#TheMollieMovement honors Mollie Tibbetts through random acts of kindness
VACAVILLE, Calif. (KGO) -- People in the Bay Area are not only following the tragic killing of Mollie Tibbetts, they're using it to spread something friends of the young victim say she was all about -- kindness.
RELATED: Timeline of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts' death; Cristhian Bahena Rivera updates
It's called the Mollie Movement and a Vacaville woman named Mary Spinnetti is taking part.
Mary is a runner. It's something she has in common with Mollie Tibbetts. It has also drawn her closer to the young college student.
"Mollie could have been me, it could have been anybody so I just felt a connection with Mollie," she says.
Print out a kindness card to share
She started following the case when Mollie was missing.
She told ABC7 News, "Every day, that would be the first thing...I would wake up and see if Mollie was found. And the day that Tuesday when her body was found, I woke up that morning and just cried."
But instead of letting her grief turn to paralysis, Mary joined an online group, started by two of Tibbett's friends back in Iowa. They call it the Mollie Movement.
Members print out little strips of paper with information about the movement and use them to spread random acts of kindness. For Mary, that meant leaving treats like candy and Baskin Robbins gift cards on windshields in Vacaville parking lots. "I went all over town and the gym and a few people even reached out to me, 'Hey, I got this and it made my day. Thank you for being so kind.'"
Eric Silva found one on his car at the gym.
"I think it's awesome, especially in her name. It's a sad story but turning into something where everyone helps each other out," he says.
Mary's husband, William, says he didn't quite understand Mary's interest at first, but now he couldn't be more proud.
"She went out and bought all this stuff and this is something she wanted to do and she was passionate about and I supported it," he says.
The Mollie Movement's ultimate goal is to get people to pay it forward. Eric Silva says he did that today when he was in line at Starbucks and bought coffee for the total stranger behind him in line.
If you'd like to join #TheMollieMovement, here's where you can print out a kindness card to share.
Get the latest updates on the Mollie Tibbetts case here.
