Group doing random acts of kindness to honor lives lost in 9/11 attacks

By Peyton Headlee

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    KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — For the first eleven days of September, people in Kansas City and across the nation are doing random acts of kindness.

It’s on behalf of a movement from a group called Pay It Forward 9/11.

It all started nearly 21 years ago when Kevin Tuerff was flying back to the U.S. from Europe, but his flight was rerouted to Canada after the September 11th attacks.

For five days, Tuerff and nearly 7,000 others stayed in the small town of Gander while the U.S. airspace was closed. During his stay, he was amazed by the generosity of people there.

So, Tuerff founded Pay It Forward 9/11 as a way to continue that kindness — and honor the lives lost in the 9/11 attacks.

Ben Walker lives in Kansas City and is a board member for the organization. Walker spent his Saturday doing random acts of kindness across the metro with four friends.

“We are trying to do acts of kindness honoring the horrible events that happened on Sept. 11, but also remembering how united we were as a country at that time,” Walker said. “We are doing one act of kindness at a time and what we are trying to do is unite America, and make us remember what a great country we live in.”

Walker and the group bought 40 tacos at Miranda’s Mexican Food truck off Southwest Boulevard for the next 40 customers to visit the food truck.

“We think if everyone will just do three acts of kindness, then the ripple effect of that is just kind of powerful and astonishing,” Walker said.

The food truck was not their first or their last stop of the day. They also brought pastries to a local fire station.

It’s part of the “11 Days of Kindness and Unity” campaign.

“People are just genuinely excited almost without exception,” Walker said. “I think people are inspired to do their own acts of kindness and it just makes the world a better place.”

Last year, their goal was 20 thousand acts of kindness. They exceeded that and believe they will do even more this year.

They have a map on their website showing people across the world who have participated in the 11 Days of Kindness. To register, visit: payitforward911.org/test-form

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