Ashley Petersen (née Bochino), who attended Sandy Hook Elementary School as a child, started 26 Days of Kindness two years ago, encouraging people to do something to honor the memory of the women and children who were killed on 12/14, for 26 days in a row. Each day is dedicated to one of the educators and first grade students who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The third annual 26 Days of Kindness begins today. The first suggested honoree is Sandy Hook School first grader Jessica Rekos, who would be 9 years old now, and who loved horses.

Mrs Petersen, who graduated from Newtown High School in 2006, told The Newtown Bee last year that she started 26 Days of Kindness because the shooting at Sandy Hook School hit close to home. She attended SHES as a child, and has a younger sister who also went through her elementary school years at 12 Dickinson Drive. The shooting happened just a few miles from the Riverside Road house where Mrs Petersen grew up, she said.

Each morning, Mrs Petersen posts to the 26 Days of Kindness page on Facebook, sharing something about the day’s honoree. Last year participants learned that James Mattioli had once asked his mother how old he had to be before he could order the “Five Dollar Foot-Long” grinder at Subway sandwich shops.

After Mrs Peterson included that detail in her December 12, 2014 post, the day James was honored, a few others decided to purchase gift cards at the food shop, or paid for sandwiches ordered by strangers. In an interesting twist, one of the final posts that day was from a woman who said she offered her seat on the subway to an elderly woman.

Mrs Petersen has again tied some days and honorees together when possible, such as November 20 for Noah Pozner, who would have celebrated his ninth birthday that day; and December 11 for Josephine Gay, who would have turned 10 that day.

Mrs Peterson is organizing is a Skating Party at Danbury Ice Arena on December 6, the day that participants are encouraged to do something kind in honor of Ana Marquez-Greene.

She is also working with the Your Healthy Pet on Church Hill Road to coordinate a Pet Food Collection on December 12. That is the day that 26 Days of Kindness participants are being encouraged to do something nice in honor of Charlotte Bacon, an animal lover. The food collection on Charlotte’s day will be donated to Canine Advocates of Newtown.

26 Days of Kindness will conclude on Monday, December 14, the third anniversary of 12/14. Slain SHES Principal Dawn Hochsprung will be honored that day.

Mrs Petersen is encouraging people to share things that they have done or things that were done to surprise them on the Facebook page for this year’s event. She understands that not everyone will do that, however.

"It’s OK if you don’t feel comfortable sharing your acts — a lot of people don’t, but at the same time it is nice to read what everyone else is doing," she posted on November 17, the eve of this year’s event launch. "I have told people who misunderstand, it’s not about spending money or bragging about your acts of kindness. Many times when people share their acts of kindness, they inspire others."

By the time the 2nd Annual 26 Days of Kindness concluded last year, Mrs Petersen learned that the movement reached well beyond not only Newtown, Sandy Hook, and Connecticut, but went across the country.

In response to a request by Mrs Petersen to have the event participants identify where they live, the answers included everything from parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Florida to Texas, Missouri, Oregon, and California. One Danbury resident said friends in Alaska were participating as well.

Full information about the event can be found at .Facebook.com/26 Days Of Kindness-3rd Annual