts to educate, inspire and motivate others to make small but meaningful differences in people´s lives. The long-term goal of the partnership is initiating a cultural shift through a "Random Acts of Kindness Day" both locally and beyond.

As for testimonials, check out this note left on Umademyday.com about a woman's experience at BeanTowne:

A recent thank you message posted to the site shows how a small gesture can make a great impact, "...This past year has been SOOOO stressful that I guess without even realizing it, I had let it get to me. I just want to say thank you to the women who not only gave my daughter and I a much needed treat, we got dessert, YUM, but more importantly a huge wake up call to take time to smell the roses, appreciate what we have and do a good deed..."

Read the entire 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 [e-mail].

These vignettes are a much needed counterpoint to the doom and gloom surrounding the economy; let's help change the conversation -- we can't do it without you.

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