MARLBOROUGH — Years after Cape Cod resident Megan Murphy’s parents passed away, she’d walk the beach looking for signs of them through heart shaped rocks or pieces of sea glass.

“I started having conversations with my mom and dad, who I had lost in my early 20s,” Murphy said during a Today Show interview in 2018. “And I would ask for signs and messages such as heart shaped rock and pieces of sea glass.”

She then started painting the rocks she collected with inspirational messages such as “you got this” and “today is looking up” and  leaving them on the beach for others to find. After her daughter encouraged her to put a hashtag on the back of the rocks and add them to social media, the post went viral, sparking a movement which has resulted in those little painted rocks popping up in nearly every city and town throughout the world. This also inspired Murphy to found an organization around these rocks called The Kindness Rocks Project™ back in 2015. 

“Simple acts of kindness connect us all to one another and that is the goal of my project because one message at just the right moment can change someone’s entire day, outlook or life,” said Murphy. 

The Digital Federal Credit Union has partnered with the The Kindness Rocks Project™, hosting rock painting workshops throughout the fall at organizations that include the Boys & Girls Clubs of MetroWest and the Wily Network, a nonprofit that assists Boston-area college students who are attempting to navigate college with little to no financial support. 

“The decision for DCU to partner with the Kindness Rocks Project™ was an easy one to make,” said Jane Fontaine, the senior vice president of human resources and training at DCU. “As an organization, we pride ourselves on living out our guiding principles of the DCU Way – People Come First, Do the Right Thing and Make a Difference.  This activity has been a great way to work with local community organizations and connect our employees in our current hybrid work environment, all while spreading positive messages of caring and hope.”

In addition to hosting the rock painting workshops, the DCU donated 1,800 rock kits to community organizations, one for each that was purchased for a DCU team member, a release from the DCU said. 

To learn more about the DCU’s collaboration with the Kindness Rocks Project™ please go to their website: www.dcu.org/kindness.