Found outside of Scribbles Coffee Company, the Little Box of Kindness is filled with donated objects like acorns made from felt, miniature plants and jewelry. 

The box reads, “Take something, leave something, make someone’s day! Spread a little kindness in Kent.”

Gerri Bowen, a member of the Kent Community TimeBank, a nonprofit crowdsourcing organization, said opening the Little Box of Kindness is always a surprise.

“It’s like you never know what you’re going to get, like Beanie Babies are a big thing,” she said. “Those are fun to find, for kids especially.”

Heather Malarcik, executive director of Main Street Kent, had the idea to create the Little Box of Kindness in 2021 to spread kindness after the pandemic, Bowen said.

“I think [the box was created] to bring unity to the community and lighten the mood, because that was such a hard time,” she said, referring to the pandemic.

Malarcik and Main Street Kent approached the TimeBank with an opportunity to collaborate on the box, Bowen said.

The collaboration consisted of TimeBank members creating the box and Main Street Kent members finding a location and installing the box in October 2021, she said.

“It was a nice collaboration and it didn’t really cost anything, except for we did have to get the plexiglass, the door and the wording put on the door,” Bowen said. 

The box is similar to free libraries but instead of accepting books, the box accepts little tokens to brighten people’s days, she said. 

When people want to take something out of the box, they are not required to place another object in it, Bowen said.

“You don’t ever have to leave something, it’s just to make your day,” she said. “I think the same thing for the little free libraries, it’s not like an exchange, it’s like, ‘Here, just enjoy this.’”

Since the box is located near bars, strange objects have been placed inside it, but for the most part people have reacted positively to the box, she said.

“People seem to love [the box]. When I see people go to it, you can see they smile and they’re like, ‘Oh, this is neat,’ or [we] get a lot of good compliments about it,” Bowen said.

Over the years, the TimeBank has made efforts to create trinkets to be placed in the TimeBank, like miniature canvases to help brighten people’s days, she said.

“That was one of the best things [the TimeBank did] just for people to get a tiny work of art, and some of them were things that you would probably want to put up in your house,” Bowen said.

Bowen said the box and its purpose to spread kindness is still as relevant as it was in 2021.

“I think if we could have more Little Boxes of Kindness that would be great,” she said. “With all of the world’s troubles and the troubles with the election, I think it’s just something we should always have.” 

Adriana Gasiewski is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].