Jacob Wetterling Resource Center Marks Jacob’s 44th Birthday

(KNSI) — February 17th marks what would have been Jacob Wetterling’s 44th birthday. It is also Random Acts of Kindness Day.

The Jacob Wetterling Resource Center is asking people to honor #11forJacob, which are 11 ways to honor and remember Jacob on his birthday, and every day.

Eleven was Jacob’s jersey number. His family said he loved sports, playing soccer and hockey, and dreamed of being a football player.

#11forJacob started in 2016 after a team approached the JWRC and said they wanted to honor Jacob by wearing the number 11 on their jerseys at an upcoming game. The family was so touched, it set off an entire movement. JWRC Director Alison Feigh says she thought about looking at Jacob’s life as a book and was frustrated that Danny Heinrich, who confessed to kidnapping and killing Jacob, got to write the last chapter, and she said that wasn’t fair. “He shouldn’t have even gotten to write a sentence.”

She said part of the #11forJacob movement is us deciding how the book is going to end and “for us writing the end of the book honors who Jacob was.”

The #11forJacob principles are:

1. Be fair
2. Be kind
3. Be understanding
4. Be honest
5. Be thankful
6. Be a good sport
7. Be a good friend
8. Be joyful
9. Be generous
10. Be gentle with others
11. Be positive

In a post on the JWRC Facebook page, it says “We look forward to seeing the positive ripple effects of kindness spread. There is power in making the choice to be kind. There is power in hope.”

Wetterling was with his brother and a friend on their way to get a movie at a nearby store when he was abducted on October 22nd, 1989, near his home in St. Joseph.

His disappearance was a mystery for nearly 27 years until his remains were discovered in a field near Paynesville in September of 2016. Heinrich confessed to the crime. He is serving 20 years in prison.

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