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Every interaction you have creates a ripple, whether you intend it to or not. The kind of ripple you create is up to you. Mindy Corporon wants it to be one of kindness. How she came to this resolve after a white supremacist opened fire and killed her son and her father in the parking lot of the Kansas Jewish Community Center in April 2014 is why I wanted to talk to her.

Corporon's father and her son were victims of a hate crime. Reat Underwood, Corporon's 14-year-old son, was at the community center to audition for a singing competition that could win him a scholarship. His grandfather drove him so his mother could attend his brother's lacrosse game. The game was canceled at the last minute, so Corporon drove to the community center hoping to get the chance to watch the audition. Instead, she arrived at a horror scene. The shooting had just happened, and she beat emergency responders to the scene.

Corporon found her father dead in the parking lot. She wanted to lean in and help him, but she said she heard the words, "Your father's in heaven, go find Reat." Her family is not Jewish, but they are a family of faith. She found her son in the arms of two men attending to him. He died soon after. Corporon's life shattered into pieces. "I could not comprehend what was happening," she told me on our video call.

Pastor Adam Hamilton is someone Corporon considers a mentor. Later that day at her mother's house, she pulled him aside. "I just wanted him to fix it," she said. "I wanted him to tell me that it hadn't happened. I wanted him to tell me that they were going to come back." But of course, he couldn't. She told him what she had heard so clearly -- to which Pastor Hamilton responded, "Keep listening to your heart."

It wasn't the answer she wanted, and it made her angry, but it was the advice the pastor had for her.

As people gathered at Corporon's mother's home, she overheard someone mention a student vigil happening that evening. Sure enough, her heart spoke, and she knew she had to be there. No one thought it was a good idea. "My husband didn't want me to go." She said, "My mom couldn't even speak."

Corporon went to the vigil.

"There was so much love and so much outpouring," Corporon said, but as she listened to well-meaning speakers at the podium who really thought they knew what to say, she remembers thinking, "This is not helping anybody right now."

She decided that she was the one who was supposed to speak. "I listened to God by heart," she said.

As a teenager, Corporon's friend was killed in a car accident. She understood what her son's classmates were going through. From the podium, Corporon shared with everyone what good people her dad and son were. Her son had so much life left to live, and her father was a physician who dedicated his life to helping others.

"I wanted to tell the students that their life was going to go on," she said, "that this was horrible, and that together, we could come together ... we would make something good come from this," Corporon said. And she did.

Corporon established a youth advisory group within a few months of the murders. "I wasn't finished being a parent," she said. She needed to stay connected to the kids. Jake Goldman was one of those kids. He reached out to her, wanting to do something to help; he wanted to organize a walk, which he did. He became the leader of the youth advisory board.

That was 11 years ago. Goldman is now on the board of directors for Corporon's nonprofit organization, Seven Days. Their mission is to cultivate a new generation of leaders who recognize the power of kindness and are committed to creating a more inclusive and compassionate world, starting with their own communities.

The youth advisory board transitioned to the Kindness Youth Leadership Team -- an application-based program for high school students in the Kansas City area who are interested in leadership, communication, organizational skills and inspirational skills for being a kindness influencer in their community. The organization also holds an art competition and offers kindness action scholarships.

Seven Days reaches beyond Kansas City with participation in 13 states to overcome hate by promoting kindness and understanding through education and dialogue. They provide resources and lesson plans for kindness. Each of the Seven Days has a theme. Why seven days? The idea is to choose kindness and be mindful of your actions and reactions for seven days straight. After that, try another seven days and keep spreading kindness every day in every way you can.

"The youth are going to be the change," Corporon says about challenging hate and spreading kindness, but grown-ups need to join in too. If Corporon can resolve to be the antidote to hate and spread kindness in the wake of her incredible loss and in the thick of grief, we can too. I hope you decide to make your ripple in the world one of kindness.

To participate in Seven Days events or pledge your support with a donation, visit: SevenDays.org.

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Do you know anyone who's doing cool things to make the world a better place? I want to know. Send me an email at Bonnie@WriterBonnie.com. Check out Bonnie's weekly YouTube videos at https://www.youtube.com/bonniejeanfeldkamp. To find out more about Bonnie Jean Feldkamp and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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