There is a movement sweeping Monroe County and far beyond to honor the two Red Bud teens, Abby Liefer and Hannah Porter, who died in a head-on crash Jan. 10 just south of Hecker.

And it’s growing by the day.

“My sister (Brandy Muertz) first came up with the idea that she wanted every year on (Abby’s) birthday, June 16, to do one random act of kindness for every year old she would be at that birthday,” said Alison Schubert, Liefer’s sister.

Schubert thought it was a fantastic idea, but wondered why they should limit it to Abby’s birthday only.

“Hannah and her family have been really good friends of our family. I remember holding Hannah when she was born,” Schubert said.

So the decision was made to expand the random acts of kindness to Hannah’s birthday too, which is Nov. 16.

And when Schubert, who lives 1,000 miles from the family and friends mired in so much grief, was looking for a way to cope with her own feelings of devastation, she turned to social media.

“It’s kind of been my therapy to be on Facebook,” she said. “I made a Facebook page of both of the girls and I encourage people to post if they think of them, feel like they’ve had a sign from them or have any stories about them, to post them on there.

And that has helped, she said – the connections she’s made, the happy memories she’s been able to read about. But she knew when the one-month anniversary of the crash rolls around, it would be a devastating time for two struggling families.

So she started another Facebook page – “Abby & Hannah’s Random Acts of Kindness.” It calls for people to commit a random act of kindness on Feb. 10 in honor of the girls. Schubert initially expected a few family and friends to join in the event, but the response it has received in the week the page has been active has overwhelmed her.

“I never thought it would take off like it did,” she said. “Already more than 1,400 people have said they are participating.”

She thinks the response has been so strong because it gives people a way to offer condolences that are so hard to articulate in the face of such tragedy.

“When tragedy strikes people want to do something, but they don’t know what, they don’t feel like they have the right words to say.

“Instead of having to try to figure out what to say, they can just do something on this day, and that means more than anything anyone could say,” she said.

Schubert has even gone so far as to offer suggestions on how to participate, because she knows even the simplest act of holding open the door for a stranger and smiling can be the thing that makes a profound difference in someone’s day. And already people from around the country are sharing stories of their acts, saying they couldn’t wait until Feb. 10 to honor and celebrate the generous spirits of the girls.

“(Abby) was that way every day. She went out of her way to do things for everyone. She loved to be around people. She absolutely loved her job at the YMCA. She was very outgoing.She would do something for someone in a heartbeat,” Schubert said.

And Schubert is hopeful that seeing the love and generosity spread in honor of the girls will help, even in a small way, her family and the Porter family.

“With what my parents and Hannah’s parents go through – I just hope for that one day they can smile,” she said. “I wanted to give them something nice to look forward to on that day.”

But she also has another motivation.

“My biggest fear is that everyone will move on. There will be another accident, another loss, and people won’t think about Abby and Hannah anymore,” she said. “I just want everyone to remember them. I don’t want people to ever forget.”

And the girls’ legacies won’t just live on three days a year.

Doctors were able to donate Abby’s eyes, heart valve and tissues, providing yet another way — although not the way anyone would choose — for Abby to live on.

Performing random acts of kindness in honor of her and Hannah is another.

For more information, visit Facebook.com and search for “Abby & Hannah’s Random Act of Kindness,” or click here.