PROJECT SPREAD JOY

ABOUT US

Project Spread JOY is a NC non-profit organization that "Joins Older Adults and Youth" via Phone or Mail for Sharing, Caring & Laughter. At its inception, Drake Griffith had this idea after the passing of his grandmother, Nana Helen. He realized there was a monumental need for social connection among older adults. Drake Griffith reached out to two of his life-long friends, Harrison Powe and Reilly Kungl, and they started JOY together as partners. 

Through high goals and hard work, the original JOY team and their successors have built Project Spread JOY into a nationwide community service venture with many impressive accomplishments to date:

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• 160 Teen Volunteers

• Over 7000 Letter Requests Fulfilled

• Telephone Reach out and Support for Older Adults

• 70+ Pen Pals Created

• 13 States Reached

• Donation Drives for Essential Hygiene and Personal Items for Seniors

Due to ongoing COVID-19 challenges, the need for social connection among older adults is greatly heightened:

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• With visitation restrictions, the family and friends of many older adults in retirement communities cannot see their loved ones in person.

• With limited technical knowledge, many older adults cannot reach out and connect to people online like younger generations.

These reasons have contributed to Project Spread JOY's success.

Project Spread JOY has even farther-reaching intentions. As Drake Griffith, Project Spread JOY's founder, states:

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"Project Spread JOY not only serves a positive purpose during

the current COVID-19 crisis, but it also serves to create lasting

cross-generational relationships long into the future. Being

able to build and maintain a relationship with a senior is

something that every young person should have an opportunity 

to do. The amount of wisdom and and advice that be

given from older generations is limitless."

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

We are very excited to commence the start of our new season system! A season lasts three months. During those three months, we keep track of how many letters each volunteer writes. As the volunteer writes more letters, they move up in tiers. The tiers are as follows: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond. As the volunteer moves up in tiers, they gain more and more rewards! 

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Season 1 has been a spectacular success, with over 2,000 letters sent out during its first two months! As Project Spread JOY continues to grow in popularity, our rewards will get bigger and our volunteers will have more fun! 

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Due to its success, we put into place other initiatives. These include:

• Increasing your season letter total through helping your friends become volunteers

• Launching for-sale merchandise!

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We will continue to expand and capitalize on Project Spread JOY's success, with many more ideas in the works!

MERCHANDISE

WE are happy to announce our BRAND NEW MERCH!

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This has been in the works for a while now, and we are super excited to unveil JOY's new different types of clothing, designs, and colors as apart of our first edition of Project Spread JOY Merchandise!

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If you want to check it out, just click on the button labeled "Website" and it will take you to our merchandise site. 

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All proceeds will go towards continuing JOY's mission of SPREADING AS MUCH JOY TO SENIORS AS POSSIBLE!

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