Churches 'Plant Seeds of Kindness' Money

Nov 27, 2002 01:41 PM EST

NASHVILLE, Tn. — Seeds of Kindness was handed out on Nov. 25 to be distributed to members of more than a dozen Tennessee churches. These $100 bill 'seeds' amounting to $50,000 are to be given freely to strangers in need or neighbors who are down on their luck.

"The point of this is to plant seeds of kindness," said Rubel Shelly, minister at Woodmont Hills Church of Christ, who distributed the bills to his members.

The Seeds of Kindness effort, funded by an anonymous businessman, began last year with the same donor offering $50,000 to a Woodmont Hills church to administer the program.

A similar concept was inspired from the movie "Pay it Forward" and the biblical parable of investing one's talents to do good, in a California church years ago.

The "seeds of Kindness" website noted that this effort is akin to an underground railroad of goodwill that operates quietly, out of sight, but effectively."

By Pauline J.