Moms nationwide are participating in this growing social media trend

It just proves that a little goodwill can go a long way.

Mothers across the country are participating in anonymous acts of kindness, where they’re buying gift cards or leaving cash in baby items for sale at Target and Walmart stores.

It’s aimed at providing an extra pick-me-up for any mother who might be struggling.

The acts of kindness, which have blown up on social media, started with Denaesha Gonzalez, 28, who came across a misplaced purse.

The Nashville mother was with her 2-year-old son in her local Target store this month when she noticed a silver clutch handbag being sold for $20 that had been misplaced on a shelf in the baby aisle.

Gonzalez said she deduced that a mother had wanted to buy that bag but ended up sacrificing the item because she had to buy something for her baby.

“I’ve found myself several times wishing I could get something but couldn’t. I’ve gone through seasons of lack where we could only afford just the essential things,” Gonzalez said to The Washington Post.

So, Gonzalez took to TikTok and posted a 17-second video that displayed the text: “SHE DESERVED THE PURSE,” accompanied by the sound of a woman exhaling, hoping it would resonate with other mothers.

The video has since gone viral, inspiring others to hide money in diaper boxes and formula containers to provide a way for struggling mothers to get something nice for themselves.

The hashtag #shedeservedthepurse really took off when influencer Cecily Bauchman posted a vlog of herself buying a $100 Target gift card. On the back of the receipt, she wrote, “Hey! You deserve that special ‘you’ thing. You are amazing!”

She then slipped the gift card and receipt into a pack of Huggies diapers.

Now, that act of kindness has other moms recording themselves going into stores and following suit. There are currently nearly 150 TikTok videos of mothers crying and sitting in their cars talking about their own experiences.

Some mothers are also directly gifting the cards to other moms at stores, such as Danielle Stanley, 27, who is a mother of two.

Stanley wanted to give back to “the right person,” so early Monday morning, after dropping off her 5-year-old son at school, she sat in a Walmart parking lot and noticed a mother who was carrying a car seat in one arm and a newborn with a baby bag.

To Stanley, it was a stark reminder of “what the trenches of the newborn phase” was like. After purchasing a $100 gift card, she found the mom by herself in the baby aisle and watched her put back items she wanted for herself.

Stanley then approached her, told her what she was doing and handed her the gift card.

In disbelief, the shocked mother can be heard saying, “Seriously? Seriously?”

“Thank you for being an amazing mom,” Stanley told her before the two hugged.

“I know that it made her Monday so much better,” Stanley told The Washington Post. “I hope this [trend] empowers moms to keep giving and to the ones receiving, I just hope it sparks enough light and love to give them the strength to keep pushing.”

Katie Beach, a stay-at-home mother of two children, also told the Post that the videos affected her deeply, sharing them with her group chat and encouraging them to give back.

Beach also participated in the trend, buying four $50 gift cards and sticking them, the receipt and a note on different formula containers.

To Beach, the trend emphasizes what social media can do for moms, and how this kind of content creates solidarity among mothers.

“Social media was always an aspirational place where people weren’t really showing the truth,” Beach said. “I think recently, as we all start to show more of the truth, it makes motherhood feel so much less alone.”