Saying they wanted to show there are more good people and good activities than what's normally seen in the news, folks from many generations shared a brief happy moment Friday afternoon at Lincoln University.
Friday was National Random Acts of Kindness Day, and residents from Primrose Retirement Community came to the Scruggs Center at LU around noon as students came in for lunch. They shared gift cards and homemade cookies with the students.
"Our goal is to share a smile and hugs, and that we hope will be passed on to others," Janet Lueckenhoff, Primrose sales director, said.
And it worked.
In the short time the ambassadors were there, they collected plenty of hugs and smiles from the pleasantly surprised students.
"It got my day started off right," LU student Joshua Nelson said. "Hugs and smiles, you can't beat that."
Ambassador Judy Hinshaw, who graduated from LU in 1972, said it's just a "neat" way to give back.
Ambassador Bob Baur who ran a home for families in Jefferson City years ago said it was a way to get back to his roots of helping young people.
"There are so many youth that I know who are not bad like you see on TV," ambassador Carmen Brown said. "These kids deserve a lot of credit for going to school and getting an education. We hope they come out to see us because we love to have young people talk with us. We have a lot more in common than what you may think."
LU students reciprocated what they got from their older friends by standing at the Scruggs entrance holding signs saying "Free Hugs" and handing out candy kisses.
"We have many students who want to participate when we have activities with our older residents," Tammy Nobles, the director of the women's resource center at LU, said. "It's not hard to have them wanting to come and be a part of these activities. This is community service organized by students for students."