It started as a group on Facebook that went around and gave kind doorbell ditches as an effort to spread some love in the community: Oakdale Sprinkle Joy.

Nicole Fells first saw this as a nationwide club. Wanting to be part of the action, she tried to get involved with the California-wide effort, but couldn’t find anyone from Oakdale. She then decided to take this generous movement into her own hands and started a Facebook group for women who wanted to “sprinkle” others.

The process was initially pretty simple: after agreeing to keep all information private, women would post their address in the group and someone would stop by with a small gift for them, whether that be a bag filled with dollar-store treats or a sweet note. Soon, many were joining the effort and as of Monday, June 1, the group had surpassed 600 members. It’s limited to women over 21 in the Oakdale area, who join with the understanding that it’s a community-wide, generous, and mutual effort.

“It’s not about getting,” Fells assured, “it’s about the giving. And don’t break the bank; it’s not about spending all this money.”

The women involved are truly getting creative: some gifts have included floral arrangements, bags full of treats, envelopes with seeds and scratchers, fresh fruit, accessories, self-care items, and more.

“It’s bringing a lot of good to people,” Fells shared.

They have all strived to bring some extra joy to light up someone’s bad day … as the region looks to slowly recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

In fact, Fells was just recently a serendipitous recipient of some “sprinkling.” The same day she had to send her dog in for major surgery, many women in the group dropped off gifts as a thank you for all the work she has done managing the Oakdale movement. One even dropped off a dog cookie for Fell’s recovering pet. Moreover, in lieu of dropping off gift baskets, some women in the group decided to help donate for the dog’s surgery as their form of giving.

Fells is excited by all of the giving that has gone on in the community through this group. However, as the group gets larger, it has become a bit more difficult to manage. Therefore, she offers an exhortation to those who are interested: be invested in giving, not receiving. Take this as a time to invest in cultivating a more loving community. Treat it as a simple, social-distance-friendly way to show your neighbors you care. From there, joy blooms.