By Craig Anderson

SMYRNA — Certainly, the world needs a little more kindness every now and then.

And, earlier this month, there was plenty of it being shared in the Spring Meadow 55-plus community.

That’s thanks to Francesca Corea’s creation of a program in which neighbors were encouraged to dole out random acts of kindness for each other.

Through the Spring Meadow Acts of Kindness — aka “SMAK” — initiative residents anonymously did nice things for their friends the week of June 2.

They left flowers and cookies at homes of unsuspecting neighbors, took trash cans in, dropped off roasted chickens and more, according to organizers.

The result, participant Anna Skinner said, was that “kindness was shared, (and) somebody had given something to someone else, and they would think, ‘Oh, that made my day.’”

She added, “It made me smile when I received a gift, and then, I went next door and did something that made that person smile, so it was contagious.”

The strategy often involved folks dropping off goodies, then ringing doorbells and running, Ms. Corea said. Notes reading “You’ve been ‘SMAK’d’” were also left behind.

All told, she said, roughly 50 residents received acts of kindness, and 50 or so provided them. Many participated in multiple instances.

“This was just a case of us doing something nice for our neighbors, including some who are homebound and don’t get out much,” said Rich Wieland of Spring Meadow’s Social Committee, which coordinated SMAK.

“We’re also an active community, with lots of social and recreational events,” he said, “so we gave tokens of appreciation to volunteers who plan and run activities that make Spring Meadow a wonderful place to live.”