All it takes is something tiny to have a major and lasting impact. That's exactly what Rocks of Unity is trying to do.
"It's any rock decorated to represent somebody's identity," Alexa Zappia, 21, founder of Rocks of Unity, said.
Zappia's goal is to celebrate our own differences in order to unite us as one. All it takes, she said, is a rock and a pen.
“So many different rocks have so many different properties. That's analogous to humans. We are all human, but we all have different properties.”
So Zappia want's people to come together by celebrating their differences. For Patti Adams, this goes a long way.
“I never felt loved cause I lost all my hair, and I was fighting by myself for a while, so I just kept telling myself you are loved,” Patti Adams, said.
She has battled stomach and bone cancer for 12 years. She said it's been a difficult battle, but little things like this mean a lot to her. That's why she wrote "you are loved" on her rock.
"It means that I’m loved. If I could give it to someone and feel encouraged, you know that hey someone is going through the same thing. It's well worth it," she said.
Zappia wants a message of positivity to spread. Even though it can be tough, that means finding the good within the bad, like Becky Jarnot did.
“When you draw a rock draw it to something that needs positivity and there’s gotta be good that comes out of cancer," Jarnot said.
Her mom fought through three rounds of breast cancer. Now, her daughter, Becky, has the slogan "live, laugh, love" tattooed on her wrist. It's also what she drew on her rock.
"For her to struggle and to see everything positive that she’s done out of her life and all she does is think positive things," she said.
In just one year, Zappia's organization has grown tremendously. It's spread to 25 different countries and 35 states. Rocks of Unity has humble beginnings too. It all started as a class assignment.
