Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Dravland.
Anna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Back in 2011, I was a student at Northern Michigan University, working toward my associate degree in Food Service Management. I didn’t have a dream job in mind and worked everywhere from restaurants to a jewelry store to Family Video. Trying to strengthen my résumé, I began volunteering with no deeper intention than “this will look good on paper.”
But what started as a résumé-builder turned into something transformative —
an addiction, a love story, a life story.
Nonprofits and service lit my world up.In 2012, while still in college, I decided to continue my education and pursue a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management instead of stopping at my associate degree, further investing in my growth and future. I found joy, belonging, and purpose in lifting others. That passion eventually grew into a career in event management , PR and community relations at Travel Marquette. Before my accident, I was healthy, thriving, and rising in my career — and my passion project dreams were truly taking shape.
In October 2017, I launched Spread Goodness Day, a nonprofit event and holiday designed to empower the whole world to understand that they can change the world every single day — to light up the world with sunshine and make it so, so bright! My first social media post was on October 28, 2017. I had spent the six months prior building the event, crafting its vision, mission, and programs.
But as my excitement built, a catastrophic plot twist was brewing. Just a few days before the launch, I had hit my head and been knocked out. Little did I know that this head injury had torn an artery in my neck. Two blood clots silently formed over the next three weeks. Then, the artery suddenly ripped in half, and both clots released, giving me two strokes at the same time. One was massive.
I was left with full paralysis on my right side, barely able to speak, and an entirely altered life. Five months of intense rehabilitation got me back on my feet and, eventually, unsuccessfully, back to work. With a crushed heart, I updated my employment status to disabled on August 2018. But, I prefer to refer to it as being medically retired against my will.
Several years later — unrelated to the stroke — I began experiencing severe abdominal issues following two minor ovarian surgeries in 2019 and 2020. Slowly, painfully, I lost the ability to eat. What followed were multiple periods of medical starvation, surviving on IV nutrition and enduring extreme, relentless pain. Eventually, doctors discovered the true cause: intestinal malrotation, a rare and serious anatomical condition requiring major and complex surgery. Recovery came with hurdles, medications, setbacks, and more procedures, but also with resilience I didn’t know I had.
Despite everything, a spark of purpose remained. Spread Goodness Day has since become a proclaimed holiday in multiple states and a movement embraced by schools, organizations, and communities nationwide. Michigan has proclaimed it a holiday five years!
Through my health battles, one truth became impossible to ignore: kindness saves people. Kindness HEALS people.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has absolutely not been a smooth road — but I think that’s true for anybody trying to make a difference while navigating life’s unexpected challenges, although it’s fair to say I’ve taken a few more hits than most. I had a massive stroke with two blood clots, and my artery ripped in half just three weeks after I launched Spread Goodness Day. If that’s not a challenge, I don’t know what it is.
It’s been like navigating an obstacle course of physical and cognitive adjustments. Having built Spread Goodness Day prior to my stroke, it has been extremely challenging, and at times nearly impossible, to properly run it as a nonprofit and guide a board. I’ve had to take it into my own hands and do things completely differently than I normally would — less professionally, more chaotic, asking for help from graphic designers, videographers, website designers. The success of Spread Goodness Day has, and always will be, because my community helped bring it to life and take my invitation and blow it up with such epic goodness.
There were so many other challenges that came along with not being able to communicate like I used to. Though I recovered from the paralysis, I never regained full sensation on the right side of my body or in my right hand. The resulting cognitive and physical deficits made even basic tasks difficult — handwriting and typing became stunted because of my brain damage and the loss of feeling in my right hand, and I would become confused easily during detailed conversations or discussions with more than a few people. Physical and neurological fatigue early after the stroke had me sleeping 14 to 20 hours a day, and even now I need 12 to 14 hours most days. It’s like having a four-hour battery and a broken circuit breaker. I became completely volatile and unpredictable in terms of when I would have the energy or mental strength to do even simple tasks, much less care for myself consistently, run a nonprofit, or guide a board.
I’d be talking forever if I tried to describe the challenges of medical anorexia, starvation, medications, and hospitals.
Despite these obstacles, my approach to Spread Goodness Day has been to make it as accessible as possible, so anyone can participate and interact with our platform without me having to facilitate it directly. For example, our website offers printable Spread Goodness tools — branded bookmarks, a Spread Goodness calendar, even Spread Goodness bingo! These tools are created by people outside of our organization in support and celebration, empowering the community to take the lead in spreading kindness.
I’m very grateful that many of these challenges are now being alleviated by our new board and partnerships with Range Bank and Goodwill of Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. Their respective CEOs, Roxanne Daust and Jim Borowski, reached out to help lead the organization, giving us a foundation we’ve never had before and opening up possibilities far beyond what I’ve been capable of on my own. Now, I can focus on my health and the ways that I can support the organization safely and naturally. It’s the biggest gift.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My stroke disabled me from employment, taking away my much-loved career at Travel Marquette.
As I’ve navigated my new limitations, I consider myself a curator of energy. I create invitations — opportunities for people to help me make a meaningful impact. The reason it works is because it doesn’t depend on what I do; it depends on what everybody else does. They take our invitation, put on some shades, decorate with sunshine, and go out there to celebrate goodness with us on this one special day each year. Heck, a few schools even celebrate Spread Goodness as a week, including a local middle school and my alma mater, Northern Michigan University!
I use just minutes and moments at a time to propel my mission forward. It’s the only way I can do it: pick it up when I can, put it down when I must, and ask for help with the rest. Dozens of creative and loving do-gooders help keep the goodness rolling, and that means the world to me.
We also incorporate some simple spread goodness initiatives throughout the year that function the same way. We have our sixth annual bundle up Marquette winter clothing drive going on right now. We simply put out donation boxes at local partner businesses, invite the community to donate and then we hang up all the donations on a fence at a local park for anybody who needs it to come and take what they need. No questions asked, no pictures, no media.
Our newest initiative is spread goodness “Snow Angel” signs. Providing yard signs to applicants in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are you to apply and receive them. A simple cue to their neighbors that they need help with snow removal.
So we made a sign, but the goodness has to come from the community. Some nice kids walking by. I need to pick up a shovel and clear the snow. The plow truck driving by has to decide they’ve got an extra minute to clear the drive.
Even though I built it this way out of necessity, it’s been beautiful to watch people take the invitation and do good in their own way in their own time with no pressure or expectation.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
My stroke makes reading difficult, but I’ve found a passion for discovering other organizations, blogs, and podcasts that share a similar mission.
A few that inspire me regularly are Do Good Wisconsin, Kindland, Spread Good Squad, and the Inspire Up Foundation. I love the podcasts “Searching for Goodness” and The Kindness Podcast with Nicole Phillips, which I’ve been enjoying and learning from.
Connecting with these communities and stories reminds me that there’s so much goodness in the world. Such a wild amount of it. It’s so endlessly powerful to change the world together.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.spreadgoodnessday.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spreadgoodnessday?igsh=MWpneWcya2Z1cmtnNA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19TZ2kdxS1/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@spreadgoodnessday?si=N4iQmySVTBwy1btj
