SWFL women seek to spread joy with painted rocks

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Off to a rocky start? It might just be a rock that helps you pull through.

That’s the hope of two Southwest Florida women who have placed more than 150 rocks hand-painted with inspirational messages in random places throughout the region.

“We call it delivering little blessings,” Helmstetler said. “It’s whatever the person wants it to be at that moment.”

Johnna Helmstetler and Beth Jacoby spread some of their rocks — with inscriptions like “Be Kind” and “Smile Laugh Love” across downtown Fort Myers on Tuesday. It all began when Helmstetler’s mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

“We were taking her to one of her treatments, and we found a rock that said ‘Hope’ on it,” Helmstetler said.

Once Jacoby found out about Helmstetler’s idea, she was similarly inspired.

“I thought i was wonderful — I’m the kind of person who hopes and thinks one person can make a difference,” Jacoby said.

Helmstetler and Jacoby are encouraging others to join their Facebook group and start painting and distributing rocks of their own.

And, if you find a rock, they ask that you post a picture of it to the group. Then you can either keep it or pass it along to brighten someone else’s day.

WINK News anchor John-Carlos Estrada went live via Facebook with Helmstetler on Tuesday as she placed the rocks downtown:

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