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Local Restaurant Spreads Joy With Random Kindnesses in Center City

By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some people in center city Philadelphia were surprised this afternoon when they were told lunch was free.

Ms. Tootsie's restaurant bar and lounge, on South Street, has been open for 15 years.  And today, to celebrate, owner Keven Parker and about 15 employees hit the streets and performed random acts of kindness.

They paid for lunch for people waiting in line at food carts.  Some hesitated at first to accept the offer, but once they realized there was no catch, they were all smiles.

"This is surprising -- nobody never offered me anything," said one woman.

photo 2 pose
(Keven Parker and his "Spread the Love" crew pose in front of the Robert Indiana sculpture in Love Park. Photo by John McDevitt)

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Parker (at far right in photo above) explained that he and his crew were eager to put a few smiles on people's faces:

"You know, in the city we have so much violence going on, and we have so much negativity.   It's so unexpected for someone to do something for no apparent reason.   So we just wanted to give back."

His "Spread the Love" team gave away a couple of skateboards, paid for some shoppers' groceries, and attempted to pay for Septa transpasses until they and their camera crew were thrown out of the subway concourse by Septa.

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