Ben’s Bells Spreads Kindness in Our Area Right From Bethel

There's a good chance that if you've been out walking around your neighborhood, or in a park, you may have seen what they call Ben's Bells hanging from a tree or fence.

So first off, here's the back story on Ben's Bells:

Ben's Bells was founded in 2003 in Tucson, Arizona by a mom Jeannette Maré, after the death of her 3-year-old son Ben, and she has grown from a family and community coping mechanism to a countrywide expression of love and support.

Ben's Bells have been used as a symbol of hope and support for communities after tragedies strike. The first time many people in our area were exposed to Ben's Bells was after the tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. In the weeks following the school shooting over a thousand colorful bells started appearing all over Newtown, they were Ben's Bells.

Today, Ben's Bells has a Connecticut Chapter, and it's based in Bethel on Stony Hill Road.

Volunteers stop by the studio and create their own Ben's Bells and try and spread kindness, and pay it forward.

Roxanne Novella from Danbury is one of the volunteers and she explained to nbcconnecticut.com that she got started with the organization after she had found one of Ben's Bells:

I actually found a bell, and the excitement and joy that I felt made me want to spread the kindness so others could feel the excitement and the joy that I experienced.

For those looking to pick up Ben's Bells, there are smaller versions of the Bells that are sold in the studio in Bethel, but the larger versions can't be bought, they have to be found hanging up somewhere around the local area.

The 'Be Kind' mission and learning program has now spread to over one hundred Connecticut Schools. Jen Lawlor from Bethel has been a licensed clinical social worker for over twenty years and recently told nbcconnecticut.com about the in school kindness mission:

Acts of kindness can completely shift your mindset. Colleges are really looking at the whole picture now. Building up a child in their character is just as important, if not more important then what their grades look like on paper.

The bells can go through the hands of between seven to ten volunteers in the creating process before they are randomly placed throughout different communities. If your lucky enough to find one of Ben's Bells you keep it, and just spread the kindness to others, in other words pay it forward.

The studio in Bethel at 32 Stony Hill Road is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 12 PM until 8 PM, and now open on Saturdays from 10 AM until 2 PM.

You can also call for more information at (203) 501-9999, or visit them on Facebook or Yelp, or email them at ct@bensbells.org