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A young woman on a cross-country journey to collect stories of good deeds will be visiting the Tri-Valley this week. Mary Latham is traveling state to state, staying with strangers, to compile inspiring tales and photos to weave into a book to donate to hospital waiting rooms.
After the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings in December 2012, Latham sat stunned at her computer in her office in New York City, struck with the enormity of grief in the world. Then she began to notice that the horror was juxtaposed with simple acts of kindness taking place all around her.
A few months later, after her mother died of cancer, Latham decided to launch a life-affirming project to look for good in the world and share it with others. She set out on the road Oct. 29, 2016, to personally hear people’s stories of kindness and good deeds.
“In a world overrun with negative news, I wanted to create one more outlet to remind us that there is, in fact, more good,” she explains on her website, www.moregood.today.
Kristin Werder of Pleasanton and her family will host Latham while she is in town.
“I originally contacted her because my son is one of the 10 Mr. Amador contestants, and I thought she might want to see what the boys are doing to raise money for the George Mark House,” Werder said. “She will also meet with a family in my neighborhood whose daughter made a Little Lending Library for the front of our swim club and whose father was recently diagnosed with a rare liver cancer. We’ll be highlighting his search for a living donor, to help save his life.”
“Mary tells me that she meets people in all kinds of ways,” Werder said, “in homes, at coffee houses, in classrooms. She’s open to any activity, and I can run ideas by her.”
Latham has traveled 19,000 miles and stayed in 83 homes on her quest, with 25 states to go. Stories may be submitted on her website, where she also links to her TedxOrientHarbor talk detailing the inspiration for her mission.
“There is a lot of hope in America,” she reported. “There is an unfathomable amount of kindness that I have seen. And when we put our fears aside, when we connect with strangers, when we smile at the people next to us or put away our judgments, it opens up a door into an entirely different way of life.”
She shared some of the stories she has heard, from large acts of kindness such as providing a home and education for someone in need, to small acts such as a smile that proved to be just what one person needed at a certain moment in time.
“Small acts are doable. We are all capable of them,” Latham said. “And some of the smallest acts can have the largest impact on someone else’s life.”
Latham is scheduled to be at Inklings at 530 Main St. in downtown Pleasanton on Thursday (March 29) from 10-11:30 a.m. to meet with local residents and hear their stories.
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