A ringing success at Virginia Tech

"It's the simplest gestures that mean the most," another penned.

Two days after a group of Tucsonans traveled 1,700 miles to randomly distribute hundreds of Ben's Bells at Virginia Tech, responses were pouring in. Students, faculty and residents of the Blacksburg community wanted to thank these strangers for thinking of them as today's anniversary of the campus shooting that left more than 30 people dead approached.

"It's overwhelming," said Jeannette Maré-Packard, who founded the Ben's Bells project in 2003, when she and her husband, Dean, wanted a way to honor their son, who died of croup just before his third birthday, in March 2002. They also wanted to encourage the kindness they were shown in their time of loss.

They've since distributed more than 9,000 Ben's Bells throughout Tucson and other cities. They left 300 handcrafted Ben's Bells in and around Virginia Tech for people to find, with tags urging their new owners to spread kindness, to let others know they aren't alone.

This distribution capped a yearlong project that began as an idea from faculty in the University of Arizona's College of Nursing. Almost six years ago a failing student shot three nursing professors to death. On April 16, 2007, a mentally disturbed student killed 32 victims and wounded two dozen others at Virginia Tech before he committed suicide.

"We went out there without expectations," Maré-Packard said of the distribution. "We put the bells out and let them find where they belong. But we always get amazing, amazing stories and love back, which just reinforces our mission that small acts of kindness make a huge difference to people when they're struggling."

She estimated she'd received 40 responses through Tuesday.

Jenna Stevens, a UA junior majoring in marketing, has worked with the Ben's Bells program for about a year and a half and is the student representative on its board of directors. She said the experience, and the feedback, were "amazing." She's also part of the UA chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity. The Virginia Tech chapter helped with the distribution.

"Reading some of the stories just makes me want to cry. It's so heartwarming," she said.

"It was an amazing experience to know that even though this was a little thing, it made the healing process that much easier for them."

sampling of Virginia tech reactions to ben's bells

Some students didn't leave their names when they wrote. It's still difficult for some to talk about last year, and the recovery from it. But here's what some said of their Ben's Bells:

From Colleen Hurley:

I was finding it very hard to concentrate and focus on writing my last paper for graduate school. I am a student at Virginia Tech (class of '05 and soon-to-be '08) and have been dreading our 1-year anniversary of our campus tragedy. I decided to get some fresh air and wanted to take a practice walk on campus — as I have not walked the same route I walked that day — since last year. As I was walking past my former dorm, and the site of the first shootings — AJ — I noticed a slight bell ringing and a bright yellow flower hanging from a tree. It was just hanging from the branch — and I just burst into tears.

From Heart of a Hokie:

Finding out about this project was a true inspiration. With April 16th approaching, finding a reason to smile is becoming harder and harder. The immense support we saw last year from the whole world is most simply represented in the echoing ring of the tiny bell. I will cherish my Ben's Bell and hold it close to my heart. Really, it's the simplest gestures that mean the most and I thank you so much for bringing your kindness to the Hokie Nation.

From Anonymous:

This is a week that most of the Virginia Tech family have been dreading — thinking how will we make it through this week? The community came together a year ago to carry each other through the worst nightmare of our lives … and now Ben's Bells are here to help us through this week. It helps us to remember to reach out to one another and hold each other up. Thank you for your kind act.

From Lauren Sabatini:

I'm a VT student and was last year when the horrible events took place. I was walking to dinner today, thinking about how it all of a sudden got so cold, just like one year ago. It made me replay everything in my head. I found the Ben's bell on my walk hanging on a tree and it touched me so much. Thank you so much for this and everything you are doing. Our community needs it.

More Responses:

To read more from Virginia Tech students, go to http://www.bensbells.org/Stories/view.asp