Pennsylvania high school English teacher Kristina Ulmer turned personal grief into a growing kindness movement after losing her younger sister, Katie Amodei, in a car crash in October 2014. Amodei, who was training to become an EMT while waitressing, had a lifelong passion for helping people in need. When police recovered her purse from the crash scene, it contained around $100 in tip money from her final shift — money Ulmer held onto for years, waiting for the right way to honor her sister’s spirit.
A Classroom Experiment That Changed Everything
In 2018, while teaching Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 to her 9th-grade class in Horsham, Pennsylvania, Ulmer found her answer. She combined Amodei’s tip money with her own funds and exchanged it for $20 bills — one for every student — with a simple instruction: use it to do something kind. Students baked cookies for nursing homes, donated to animal charities, made bracelets for elementary schoolers, and surprised strangers with thoughtful gestures. Many pooled their funds or added their own money, then created reflective videos documenting their experiences.
From One Classroom to a Recognized Nonprofit
What began as a one-time project quickly took on a life of its own. Donations poured in, eventually exceeding $7,000 and enabling more than 350 acts of kindness. Other teachers began requesting guidance on running their own versions. By 2025, the $20 Kindness Challenge had become an officially recognized nonprofit organization. Having already reached 425 students in Ulmer’s classroom alone, the nonprofit will award its first grant this spring to a New Jersey teacher, continuing to spread Amodei’s legacy of compassion one $20 bill at a time.