Chester's Bob Votruba taking acts of kindness on the road

Correspondents, Cleveland.com

August 27, 2009

Bob Votruba of Chester has a dream.

Starting Monday, he's embarking on a 10-year cross-country odyssey to encourage Americans to perform a million acts of kindness in their lifetimes.

With Bogart, his Boston terrier, he'll travel the country in an old white school bus which he has decorated with colorful flowers, symbols and the words "OneMillionActsOfKindness.com"

The back of the bus states his journey began in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, in August 2009.

Votruba, 54, drove the bus into Chagrin Falls Saturday and parked it across from the Popcorn Shop, where it attracted joggers, families, dog-walkers and others out enjoying the sunny morning on Main Street.

Driven to 'do something'

He's disturbed about "the direction our country is going," he said, gripping Bogart's leash and sipping a cup of coffee on the Stairway to the Falls.

He said it all began with the shootings at Virginia Tech University in April 2007. He was driven to "do something," he said, so he drove to Roanoke, Va., and stood quietly on the campus passing out blue and white "One million acts of kindness" stickers. He was struck by the warm reception he received and the hugs he got from strangers.

"I got hugs from some of the parents whose children had died," he said.

"We have to do something. We have to turn our society around.

"Fifty acts of kindness per day for 55 years equals one million acts of kindness. It can be a smile, holding a door for a stranger, letting a driver proceed ahead of you.

"It's the young people who are really touched by this," he said. "Old people can be jaded, but the young people really respond to it."

Destination unknown

So, starting Monday, he'll drive his bus down Interstate 75, bound for Clearwater, Fla., and spend the next 10 months spreading his message on college campuses up and down the East Coast. The following year, he'll head to the South. Beyond that, his travel plans are a little hazy.

Votruba, 54, is the former owner of North American Homes. His construction skills have come in handy as he outfitted his bus with a shower, shelving and a slab of plywood that will double as a bed, but he doesn't expect to sleep there often. Judging from the warm reception he got in Roanoke two years ago and the curious stares from villagers on Saturday, he expects to be invited into homes to eat and to sleep.

The divorced father of three, he said his children --two in college in Colorado and one recent graduate living in Boston -- enthusiastically support his mission.

Visit his Web site at OneMillionActsOfKindness.com