Dedicating one day, for goodness’ sake

By Kathy Ihde

Spread Goodness Day is returning March 10, for another day of kindness, good deeds and cool shades.

Though its founder, Anna Dravland, will not be out in the community due to continuing health issues, she’s still very much connected to the annual day of goodness.

“Spread Goodness Day is still happening,” said Dravland. “But I can’t physically participate.”

Disabled by a rare stroke on November 16, 2017, just weeks after launching Spread Goodness Day, the then 34-year-old collapsed on an empty Marquette street while walking to work at Travel Marquette.

Nancy Maas — an NMU nursing instructor — drove past her. Realizing that something was wrong, Maas leapt out of her car, calling 911 as she raced towards Dravland, saving her life.

“Spread Goodness Day started before I had my stroke,” Dravland said. “It was my passion project outside work. Now, it’s the center of every- thing I do.

“When I woke up, I was paralyzed. I couldn’t speak properly or remember my last name,” said Dravland.

Dravland had just started working on Spread Goodness day three weeks prior to the stroke, which left her partially paralyzed.

“We realized we couldn’t ignore what had happened to me, so we made the choice to include my story,” Dravland said. “It changed everything we were doing.”

Since the stroke, Dravland had to quit her job at Travel Marquette, unable to deal with the stresses of dayto-day work in a busy office. Other health issues have persisted as well, but through it all, Dravland and her team has managed to keep Spread Goodness Day alive, even making it an official annual holiday in the City of Marquette and State of Michigan.

According to Dravland, the holiday is meant as a global day of “explosive” goodness, encouraging individuals, schools and organizations to spread goodness together — to show the epic power that one act of goodness has to change the world.

“It comes down to simplicity,” said Dravland. “It’s easy for people to participate in, no matter who they are, where they are, or how much money they have.”

The day in recent years has been marked with significant local publicity, including media coverage and plenty of local participation. Many Spread Goodness Day participants can be seen each March 10, doing good deeds with Spread Goodness Day’s iconic shades on.

“It’s contained participation. What some schools have been doing is giving kids permission to wear shades that day, and telling them, ‘You’re allowed to wear shades. Wear some bright clothes,’” Dravland said.

The shades are a nod to a bright future, where spreading goodness is part of every day.

“We’ve done Spread Goodness Day for five years. Last year, we had Ambassadors in 20 states, we had a bigger budget and were able to send out a lot of shades (sunglasses), shirts, and swag,” she said.

Dravland said she has been especially impressed with the involvement of kids and schools in the day’s festivities.

“The school engagement has blown my mind,” she said. “Kids feel it in a different way. It’s the excitement, the energy, and something about wearing sunglasses: It makes them happy.”

It might also be that the act of spreading kindness is such a simple concept — and an easy one for kids to jump on board with. Helping others or being kind just makes people feel better.

“Kids are little sponges; I love the kids,” Dravland said. “I love making them feel powerful: I tell them, ‘You make a difference to your classmates, your teachers, your family: you make a difference.

“The kids love their sunglasses, their shades,” she added. “We usually send shades to schools around the country. Unfortunately, we don’t have a budget for that this year. Hopefully, donors will step up.”

Though Spread Goodness Day has been an integral part of Dravland’s life, additional health issues have forced her to sit this year’s day out. On disability since her 2017 stroke, continued issues with an intestinal disorder have caused her health to worsen.

At 19, after being treated for a ruptured cyst, her surgeon informed her she had congenital intestinal malrotation. According to Dravland, intestinal malrotation is poorly understood.

“When you have something rare, you need answers,” Dravland said. “I was slowly starving to death over about eight months. I couldn’t eat; I couldn’t pass my waste. All the stomach doctors I saw told me Intestinal Malrotation only affected babies, which is not true. It affects people of all ages.”

In August 2022, she began receiving new treatment for the condition at the Cleveland Clinic. And though she is optimistic about her health goals, the road is long.

“Since the stroke, we’ve discovered other conditions that have been debilitating,” she said. “I’m overwhelmed. When I get sick, it affects my caregivers and family. I need to make sure I stay healthy and stable for them. I’m happy where I’m getting to, I’m able to do more for myself. But I still struggle to read my emails because it hurts my eyes and head. I exercise and eat. I take care of my house, day-to-day…

“At the end of the day, my life is about staying stable, advocacy and Spread Goodness Day. I tell people it doesn’t work without all of us. All we’re asking is that you do something good on Friday, March 10,” she said.

For now, Dravland said she is happy to continue her work with Spread Goodness Day when and where she can, picking it up on days when she feels better, and putting it back down on days that require more rest.

“We might not do anything for three or four months,” she said. “That’s the beautiful thing about it. It’s always there to give me whatever energy I need. It didn’t suffer; it’s not about spreading the most goodness, it’s about spreading goodness.”

Most of all, it’s about genuine human connection.

“Spread Goodness Day shows the power we have to change the world in a single day,” Dravland said. “When we condense our energy together, we explode good out into the world. Look how powerful we are with every decision we make: we can literally change the world.” MM

Copper Harbor writer Kathy Ihde and her husband, Jeff (her sidekick photographer) like to spread goodness every day. The Ihdes are active volunteers of several organizations, though their favorite volunteer gig has been working with Music and Theatre Kids in Fort Atkinson, WI, for 22 years, and five years in Calumet, MI, (they have no children of their own). Meeting Anna Dravland was emotionally fulfilling for them; she’s an extraordinary woman. The Ihdes will definitely be out Spreading Goodness on March 10th.