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On February 12, 2010 from noon until 2 pm, the Help! Campaign will be out and about giving out Free Hugs (and Chocolate Kisses) in downtown Grand Rapids in the area around Monroe Mall and Rosa Parks Circle. The purpose of this event is simply to cheer up someone’s day. However, members of the Help! Campaign will also be accepting donations of blankets or cash to benefit Guiding Light Mission in Grand Rapids. Participants will have special buckets to collect monetary donations and large boxes will be on site to collect blankets. Look for the Free Hugs signs.
Guiding Light Mission helps men to transition out of homelessness by providing a Christian-based, residential substance abuse recovery program. They provide an average of 8,000 meals per month to men, women and children in the community and donate almost 12,500 pounds of food monthly to local charities. Additionally, Guiding Light Mission offers shelter to over 100 homeless men on a nightly basis. The Mission is funded entirely by private donations and relies extensively on volunteers.
The upcoming Free Hugs in Grand Rapids event was inspired by the real life story of Juan Mann founder of the Free Hugs Campaign. According to the Free Hugs website, www.freehugscampaign.org, Mann’s sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their life.
In this age of social disconnectedness and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became a phenomenon.
As this symbol of human hope spread across Mann’s hometown of Sydney, Australia, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign banned. What happened next was truly inspirational. People banded together signing a petition allowing Free Hugs to continue.
In the spirit of the Free Hugs campaign, we want to see who we can impact in Grand Rapids. The Help! Campaign is asking people to step out of their comfort zone in an effort to positively affect another human being. We can make a difference one hug at a time. Join the Help! Campaign downtown to give a hug, get a hug, bring a blanket or make a donation and touch a heart in more ways than one this Valentine season.
