Morgan Jones | Reporter

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They’re fresh out of the oven: gooey, rich, and addicting. Students flock to the O-Zone during their lunch period to purchase DECA’s freshly-baked cookies, the line often times extending far beyond the door. One of those students is junior Rey Diaz, who often purchases dozens of bags of the popular treats. Diaz then randomly hands them out to “spread the kindness.”

“I started handing out cookies halfway into second semester of my sophomore year. That was near the time that I transferred [to AHS],” Diaz said. “When I was growing up, my dad always told me that it was our responsibility, as humans and as a family, to try and provide to others. That always stuck to me.”

Every dollar spent on doughy chocolate chip cookies comes straight from Diaz’s own wallet.

“On [one] day, there was about $110 [worth of cookies] given to 110 different students. In a whole week, [I spend] a bit more than that,” Diaz said. “It’s all money that comes out of my own wallet. I give away what I truly don’t need.”

Though Diaz goes out of his way, he doesn’t expect others to return the favor. Instead, Diaz says that he’d rather kindness continue to be spread to other students.

“Occasionally, there’s someone that tries to give me a cookie on them, but I never accept myself. I always try to get them to give a cookie to a stranger themselves to spread the joy,” Diaz said.

Diaz says that he hopes others will follow in his footsteps.

“As for what I want out of this, it’s just more awareness on good deeds in general. It always makes my day whenever I see someone doing similar deeds or returning the kindness,” Diaz said.

With his charitable acts, Diaz says that his main goal is to connect Avon students on a personal level.

“Avon has an incredible community from what I’ve seen, and I only want to help more people come to appreciate that,” Diaz said. “We’re all going through the same high school and living very similar lives. Why not help each other out?”