Rock Kindness For Cloey #RKFC

About the community

Who is Cloey?

Cloey is our daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin and friend. She died on June 12, 2017, one month after her 17th birthday. She was sunshine, goodness in this world and a beautiful soul who wore her heart openly. As a highly creative artist, she viewed the world differently from most people—something other artists may understand.

Cloey loved, and she loved deeply; when she hurt, she broke inside. She was sunshine while privately fighting darkness. A few people knew of that fight, but most saw her daily smile and her funny, quirky attitude. Mental illness and suicide took our beautiful blooming flower. Her full name is Cloey Christine Saalfrank.

During 8th grade, we noticed her difficulties with peers, weight and feeling good enough in sport. After her 8th-grade year, she struggled to move beyond the insecurities that had formed. Soon afterwards she experienced depression and anxiety intermittently, but hid them remarkably well. Episodes were rare, mild and unnoticed by many; most would have described her as “a typical teenager”.

Cloey had three siblings—Kenna, 14; Corbin, 10; and Haven, 5—and they were all very close. Losing Clo broke their hearts beyond repair. We chose the Kindness Rock Project because it could be therapeutic for her young siblings, cousins, relatives and friends. Cloey longed to receive the kindness that she gave others, so this project perfectly represents her heart. It allows us to honour her memory, scatter kindness and share goodness in the world. That is our Clo.

P.S. Her life was not defined by her mental health, but her death was. We want people to understand that bullying produces trauma, which contributes to depression and anxiety. Anxiety and depression are real mental-health issues and diseases. Even with treatment, mental illness can be terminal, just like cancer, diabetes or heart disease. Mental-health conditions involve changes in thought, emotion, behaviour, or a combination of them. Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK.

About the group

Rock Kindness for Cloey operates under the National Kindness Rocks Project. It was created to offer unexpected recipients inspiration and motivation through randomly placed inspirational rocks: you paint and hide them, and others discover them.

If you find a rock

• Take a photograph of yourself with your treasure.
• Post it in the Rock Kindness For Cloey Group.
• Keep the rock or hide it again.

What you need

• Rocks, either found in nature or purchased.
• Acrylic paint or paint pens. Some painters spray-paint the rocks first; that is my preferred method.
• Sealer. Products that are not water-based work best. Mod Podge can be used to attach a label if desired.