SOUTH DEERFIELD — When an elementary school teacher in Wisconsin created a Facebook page for an activity meant to spread love and kindness during an otherwise uncertain time, she never expected it to reach as far as her hometown in Western Mass.
But it did — and it didn’t stop there.
Within a month, the Happy Heart Hunt Facebook page, created by South Deerfield native Leslie Brissette, grew to include more than 258,000 Facebook users from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway and elsewhere around the world.
The idea behind Happy Heart Hunt, which Brissette credited to KidsForPeaceGlobal.org, is simple: participants hang a heart in their window for others to seek out.
“It’s like a scavenger hunt,” she said.
Brissette explained that around the time schools began closing to limit the spread of COVID-19, she and a few teacher friends were discussing activities they could coordinate or get their students involved in.
She’d seen similar ideas circulating on social media, she said, but a friend pointed her in the direction of the Happy Heart Hunt project on Kids For Peace, a nonprofit that serves to empower youth through hands-on service and acts of kindness.
The nonprofit breaks it down into four easy steps: first, cut out hearts of any size; second, decorate the hearts with positive messages or leave them blank; and third, attach the hearts to a street-facing window. Finally, as word of the project spreads, participants can go on a walk or drive to find hearts in their neighborhoods.
“Even though we’re apart and have to social distance, we’re all in this together,” she said. “(The Happy Heart Hunt) sends that message of hope.”
Brissette created a private page for the group on March 18 as a way of bringing people together where she lives in Milton, Wis. Soon, she noticed it wasn’t just homes in her neighborhood attaching hearts to their windows; local businesses were beginning to do so as well.
Eventually, Brissette was getting requests to join the private group from people outside her city, outside her state and even outside the country. She said as many as 99 countries are represented now.
Brissette noted some people have taken the basic concept to extremes, creating murals out of hearts and hanging them out for display.
“People are very creative,” she said.
The page has also been used as a place to thank first responders, nurses and other essential workers. One woman in Los Angeles posted an image of a heart made up of smaller hearts with the message, “Thank you first responders.” Several families posted images of windows and doors covered in hearts, with messages thanking the nurse who lives there.
“I just hope that it brings happiness to people and helps them feel better,” Brissette said. “I have heard people say that our news is filled with negative stuff and that going to the page is a way for them to feel better each day.”
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.