Woman Brings Hope Home After 'More Good' Cross-Country Journey

NORTH FORK, NY — True accounts of hope and kindness uplifted this holiday season as a North Fork woman who spent three years collecting stories of "More Good" from across the country brought her mission home.

"This #holidayseason I have decided to launch a postcard project," Mary Latham wrote on social media.

The concept involved doing an act of kindness and writing it down on a postcard — or creating a drawing. Latham collected of the stories and postcards and displayed them at Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport, beginning on December 14 — the birthday of "More Good."

Next, amongst snowflakes on December at First and South in Greenport, a gathering was held "to celebrate all the GOOD!" she said. Postcards were displayed, all with stories of kindness. One person wrote about helping an elderly man reach a cereal box on a top shelf at the supermarket.

"I think it's important for things like this to happen, little acts of good," the person wrote.

Proceeds from the party on December 22 were donated to students at Greenport and Southold High School "in honor of two kindness heroes from our community: Dylan Newman and Cindy Goldsmith-Agosta, who we lost this year," Latham wrote.

Speaking at the event, Latham thanked all who helped to organize the festivities. "As I was leaving after setting up last night, Tommy, the chef from First and South, asked me, 'What is 'More Good'?' Latham said.

"More Good", she explained, was an idea born after a conversation with her mother.

Latham's mother, Pat, was only 61 when she died after a long battle with breast cancer. But even when facing the most daunting fight of her life, Pat focused on finding the beauty and hope in the world and not letting tragedy and despair overcome, Latham said.

When Latham, who was working as an assistant at a continuing legal education firm in New York, learned about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2012, she was in tears.

"I called my mom. I used to call her every day when I got to work," she said. Crying, she shared her grief about the Newtown tragedy. Then she told her about a stranger who had bought her co-workers coffee at Starbuck's, paying it forward.

"My mother told me that there were always going to be these terrible things that happen. You have to focus on that other story, that person who bought coffee for others," Latham said.

After losing her mother, the idea of "More Good" became a road trip, during which Latham traveled across the United States, collecting stories in all 50 states about acts of kindness — kidney donations and other acts of generosity and caring, big and small, that meant everything.

"Halfway through that trip, in California, a teacher asked me to talk to his students," Latham said. "It was then that 'More Good' became about public speaking. It was beautiful to get students involved."

Now, Latham said, she is working on a book about her journey, a collection of the stories that changed her life and will be donated to hospital waiting rooms across the country.

She said a quote resonated and reflected what "More Good" means today: "Do as much as you can with what you have, in the place that you are," she said. "The place where I was, for three years, 31 days, four hours and 20 minutes — no one's counting! — was in my car, across the country. Now I'm home, so this holiday I thought I'd do as much as I could in my hometown for two families who really deserve it. Dylan and Cindy were absolutely amazing and inspiring people who teach us to live our lives by the way they lived theirs."

Dylan Newman died in September after a fierce battle with cancer; he touched countless lives with his bright, happy smile and giving heart. A foundation to help others in his name, "Dylan Newman Forever 5" was created.

Beloved teacher Cindy Goldsmith-Agosta died in January, 2022, leaving a community cloaked in grief.

"'More Good' is about keeping hope and kindness alive," Latham said. "It's about living more like Dylan and Cindy did, and doing good for as many people as we can for people in the place that we are."

Leanne Simonsen, whose husband NYPD Det. Brian 'Smiles' Simonsen died in February 2019 after being tragically shot by friendly fire while responding to a cell phone store robbery in Queens, also attended the "More Good" event.

Simonsen created the “Smiles” Simonsen Foundation after his death to do good works in his name; she donated $2,500 to both Newman and Goldsmith-Agosta, to help with the mission of keeping their legacies alive through acts of caring, Latham said.

Latham said she chose Newman and Goldsmith-Agosta as the recipients of the donations from the party because she knows both families.

"I knew both Dylan and Cindy and they were incredibly kind and inspiring people who we lost way too soon. I wanted to give back to their families and do something to honor them, since they were such special pieces of our community and epitomized 'More Good' in every way."

Acts of kindess should be celebrated and the concept, embraced, she said.

A joyful and exuberant crowd gathered on the Orient Causeway in 2019 to welcome Latham, in her mother's car Old Blue, home.

Latham said coming home sparked a sea of mixed emotions. "What I've seen is a million broken hearts across a country that is desperate for kindness," she said. "Hearts that are trying incredibly hard to keep going after being shattered by tragedy or immense hardship. That is our country. Beautiful and very, very broken. And the only real way we are going to survive is by actively showing our goodness and our hearts as much as we possibly can."

Latham said she emerged from the journey forever changed. "I've become incredibly grateful for what I already have and much more aware of the impact the small moments have on someone," she said. "The tiniest moments of kindness shown are the ones that often have the ability to change the entire trajectory of someone's life. It's really how my entire story started. One cup of coffee bought for a stranger on December 14, 2012."

During every hour and mile she traveled in Old Blue, her mother's Subaru, Latham said she has felt her mother by her side.

"She was there — she had to be," Latham said. If she were able to speak to her mother just once again, "I'd tell her I miss her, and 'thank you.'"

After hearing stories from voices nationwide, Latham has a message for those struggling to find good in seemingly hopeless lives and situations.

"Let people help you," she said. "They want to help, and often they don't know what to do. If you're going through a hard time, let those offering to assist the chance. We need each other."