Coming back to campus in the fall, the advertising senior heard it again.

Bob Hoffman, the public relations manager at the Wharton Center where Brophy also works, heads a nonprofit organization designed to spread random acts of kindness and encourage the community to “pass it forward.” Brophy made the connection and decided to embrace the message.

Last week, Hoffman received the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce’s 2011 Community Service Award for his work.

ePIFanyNow.org , which has a mission of performing random acts of kindness for East Lansing and surrounding communities since it started three years ago. It gained national attention on CBS Evening News earlier this month.

During his twice yearly Pass It Forward party, Hoffman encourages community members — who now show up in the hundreds — to go out in the community to do a random act of kindness, then meet back up at the starting point to describe their experience.

Acts of kindness can be anything — with or without money — that help out members of the community.

“This is not an old concept,” Hoffman said. “This is about the community coming together and believing in kindness. … Everyone needs some validation.”

In one memorable case, Hoffman said a group of strangers went to a shoe store and paid for a stranger’s shoes, only to find she was buying them for her mother’s funeral. Another time, a man driving a Mercedes-Benz filled up everyone’s tank at a gas station after participants offered to buy his gas.

The first idea came to Hoffman when a driver cut him off on the road. He had a epiphany that day, a wake-up call to think about others.

“I realized this person wasn’t even paying attention to me,” Hoffman said.

“(And) I was living so much in my head about everything else I needed to get done.”

For the organization’s last event on Feb. 12, Brophy took valentine treats to take to Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital.

“That was kind of cool to see their reaction process from being really confused to being excited about it,” Brophy said.

That event got national coverage, with CBS Evening News coming to East Lansing to film a spot on the organization aired for their nightly news show. The next event will be held Aug. 19 at Bud Kouts Chevrolet in Lansing.

“To have everyone come back here and share their stories, … it’s high energy,” said Reno’s East owner Jessie Stipcak, who has donated the restaurant, located at 1310 Abbot Road, to host past events.

“It’s great to see that kind of spirit spread.”