May 15, 2009 Web site sparks random acts of kindness in NH Play video

(NECN: Lauren Collins, Hampstead, NH) - Josee Archer greets visitors to Bean Towne Coffee House with a huge smile, "We just said that the next person that walks in is going to get a good deed. And that's you! "

Smiles these days are just as strong as the brew at Bean Towne Coffee House in Hampstead, New Hampshire. It's where you'll frequently find Archer and her challenge to the community. As she says, "we're doing a thousand good deeds in thirty days."

The Sandown mother of two launched the website UmadeMyDay.com last October as a way to encourage others to commit random acts of kindness. Now's she's teamed up with coffee house owner Ed Goyette for Good Deed Friday - everyone who takes part gets a free cup of coffee.

Goyette says the partnership makes sense because "it was so in line with what we do here at Bean Towne every day, trying to make people's day a little bit better."

The concept is pretty simple, and all starts with this card, which you can pick up at Bean Towne Coffee. Archer explains, "when you have a card, you put your initials on the card, do a random act of kindness and leave the card behind."

Every good deed comes with it's own code, which you can then enter on the "you made my day" website, and thank the person who made your day.

When you benefit from a good deed, you're encouraged to pay it forward. The coffee house is an ideal venue

for surprised customers to give it a try, as Kate Brick found out when went to pay for a few muffins Friday morning and, "was told it had already been paid for."

She now she looks forward to her chance to make someone else's day, and since, "I work in Cambridge, I thought 'well, let's try this out on the somewhat cynical Boston community and see what happens.'"

Kids, too, are excited by the way one small act can improve a person's attitude. Noel Goyette sees herself and her dad as undercover good deed super heros when they rent a movie or buy flowers for the next person in line.

When asked "how does it make you feel to do a good deed," she replies, "Good. Why? Because I make other people happy."

And as Lilly Hawkins knows, a good deed can be free. On Friday, "I saved a turtle."