A little note of love and appreciation can go a long way in brightening someone's day.

A lot of days will be brightened when the North Idaho Kindness Project floods the community with Kindness Cards the first week of March.

"Doing or saying kind things to other people lifts their spirits and lifts the spirits of the person who’s saying it even more," North Idaho Kindness Project volunteer Ben Morton said Thursday. "It’s really a benefit for mental health as well."

The kindness-centered nonprofit will deliver up to 4,000 Kindness Cards at no cost to businesses, organizations and community groups after Kindness Cards are completed Feb. 24.

Volunteers are already working on filling cards with special messages to remind people they're appreciated and loved.

"We’re a proactive organization in spreading kindness, not a reactive organization," Morton said. "We just think that being kind all the time could be a good thing for everyone."

The Kindness Cards mission was initiated by the Civic Engagement Alliance and the Kindness Project (formerly Love Lives Here CDA) at the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"At that time, it was especially for first responders," Morton said. "We had a lot of people out there who we thought could use this boost at the time when things were up in the air. People didn't know how things were going to go."

The need for kindness and acknowledgment has never subsided. The project has continued, each year expanding to include more recipients.

"We're trying each year to tap into new ones, places we haven’t delivered to," Morton said.

Launched in 2018, the North Idaho Kindness Project preserves strong and welcoming neighborhoods through projects that promote kindness and human connection.

Visit northidahokindnessproject.org for details.

    Poppy and Lily Uno fil out Kindness Cards from past years. This year's Kindness Cards will be distributed the first week of March.