Acts of kindness go a long way. We’re lucky if an act of kindness makes us smile, luckier still if an act of kindness is life changing.

Where would we be, for instance, if that one person hadn’t invited us to sit with them for lunch in middle school? Or if that soon-to-be best friend hadn’t offered us a tissue (and a shoulder to cry on) during our first night away from home while at camp — or college?

Our Random Acts of Trophy-ness campaign to deliver smiles — and trophies! — to everyday heroes who inspire was created to pay it forward to people whose everyday acts of kindness make lives better.

Inspired by our personal hero, Sue Heck from ABC’s The Middle, we are determined to reward the Sue Hecks of the world; those special people who make your day better just by smiling at you and sprinkling some of their positivity in your direction.

Sue Heck makes our days better because she is perpetually positive, optimistic and she never, EVER gives up!

Sure she’s matured into a confident college student who is no longer hesitant to assert herself (which we applaud her for!) but her inherent Sue-ness (that sparkly passion for life and drive to keep going no matter what!) is always present and always will be.

We asked our social media following to #ShowUsYourSue — as we do every month — and a former “Show Us Your Sue” winner, voice actor and elementary school teacher, Jill Cofsky, came through big time!

Kindness Changes the World

In true #ShowUsYourSue fashion, Jill took the time to write a thoughtful, heartfelt nomination. She nominated professional photographer Ed Diaz for our Random Acts of Trophy-ness “Show Us Your Sue” award with these effusive words:

“When I began my voice acting career, Ed believed in me and offered me my very first voiceover project narrating a promotional video for his studio. He’s also the one who insisted on taking my professional headshots for me and has always gone out of his way to take the time to sit and chat with me, offering me helpful business advice.

“Ed always greets his clients with a hug, is sure to bring the ‘fun factor’ into his photo sessions with lots of laughter, and makes each one of his clients feel like an old friend.

“I would love to nominate Ed for a Random Acts of Trophy-ness Award for being such a generous, kind-hearted soul who always makes people smile and then creatively captures those special memories to last a lifetime.

“I feel that he deserves to be honored for his awesomeness!”

Team Trophy Central couldn’t agree more! That’s why we sent him a shiny #ShowUsYourSue trophy engraved with these words: The Smile-Maker Award: Inspiring Joy and Capturing Special Memories to Last a Lifetime.

Congratulations, Ed! We hope you’ll continue to change lives with your kindness and hope that every time you look at your trophy, you’ll smile and know that kindness truly does change the world.

Now it’s your turn to Show Us Your Sue! Please nominate our next Random Acts of Trophy-ness winner here in the comments section or by tagging us on Twitter with the hashtag #ShowUsYourSue. Don’t forget to tell us WHY your nominee is trophy-worthy! We aim to reward acts of kindness and hope that others will be inspired by our campaign to pay it forward and reward kindness in their own lives, either by sending someone who made your day a handmade card or calling them up on the phone (how retro!) to tell them how special they are! Let’s keep spreading kindness and sprinkling the world with positivity and love!