Happy hugs
The Peacemakers Club hosts their second annual Free Hugs Day.
It would be pretty weird if you just hugged random people at school, right? Well on Free Hugs Day here at SMCHS, it’s not considered out of the ordinary. Instead, it’s actually encouraged!
The Peacemakers Club hosted their second annual Free Hugs Day on Jan. 21. They wanted their small acts of kindness to influence the entire SMCHS community by spreading peace and love.
“Peacemakers wear the ‘Free Hugs’ sings and then the idea is that people can come up to us and get free hugs,” said senior Charlotte Driscoll, Co-President and Co-Founder of the Peacemakers Club.
Driscoll along with the fellow Co-President and Co-Founder, senior Shannon Pierson, the Peacemakers board and members hoped that everyone participated, even if they aren’t part of the club. Junior Bianca Tatum, who has been a part of the club for two years now, can see how the club is transforming around campus.
“I think that I saw a lot more people participating this year than last year,” Tatum said. “A lot more new people this year had signs. Last year, only members of the Peacemakers club wore the signs.”
Senior Kathryn Luher, a two-year member, used this day as a way to ease any trepidations that come her way.
“I think sometimes teenagers deal with a lot of stress that people don’t know about,” Luher said. “So it’s really nice to hear someone say, ‘Hey, I appreciate you’ or ‘Hey, I love you’ or ‘how are you doing?’. I think that the signs start a conversation with some people that you wouldn’t usually talk to. It gets everyone to come closer together.”
As well as Luher, Tatum feels fortunate to have a time where she can show her appreciation for her friends at school.
“I think that even though you stress or have typical school stuff or activities or sports, it’s just something you can do,” Tatum said. “It makes your day. It brings a smile to your face. It makes other people happy, too.”
Not only do they promote the Free Hugs Day, but you may remember being handed a flower along with a nice compliment in the past. If you’ve never heard of this, then now you have! The Peacemakers also host a school wide activity called Flower Friday.
“It’s important to have days and projects like Flower Friday and Free Hugs Day to do little things to make people smile and alleviate stress and pressure,” Driscoll said. “It’s also super important to remind the people in our lives why we like having them there. And I think that’s really the point of most of these campaigns.”
It’s so comforting to have a day where our community can come together and truly reach out to each other (physically, too). If this fun-loving day as excited as it made Luher and Tatum as well as the SMCHS community, they encourage you to join the Peacemakers Club or attend a meeting at any time! Any upcoming meetings will be posted on morning announcements.
