Abby Breakiron, 6, presents a gift to Karen Pierce, Slippery Rock Community Library director. Abby and her mother, Molly Breakiron, have been performing a random act of kindness every day this month leading up to Christmas.

SLIPPERY ROCK — A 6-year-old girl and her mother this month have been brightening the lives of strangers with random acts of kindness.

Molly Breakiron and her daughter Abby did one random act of kindness every day from Dec. 1 to 24.

Breakiron said she was inspired to spread goodwill by a blog post she saw that asked people to do a good deed every day.

“It’s something small; a way for her to make a difference in her community. She enjoys it every day,” she said.

Their acts of kindness have included giving $5 gift cards to strangers at places such as Giant Eagle, Wal-Mart and Sheetz.

Abby said she would pick out a stranger in the store, approach that person and ask “would you like a gift card?”

The recipients found the gesture touching, Breakiron said.

“Their reaction is always the same. They are completely baffled, and then I explain we are doing random acts of kindness this month and they get down on their knees and hug her,” she said.

When asked why they were giving gifts to strangers, Abby said “because it’s kind.”

She said her favorite good deed was giving a gift card to a woman at Giant Eagle who told them that she was unemployed and struggling to get by.

“The lady didn’t have much money, and we gave her the card and she was half-crying. It made her very happy,” she said.

Some of their other random acts of kindness have included bringing in clothing for the school nurse and bringing cookies to put in the teacher’s lounge at Slippery Rock Elementary School.

They also donated highlighters to the Slippery Rock Public Library and helped out with an annual effort at their church, Slippery Rock United Methodist Church, which brings boots and blankets to needy families in a nearby mobile home park.

One day, they took family friend Sandy Wakefield out to dinner to thank her for her volunteer work at their church and in the community.

Wakefield said she was pleasantly surprised by their offer.

“I think it is a very good lesson to teach a child to care for others,” she said.

She said she knew about their good deeds from following Breakiron’s daily posts on Facebook, which generated a lot of attention from the community.

Wakefield said one thing that made their efforts unique is that Breakiron encourages Abby to come up with ideas and take initiative in picking out strangers.

“I think she would have a sense of when people need a bit of cheering up,” she said.