New nonprofit aims to share only good news

Between the lines: Fenly spent 30 years as a journalist at the San Diego Union-Tribune and couldn't let a story like the dry-cleaning business go to waste.

• She used her connections to reach out to other journalists who are either retired or working elsewhere and asked them to volunteer their time.

By the numbers: Now she has a staff of 10.

• They plan to publish 11 editions a year.

Behind the scenes: Fenly said a Kindness Happens Here story needs to have an element of surprise.

• "It should be something that not everybody is doing, that people haven't necessarily heard about," she told Axios.

Upcoming stories include:

🌳 A man who gathers acorns, grows them into oak seedlings, and gives them away.

🎶 The Voices of Our City choir, composed of unhoused people.

🐞 Social insects that show compassion and kindness to each other.

🌮 A Mexican restaurant whose owner died and gave the restaurant to the employees.

Zoom out: Ideally, the website would encourage people to be kind to each other — something that's really needed right now, Fenly said.

• "I hope people will just come away after reading it and just noticing more small acts, the way people quietly help each other," she said.

The bottom line: The idea isn't to tell people to be kind, Fenly said.

• "We're showing them that kindness is already everywhere in their communities, and it doesn't exclude anybody," she said.