Twenty-four Columbus State University students from a first-year seminar class are taking to social media to spread kindness on campuses across the nation.

Starting on their own campus, the students aim to perform random acts of kindness for 1,000 students, faculty and staff members in only one hour. Planned acts include opening doors for strangers, handing out bags of candy and carrying books for fellow students. Cody the Cougar will be at the event offering “free hugs.”

The service project, called “Lend A Hand,” will begin at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, October 22.

Students in the class also aspire to take Lend A Hand viral by challenging their friends at CSU and on other campuses to perform kind acts, document those acts and share their experiences using the hashtag #LendAHand.

“This project has bonded this group of freshman together,” said Kimberly McElveen, course instructor and assistant vice president for student affairs at Columbus State University. “They will remember planning the event, implementing it and forming lifelong friendships that will last the next four years and beyond.”