Secret Society Pays It Forward With Creative Kindness

Love this approach to genuine and joyful giving! A New Yorker decided to start the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy by giving each of nine friends $100 to give away. The only requirement was that they show up at a party in a month and account for what they'd done with the money. That was 5 years ago, and the idea spread as far as California and Georgia, where others have started their own chapters of the Secret Society. Some of this year's recipients and how they spent their $100:

•Distributed 10,000 pennies to friends throughout the country to drop so there would be more lucky pennies for people to find.

BECKY FRIEDMAN, 29, television writer

• Posted a query on Twitter about how to spend $100; a reader offered to match it if he donated to an abortion-rights group in Texas, which he did.

ANDREW GOLIS, 26, editor at Yahoo!

• Inspired by Lewis Hyde's book "The Gift," bought a handmade platter on etsy.com and gave it to a friend, who she hopes will pass it on to others.

LORETTA RAE, 33, photographer

• Slipped $100 into a thank-you card and asked a friend to give it to the clerk at her local Duane Reade who makes her feel like a million bucks whenever she buys toothpaste.

HELEN COSTER, 33, journalist at Forbes

• Gave $100 to the most frequent commenter on her Web site, who turned out to be a former correction officer aspiring to write.

KAMY WICOFF, 37, founder of SheWrites.com

• Donated $60 to the Red Cross for Haitian earthquake relief, and $40 to a man on the subway who gives sandwiches to the homeless.

IVETTE FELICIANO, 27, television producer