One of the partners of ConnectWithKindess.com, Jason, is the originator of the idea that is the basis for our website.  Jason came up with the idea of a “Karma Stick” over ten years ago.  The “Karma Stick” was the idea that an object (the “stick”) would be passed on to someone – generally a stranger – when doing something nice for him or her.  This “stick” would have a unique number and a note printed on it with the website address to go “track” the stick.  By passing on the “Karma Stick,” we thought people would be encouraged to perform random acts of kindness and in return receive “good karma.”

At the time we originally discussed the “Karma Stick” idea, though (again, this was over ten years ago), the Internet wasn’t quite what it is today.  Websites like Google Maps and Yahoo! Maps didn’t exist and most mapping programs at the time were quite primitive compared to what they are today.  Plus, Internet usage was only just starting to explode, so the idea never really went beyond just discussing it.

In the Summer of 2007, brothers Jason, Douglas, and Kevin began talking again about the idea of the “Karma Stick.”  A friend and co-worker, Mark, was part of a few of the discussions about the “Karma Stick,” and became excited enough about the idea to invest in our little venture and become a partner.  The idea to use a coin instead of a stick came about from these discussions, as well as many different names for the website itself…

We finally settled on ConnectWithKindness.com and the motto, “Connecting the World Through Acts of Kindness,” because that is truly what we are hoping to do.  We hope people will be encouraged to do nice things for others because they will be able to track what happens to a particular coin once they’ve passed it on. We also hope to build a community on our site where people can talk about the nice things they’ve done for others and nice things that have been done for them.

We hope the coins circulate around the world and with them kindness and a sense of connection with those who touch the coins. We don’t think the world is a bad place, we just hope to make it a little better with our coins and website!