One Idea, Many Cities
Most Action Speaks events begin with a single company in a single location. One organization wondered what would happen if they did it everywhere. After learning about the Action Speaks model, the company made an unusual decision.
Rather than hosting one event, they wanted every location across North America to participate. The company requested training from redM, recorded the session, and distributed it throughout its network. Soon, employees in city after city began organizing their own events. Some locations had existing anti-trafficking organizations nearby. Others did not.
In many places, redM helped build new connections between local volunteers and organizations serving survivors and vulnerable individuals. What began as one company’s initiative quickly became a continent-wide effort. Hundreds of employees participated. Thousands of items were assembled. Countless handwritten notes were included in care packages destined for people they would never meet.
One story stands out. In Toronto, a survivor of human trafficking received shipments of the bags through a partner organization. Every time the bags arrived, she was deeply moved. Not because of the supplies. Not because of the logistics. Because of the notes.
Each handwritten message represented a stranger who had stopped what they were doing to encourage someone they would likely never meet. For many survivors, trafficking is accompanied by messages that they are worthless, forgotten, unwanted, or alone. The notes said the opposite. You matter. People care. There is hope.
The survivor often found herself emotional as she sorted through the messages before distributing the bags to organizations throughout the city. She understood something many people do not. A simple note can sometimes carry more weight than the items inside the bag. The company had set out to organize a volunteer project. Instead, it helped create thousands of moments of human connection.
What We Learned
A single idea can create impact across an entire organization.
Employees often want opportunities to serve and make a difference.
Local partnerships strengthen communities.
Small acts of encouragement can have lasting effects.
Compassion can travel farther than we imagine.
Through Their Eyes
The employees writing the notes spent only a few moments on each message. Most would never know who received it. Most would never hear the stories that followed.
For the survivor distributing the bags, however, those messages represented something powerful. Proof that kindness still exists. Proof that strangers care. Proof that healing does not happen alone. The notes were simple. But sometimes the simplest messages are the ones people remember most.
