Hopefully by now most of you have heard of 18 Million Thanks, a very passionate passion project started by Ryan and Juju of Good Juju Ink. The idea is simple: Send 18 million thanks to the 18 million health care workers in the United States. Since then, 50+ greeting card companies and 60+ hospitals have gotten involved. All together, they’ve inspired people to send more than 13,000 handwritten thank you notes to those on the health care front lines. That’s a lot of gratitude!
Today, in honor of International Self-Care Day and National Minority Mental Health Month, Ryan and Juju are unveiling 18K for 18 Million Thanks in collaboration with #FirstRespondersFirst. “As Covid-19 continues to ravage the country, we want to amplify this gratitude by supplementing it with a monetary donation — specifically towards mental health support for frontline workers in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, which have been especially hard-hit by the pandemic,” Ryan wrote.
Their modified goals are simple but impactful: Send 18,000 thank you notes to support the hearts of our frontline healthcare workers AND raise at least $18,000 to support their mental health. They’re looking to achieve both goals by August 31st.
There are myriad ways to get involved:
Send Thank Yous: Make your own, or shop cards from the amazing small makers that have partnered with this project, also featured throughout this post. Then, add your missives to the official count at 18millionthanks.com by clicking on “Add to the Count.”
— Donate: Make your tax-deductible donation here.
— Corporate Match: In addition to the $18k from individual friends and family, they’re seeking corporate sponsors to provide matching donations. If your company could contribute, that would be amazing — and 18 Million Thanks will send you an ample supply of thank-you cards for your socially distant employee note-writing party!
— Promote: Spread the word by sharing this initiative with friends, press contacts, or through your company. Post the GoFundMe link on social media, email your friends, tell your coworkers. If you post on social media, tag @18millionthanks and they’ll happily repost through its channels.
— Stay in the Loop: Follow @18millionthanks on Instagram and spread the social media love.
Finally, a bit about #FirstRespondersFirst. The charitable fund was created by Thrive Global, CAA, and Harvard’s School of Public Health to provide essential supplies, equipment, accommodations, child care, food, mental health support and other resources to protect frontline workers.
For this particular opportunity, 18 Million Thanks is planning to earmark all 18K for 18 Million Thanks donations specifically for mental health support for frontline workers in BIPOC communities. Finally, please note that the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) is the 501(c)(3) partner of #FirstRespondersFirst, which is why GoFundMe donations are directed to EIF.
“Recognizing an urgency to address the mental health needs of those battling the enduring pandemic, #FirstRespondersFirst will implement a holistic approach focused on needs assessment, direct offerings and services, and a campaign to help first responders move from awareness to action,” the organization described. “#FirstRespondersFirst will also launch a campaign around destigmatizing the issues of mental health for caregivers and frontline health care workers.”
Thank you Ryan and Juju for doing so much to spread good will, good health and of course lots of good juju! Today would be a great day to send or order some thank-yous (don’t forget to add to the count here!), making a tax-deductible contribution to the 18K for 18 Million Thanks GoFundMe, or both. Any amount helps!
