Usually random acts of kindness only happen in movies.
Or they’re not really done in pure goodwill, like when a guy is on a date, and stops to hand a homeless man a dollar when he normally would walk right by. But what if that same guy, instead of giving change, were to stop and ask the name of the gentleman sitting on the sidewalk? Then give him a nametag, so that everyone passing by could also learn his name, effectually removing him from the category of “nameless homeless”?
That’s exactly what Project Hello did, but on a much larger scale.
Inspired by learning the name of a local homeless man, they imagined what it would be like to give name tags to homeless all over the country. Instead of asking for donations, they asked for the time and talents of amateur and professional photographers across the US, and the result was 3,500 signs distributed across 28 countries, a photograph traveling photo exhibit, and comprehensive website with over 700 photographs. Check it out at projecthello.org.
The folks over at ecopop.com made a good point when they noted that most of the advertising industry’s most innovative problem solvers were spending time “solving the wrong kinds of problems”.
If we put more intelligent minds behind cause-related advertising and marketing for socially-conscious projects, we could see more awesome projects like this one, from the kids at ecopop.
Dude, I for one think this definitely warrants a second date, maybe even marriage.
