On May 1, 2017, Roxane Cann and her family’s lives changed forever. Their son and brother, Vincent took his own life. He had been bullied by his peers.

This kind of news is life-altering and has the power to change one’s world in an instance. Roxane made the conscious choice to take her sadness and turn this tragedy into an opportunity to not only change her own life but impact others in a positive way.

Starting a non-profit, Vincent Puckett’s Kindness Legacy is bringing light to others and uplifting both Roxane’s and the community’s spirits. Members and volunteers paint kindness rocks with love and encouraging words, leaving them in the community for people to hide and then re-hide. Roxane’s hope is to spread love around the world and to have a Vincent rock placed in every town, city, state, and country. Please read on to learn more about Vincent and the impact he continues to have on Roxane and their community. As Roxane says, “kindness is the KEY!”

Roxane, what does Kindness mean to you?
The definition of kindness as known by our organization is “a simple act of kindness creates an endless ripple.” The most minuscule and minute task or action done can affect many or just one –  but that one may continue spreading kindness, creating the endless ripple. Kindness to me comes easy, like breathing. You can’t inhale without exhaling gratitude. It’s a part of me that I’ve always known, some people have called me naive or gullible because I always see the good in everything and everyone. And, sometimes it’s not always easy but it’s always the right thing to do.

Describe how Kindness has made an impact on you?
This question is a difficult one to answer because of what I lost in return. Monday, May 1st 2017 my beloved Vincent took his life because of 12 unkind peers. And I as a mother I had a decision to make when I awoke on Tuesday May 2nd. Was I going to allow the sadness to take over my life and succumb to an unkind world? No. Our community is small and Vincent’s death has caused an awakening within itself. I see these children and their families and could be filled with hate and anger, but I chose kindness. It is not easy! But I find myself saying, ‘Roxane, you raised Vincent to be a kind person, a free thinker, a strong individual with his own thoughts and opinions.’ So how can I chose anything other than kindness?

What inspired you to start your non-profit?
I formed a non-profit called Vincent’s Legacy, Kindness ROCKS. It is partnered with our local city school system to spread kindness, along with suicide and bullying awareness. We have placed four Kindness ROCKS Gardens at four local schools and plans to place more this year outside of our school system. We also host a yearly Kindness day each summer as a free community event where we paint kindness rocks and promote kindness within our community.

What is your wish for the world?
Society as a whole doesn’t have see eye-to-eye on things but we do have to make a conscious decision to be kind to one another. It is not hard – just a simple smile or hello can make all the difference in someone’s day. My wish is that human beings see that Charles Darwin was right when he said, “we are more alike than we are different.” This is also Vincent’s favorite quote.

Thank you, Roxane for sharing your story and for creating this opportunity to spread love and kindness. To learn more about Vincent’s Legacy, please visit their website and Facebook page

And, to continue the kindness, please join The Great Kindness Challenge – Family Edition and paint your own kindness rock to spread the message that we are all love.