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PEI mother and daughter continue kindness campaign

In the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings last December, the mother/daughter team of Katie and Kenzie Whelan launched a kindness campaign in Fort August, Prince Edward Island.

The duo set out to perform 28 good deeds: one act of kindness for each of the 20 children and six adults killed, one for the shooter's murdered mother, and one deed to represent the Sandy Hook community.

Their first deed was performed on December 19, when the Whelans lefts Christmas cards signed "Best wishes from a friendly stranger" on the windshields of 26 cars in a Charlottetown mall parking lot in memory of 6-year-old Sandy Hook victim Charlotte Bacon.

"Katie and Kenzie have started an incredible chain of kindness as we are going to pay it forward with a good deed to someone else," Amber Praught, a recipient of the Whelans' kindness, told the Guardian in December.

"What a magnificent way to teach our children that there is also good in the world. Thank you Katie and Kenzie for including our family in your kind acts."

Katie and Kenzie have performed numerous good deeds since — they handed out Christmas presents to strangers, helped a neighbour prepare for a holiday party, donated clothes to the Salvation Army and gave a Swiss Chalet gift certificate to a family of six, among other deeds — and are determined to complete their goal of 28 acts of kindness.

"As long as it takes us," said Kenzie.

"Our good deeds are not for people that we know but for strangers because we don’t want to get recognized," she added.

Kenzie and her mother are currently planning two acts of kindness: they purchased utensils and dishes to donate to women moving into apartments from Anderson House, a shelter for women and children who have been physically or emotionally abused.

They also plan to donate baby baskets.

"Basically like a baby shower for someone who may not get a chance to get one," said Katie.

"A lot of people said, 'You really inspired me,'" Katie told the Guardian earlier this week. "I certainly do feel that we have affected people in our lives for the better...I do feel that we are making our little dent in the universe."