“We snowplowed our neighbor’s driveway yesterday.”
“I helped (an) elderly woman carry her bag and walked her across the intersection.”
“I brought my boss treats from Starbucks this morning.”
Strangers performed these everyday acts of kindness – and dozens more – in honor of Alex Becker, a 22-year-old Minnesota man whose family remembers his thoughtful and generous nature.
“Alex was the sweetest person, child, young man,” his aunt, Hidy Hammarsten, told USA TODAY.
Becker was shot and killed in an alley two days after Christmas in his hometown of St. Paul as he returned from work, just steps from his mother’s home, KARE 11 News reported.
Two men have been charged in connection with Becker’s slaying, according to the St. Paul Police Department.
“We don’t really know why they took his life other than they saw him and he was there,” Tara Becker, Alex Becker’s mother, told USA TODAY.
From the family’s tragedy, which happened weeks after their beloved father and grandfather died, came a desire to encourage others to spread love the way Alex Becker did.
His grieving mother hopes her son is remembered beyond a mere statistic: His was St. Paul’s 40th murder of 2022, according to police.
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“I don’t want there to be sorrow or anger,” she said. “I want his memory to be about the kind of person he was, and he was the most loving person I’ve ever known.”
The family launched a Facebook group encouraging people to share kind acts ahead of Random Acts of Kindness Day on Feb. 17. Hundreds have joined and continued posting stories of generosity even after the holiday.
“It feels like a hug from around the world for us,” Hammarsten said. “Every day is pretty hard, but this has made things a little bit easier.”
‘He wanted to make people happy’
Alex Becker’s generosity began blossoming early in life. One day when the family had visitors, he asked his mother for a bag of chips.
“He walked into the kitchen to get it, he came out and his little arms were full of chip bags that he handed to everyone,” Tara Becker recalled from a story she shared at his memorial service. “Even at the age of 2, he was thinking about giving to others.”
If anyone needed a friend to talk to, Alex was their guy, she said of her son, who planned to attend school to learn the plumbing trade.
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“He would do anything without a thought, he would find any way to help people,” she said. “Whether it be small – just chatting to somebody who might be lonely – or if it was a big thing.”
His aunt called him the “peacekeeper” and “problem solver” among his cousins.
“He was always trying to make people laugh, he wanted to make people happy,” Hammarsten said.
‘We need people like Alex’
Hammarsten, who works in child care, knew Random Acts of Kindness Day was approaching last month because she celebrated the day annually with her school’s children.
She told her sister about the idea of performing kind acts in Alex’s memory, which led to them forming a Facebook group encouraging others to do the same. The group, called “Acts of Kindness Day honoring Alex Becker,” has since grown to over 670 members.
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While nothing can erase the hurt of her son’s absence, Tara Becker said it makes her “heart feel better” knowing he has sparked a positive change in the world.
“That’s all I want, for people to care for each other,” she said.
Hammarsten hopes the group’s momentum grows “forever.”
“Losing a person like Alex is hard on his family, but it’s bad for the world because we need people like Alex,” Hammarsten said.