What happens when you spread a little joy around your community? Bend is finding out. Through a grassroots style effort, the Bend JOY Project is heralding people with messages of joy. The project, which includes easily recognizable bright orange banners, posters, cards, window clings and more all around town, spreads messages like joy is an exercise, keep kind company, gratitude and champion love.
The project initiated with Bend’s Old Mill District, with a goal of “bringing joy in meaningful ways to keep the community happy, strong and beautiful.” The project quickly spread to the rest of the city through multiple partners, with Bend JOY Project popping up everywhere from downtown Bend, to the Parks and Recreation District, to Mt. Bachelor and the OSU-Cascades campus. Each partner is taking the Bend JOY Project and making it its own, helping to achieve goals of inclusivity and community spirit.
Molly Svendsen, ASCC President for OSU-Cascades, said, “Part of what ASCC is working on this year is helping students build a sense of ‘community’ or belonging on campus. That can be through getting involved in clubs, meeting new people in class or a whole bunch of different ideas. The Bend JOY Projectsupports this perfectly. I believe that so much of success in college is building that group of people who support, encourage and challenge each other to be the best we can be.”
In implementing the project, OSU-Cascades was an early adopter at the beginning of 2017. Large fliers with Bend JOY Project messages were placed all around campus, slides were placed on screens in main viewing and student study areas, and share cards (small cards to hand out to friends and strangers) are near coffee stations and were included in welcome back kits for the new winter term.
Svendsen continued, “When I first heard about this beautiful idea, I couldn’t believe it was real. I feel like this is exactly what we need, not just as students but as central Oregonians and as human beings.”
She’s not the only one. Like most big ideas, the Bend JOY Project started small with a few conversations among colleagues about making the Bend community even more happy, welcoming and friendly. As more people have heard about it, more businesses, organizations and individuals have wanted to participate.
Julie Brown, communications manager for Bend Parks and Recreation, said, “I was excited to participate in the community-wide Bend JOY Project because it is centered on positivity and can and does mean different things to different people. For the past few years, Bend Park and Recreation District has displayed an inspiration board at Juniper Swim and Fitness to ask patrons to share answers ‘My inspiration to Play for Life is…’ on a chalkboard. This year, the inspiration boards connected to Bend JOY Project and we added more boards at The Pavilion and Bend Senior Center too. We also have Bend JOY Project posters and share cards available at our facilities and being shared among staff members. The response has been great.”
So next time you’re out and about in Bend, keep an eye out for the orange. Grab some share cards from one of the many local partners participating in the project, and spread some joy.
