Mom Turns Grief Into 1,400+ Kindness Acts on 6 Continents

When Brooke DeBarros lost her 17-year-old son Chase Soares in February 2020, stories of his kindness became her lifeline through grief.

Instead of retreating into sorrow, the Cape Cod mom launched the Team Chase Foundation to keep her son's generous spirit alive. "I have to keep his kindness going," DeBarros told WBZ NewsRadio.

Her innovation is as simple as it is powerful. The "Chase Kindness Ball" is a coaster-sized disk designed to look like a basketball, soccer ball, or hockey puck (Chase's passions). Each disk contains a QR code that lets people log their act of kindness and track where it happened before passing it to someone else.

The idea came from Chase's love of basketball. DeBarros initially planned simple business cards, but a friend suggested honoring his athletic passion with something more meaningful.

The results have exceeded every expectation. Since launching, these small tokens have documented over 1,400 acts of kindness spanning six continents. Each scan tells a story of compassion rippling outward, exactly as Chase lived his life.

DeBarros doesn't just mail the disks and hope for the best. She and her youngest son have traveled to 10 states performing random acts of kindness themselves, turning their family's tragedy into a movement of hope.

The Ripple Effect

What started as one mother's way to process grief has become a global kindness tracker. The QR code system creates a beautiful digital map of compassion, showing how one teenager's legacy can touch lives from Massachusetts to distant continents.

Each person who receives a Chase Kindness Ball becomes part of something bigger than themselves. They're not just doing a kind act. They're joining a chain of goodness that proves love and generosity outlast loss.

The foundation transforms abstract grief into concrete action, giving others permission to turn their own pain into purpose.

Every scan honors Chase's memory while creating new stories of human connection. The basketball-loving teen who clearly touched many lives during his 17 years continues inspiring kindness years after his passing, one small disk at a time.