COPPERAS COVE, Texas — Community Rock groups have been prominent on social media for the past few years, and they continue to spread positivity in the community.
A family in Copperas Cove is part of one of the many community rock groups in Central Texas and have made it their number one hobby for the summer.
"When we would walk, we would look for the rocks because that's how we kind of started this and then we started collecting," Copperas Cove mother Samantha Snyder said.
Now Snyder and her three daughters collect rocks, paint them and hide them in the park and around the community. Sometimes they have their own creative designs, while others have motivational words.
"Painting rocks keeps my kids busy and gives them something fun to do for the summer," Snyder explained. "They really enjoy it."
Copperas Cove Rock Group moderator Pamela Grant says the idea of painting and sharing rocks all came from Meghan Murphy, creator of 'The Kindness Rocks Project'.
"The project was started by a woman named Megan Murphy in 2015," Grant shared. "She would walk on the beach and suddenly had inspiration to just write some nice words on some rocks and it kind of grew and exploded into this."
Now, there are hundreds of Community Rocks groups across Texas, including groups in Temple, Waco, Killeen and Harker Heights.
So, if you're having a bad day and take a stroll in the park, a rock with a beautiful design and kind words may turn your day around.
"It's about spreading kindness and you can just make somebody smile. Sometimes you use the right words and they just happen to resonate with you," Grant said.
One tip Grant gave when painting rocks and leaving them around the community for people to find is to be sure to hide the rocks where they can be found. Another tip was to be sure you are able to leave rocks inside of a business before you do, because some businesses do not allow it.
To find out if your community has a rock group, Grant suggests looking up your city's name and adding rock group to the search on social media.