Surprise Squad Spreads Acts Of Kindness Around Coralville

By Addison Speck, Reporter

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By Eric Stidman

Story Created: Nov 9, 2011 at 7:10 PM CDT

Story Updated: Nov 10, 2011 at 12:13 AM CDT

CORALVILLE, Iowa - What if a group of strangers came and paid for your gas or groceries? It’s happening all over Coralville. A group called the “Surprise Squad” is paying for peoples lunch, postage, and even veterinary bills. They are mysterious but welcome surprises.

They’re complete strangers dishing out their dollars to put a smile on your face. “An employee was getting gas up the road, they stopped her and filled up her tank,” said Rachel Gill, employee at Lenoch & Cilek Ace Hardware in Coralville. “We didn’t know who would do that, it was really a cool thing to do,” said Amy Lord, Secretary at Coralville Central Elementary School.

The only thing anyone seems to know about them is their name, “The Surprise Squad”. Group members are popping up all over Coralville handing out free stuff and footing the bills for lucky people. On Wednesday, the group brought coffee and cookies to the secretaries at Coralville Central Elementary. “It kind of gives you goose bumps that people will do this type of thing and it is just out of the blue,” said Linda Scheetz, secretary at the school. “We were really shocked, it was such a nice thing to do,” said Lord.

On Tuesday, they stopped at the Ace Hardware store. “They went and found a customer and offered to pay for their stuff. It totally blew people away because it seems too good to be true, but it wasn’t,” said Gill.

So what’s the catch? And who can afford to just hand out money? We tried to find an answer, but The Surprise Squad is keeping a pretty good secret. All their website says is that they are a team of people interested in making your day, and judging by their online videos, they seem to be doing a pretty good job.

We talked to the media contact for The Surprise Squad. They said eventually people will know more about the group but couldn’t provide us with any more information at this time.

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