A single rose, a hand-written letter, and a philanthropist cloaked in anonymity– such elements possess the potential for a magnificent fairy tale, yet these things appear on a weekly basis within the world of Taylorsville High School. Armed with the Twitter handle @TvilePetalGiver, this 17 year old male embarks on the quest to strengthen young women’s self-esteem and promote kindness amongst the student body.

“High school is one harsh world.” The Petal Giver said in an online interview, “Kids are mean, especially to girls.The world says if you don’t look this way you aren’t beautiful and people won’t care about you, but that shouldn’t be the case.”

Officially starting in September of 2015, this project for positivity was triggered when The Petal Giver’s sister became the target of cruel comments. The Petal Giver said, “I have no clue what has happened in this world where we could disregard someone’s feelings. I don’t know what has happened to where a boy will tell a girl to kill herself and tell her she is worthless. I seriously have no words for it.”

Hence the project was born on September 26th, with a simple tweet that invited followers to send him a Direct Message if they knew anyone in need of a visit. Though his first tweets only received a few favorites, The Petal Giver now maintains a following of more than 200 people, many of which don’t even attend Taylorsville High School.

Yet regardless of his local fame, his identity stays masked in anonymity. He says, “Something about it being anyone and having it be in a way ‘hero-like’ gives it more weight in power. I also don’t want credit for it. […] I’d be doing it for glory and for appearance rather than for the girls. It’s more of a personal thing so I’m not getting prideful.”

Now, six months since the beginning of the project, followers of the Petal Giver scroll through their Twitter feeds and find tweets laden with compliments and encouraging messages. “Goodnight beautiful girls,” reads a tweet sent out on November 17th,  “I hope tonight has been kind to you. Don’t lose sight of what you are or who you can be. You’re all gorgeous.”

When denotations of beauty are so ambiguous, however, many individuals encounter difficulties believing the Petal Giver’s message. Though some define beauty in terms of an aesthetically pleasing physical appearances, to the Petal Giver, beauty is a word with a vast array of meanings. Whether it be talent, personality, or even physical attractiveness, he explains that there are many things that make a young woman beautiful.

In addition to his activity on social media, The Petal Giver makes personal deliveries to young women at the school. Such deliveries consist of hand-written notes accompanied by a single rose, a simple gesture that is given in hopes of brightening someone’s day.

“I grab my backpack with a notebook and the student wire and I will think back on my day on who I think needs it.” He says, “I try to notice things about the girls at school. Whether they look depressed, sad, or if I overhear something in the halls.”

Following his decision to deliver to certain young women, he locates the girls address in the school provided Warrior Wire and drives to the girls’ houses. A typical night means delivering a rose to the doorsteps of three different girls while still maintaining total anonymity.

At its very basis, this project exists to promote kindness within the walls of Taylorsville. “I can’t be nice to girls and not to boys expecting a great turn out. No, I’m going be nice to everyone. […] I hope guys see this as a good thing. I want boys to step up a little higher than where they are and try to be nicer, especially to girls.”

Currently, it seems as though his goal has been achieved. Since the start of the Petal Giver’s project, other Twitter accounts with similar intents have surfaced as well. For example, “The Candy Bomber” borrows the name of the iconic pilot that dropped parachutes of candy down to children in a devastated Berlin, Germany. The local twitter account of the same name delivers candy and individualized notes to male students of Taylorsville High School. In addition to this, accounts such as Tville Compliments and @realtvillepollz also attempt to promote positivity amongst the student body.

In the end, the Petal Giver has evoked a movement of generosity and kindness. Whether it be his tweets or deliveries, he shows Tville students the power of one single rose. When talking about one of his deliveries, he said, “Seeing her smile like that made it all worth it. Helping the girls and knowing that I could be making them smile and possibly make their day makes it worth it.”