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Cleveland non-profit, Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere, sees big post-election boost

Posted at 4:42 PM, Nov 11, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-11 16:42:17-05

As protests rage on across the country right now, we're seeing a different kind of response to a Trump presidency in Northeast Ohio.

Some non-profits are seeing a spike in interest - including Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere.

Sitting inside his office in downtown Cleveland, Ricky Smith is fielding calls and Facebook messages from Florida to California and everywhere in-between.

"Reaching out to say they want to do a random act of kindness," said Smith.

The increase in interest is coming just hours after America learned Donald Trump would become our 45th President. Smith said he never expected to see a surge in RAKE's popularity.

In the two hours following the election being called, RAKE saw its biggest donations come in.

"The first donation was a $500 donation, came anonymously and I actually thought it was a typo," said Smith.

That money, coming from both Clinton and Trump supporters will help Smith and his team do things like pay for people's meals in drive-thru lines.

It will also help pay for a kindness mobile. A food truck-style vehicle that will spread cheer across the country and travel to scenes of tragedies.

RAKE was about to start an online fundraising campaign to try and launch the truck in 2017.

"But with these donations coming in this week, we decided that would be the down payment and things like that to kind of help and promote the kindness campaign if you will," said Smith.
 
In all, RAKE racked-up nearly $3,000 in post-presidential election donations.
 
To give you some perspective on just how far reaching RAKE is right now, it's hashtag has been used in every state and in 22 countries.