|
|
The Free Hugs campaign started by Juan Mann whose sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives. One day he arrived back in Sydney, Australia and no one greeted him at the airport. “Watching other passengers,” recalls Juan, “meeting their waiting friends and family, with open arms and smiling faces, hugging and laughing together, I wanted someone out there to be waiting for me. To smile at me. To hug me.” He got some cardboard and a marker and made a sign. He held the sign up at the busiest pedestrian intersection with the words “Free Hugs” on both sides. The first person who stopped told him how that morning had been the one year anniversary of her only daughter dying in a car accident. How what she needed now, when she felt most alone in the world, was a hug. “I got down on one knee,” says Juan, “we put our arms around each other and when we parted, she was smiling.” A video on YouTube.com was released in September and by November gained over six million views. In the video the main character is giving out hugs holding a “Free Hugs” sign. Because we all need human warmth and connection the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal. A college student, Yu Tzu-wei, began a local campaign in Taipei to “hug everyone in Taiwan.” A mass “free hugs” day was scheduled at Pitt Street Mall for the New South Wales Labour Day (October 1). There are now people giving Free Hugs all over the globe. From Sydney to Helsinki, from Poland to Tokyo and from London to Ithaca. To watch the inspiring video and for more info visit:
www.freehugscampaign.org
also www.free-hugs.com This is one of many stories available from Positive News newspaper. For more stories like this please visit: www.positivenews.org.uk (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.) |
“This
is the most life changing experience, except giving birth, that I have
ever had,” says Lee Riddell after hugging people on the Commons in
Ithaca, NY.